Author’s Corner: Ralph Blumenthal
Author Ralph Blumenthal, whose parents were born in Berlin, worked for 45 years for The New York Times, and still contributes to the paper regularly. I am pleased to present my interview of this outstanding writer. 1) Do you remember when you first heard about the Holocaust, and what you thought about it at the…
Read MoreInterview with Architect Peter Eisenman
Architect Peter Eisenman is famed for, among other buildings, the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Aronoff Center for Design and Art, and the City of Culture in Galicia, Spain. Eisenman also designed the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, located just one block south of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Recently, I spoke with Eisenman…
Read MoreNOVELIST GARY HAYNES
Gary Haynes writes terrific thrillers — his past novels include STATE OF HONOUR and STATE OF ATTACK. His upcoming novella is set in part in Berlin during the final days of World War II. I caught up with Gary for this interview. I understand that your next thriller is set partially in Berlin in the final days…
Read MoreOp-Ed: HEAR: Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren recently testified in front of two United States Senate subcommittees. The Oscar-winning actress asked Senators to pass a proposed bill that would give victims of Holocaust-era persecution and their heirs a fair chance to recover Nazi-robbed art. Whereas the Nazis stole an estimated 650,000 works, only a minuscule percentage of the victims…
Read MoreAUTHOR’S CORNER SONIA TAITZ
(Photo by H&H Photographers from author’s website) Author Sonia Taitz positively brims with talent. Her works include: 1) MOTHERING HEIGHTS; 2) IN THE KING’S ARMS; 3) THE WATCHMAKER’S DAUGHTER; and 4) DOWN UNDER. Sonia was born in New York to two concentration camp survivors. Her coming-of-age memoir THE WATCHMAKER’S DAUGHTER is an enchantingly-written, heartfelt portrait of her parents…
Read MoreYale Professor Jason Stanley
My cousin Jason Stanley — who often writes for The New York Times — is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. My father Gerhard Intrator had a brother, Alexander, whose son Manfred was Jason’s father. As Jason and I have shared family roots in Berlin, I recently asked him several questions about that city.…
Read MoreBERLIN SCHOLAR Dr. BENEDIKT GOEBEL
Have a question about Berlin history? Dr. Benedikt Goebel knows it backwards and forwards. Unflinching about documenting the Nazi-era history of his city, this outstanding scholar worked on the bedrock scholarship on view at the STOLEN HEART exhibit in New York City. This photo shows Benedikt with a bronze bell made in 1646 for the Lützower…
Read MoreLuisa Weiss: The Toast of Berlin
Luisa Weiss is the culinary force behind THE WEDNESDAY CHEF. For that blog, she tests recipes from newspapers’ food sections, often published on Wednesdays. Her delightful cuisine-centric memoir MY BERLIN KITCHEN has received rave reviews. Amanda Hesser, cofounder of Food52 and author of THE ESSENTIAL NEW YORK TIMES COOKBOOK , says: “Luisa Weiss writes with grace and ease…
Read MoreFILM DIRECTOR’S CORNER: Germans & Jews
(Tai Recanati, photo from Facebook) Tai Recanati is Executive Producer of a new film directed by Janina Quint, GERMANS & JEWS. The documentary explores the often fraught relationships between Germans and Jews in the post-Holocaust era. You may view the GERMANS & JEWS trailer here. Below in this blog post, Tai Recanati and Janina Quint jointly answer…
Read MoreBest-Selling Novelist Joseph Kanon
Neil Gordon, writing for The New York Times, called Joseph Kanon’s novel THE GOOD GERMAN “thoroughly captivating.” And Tim Nolan, reviewing Kanon’s novel LEAVING BERLIN in the Wall Street Journal, wrote “Mr. Kanon, author now of seven top-notch novels of period political intrigue, conveys the bleak, oppressive, and creepy atmosphere of occupied Berlin in…
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