Alex's Wake: The Tragic Voyage of the St. Louis to Flee Nazi Germany—and a Grandson’s Journey of Love and Remembrance, by Martin Goldsmith
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Alex's Wake: The Tragic Voyage of the St. Louis to Flee Nazi Germany—and a Grandson’s Journey of Love and Remembrance, by Martin Goldsmith
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Alex’s Wake is a tale of two parallel journeys undertaken seven decades apart. In the spring of 1939, Alex and Helmut Goldschmidt were two of more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany aboard the St. Louis, “the saddest ship afloat” (New York Times). Turned away from Cuba, the United States, and Canada, the St. Louis returned to Europe, a stark symbol of the world’s indifference to the gathering Holocaust. The Goldschmidts disembarked in France, where they spent the next three years in six different camps before being shipped to their deaths in Auschwitz.In the spring of 2011, Alex’s grandson, Martin Goldsmith, followed in his relatives’ footsteps on a six-week journey of remembrance and hope, an irrational quest to reverse their fate and bring himself peace. Alex’s Wake movingly recounts the detailed histories of the two journeys, the witnesses Martin encounters for whom the events of the past are a vivid part of a living present, and an intimate, honest attempt to overcome a tormented family legacy.
Alex's Wake: The Tragic Voyage of the St. Louis to Flee Nazi Germany—and a Grandson’s Journey of Love and Remembrance, by Martin Goldsmith- Amazon Sales Rank: #555358 in Books
- Brand: Da Capo Press
- Published on: 2015-03-31
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.70" h x 1.00" w x 5.50" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 352 pages
Review “Beautiful and brave…a chilling yet affirming account of human loss and recovery.”—David Maraniss, author of They Marched into Sunlight“The opposite of love, Elie Wiesel has observed, is not hate but indifference. With Alex’s Wake, the author proves himself the least indifferent and, because of that, the most loving of men.”—Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball"There are six million Holocaust stories. All of them are the same in sadness and devastation. Each is different in circumstance and fear. Martin Goldsmith eloquently tells the story of his search for family in the rubble of memory and distance. It's a moving journey of finding the past and his own determined and compassionate present."—Susan Stamberg, NPR"A new perspective on the Holocaust...powerful and evocative"—New York Journal of Books“Underscores the immense moral challenges and failings of a nation that believes itself the leader of the free world…. A heartbreaking story of fear, frustration, anti-Semitism, and betrayal.”—Baltimore Sun“A child of persecuted German Jews remembers his tormented, perished forebears—and makes peace with the country that hounded them to death…A well-researched, thorough reckoning of this shameful past.”—Kirkus Reviews“Goldsmith ably personalizes the Holocaust, traveling the Auschwitz-bound arc of his grandfather and uncle, chillingly vivifying the collective camps’ otherwise monolithic millions.”—Providence Journal"Profoundly moving"—Johns Hopkins MagazineBlogcritics.org, 4/26/15“[A] heartbreaking account…A harrowing tale…A book with a lesson for today.”New York Daily News, 4/15/15“With painstaking detail and a historical biography, Goldsmith digs deep into his own history and the psyche of Eastern European Jewry.”BookTrib.com, 4/15/15“[An] intensely personal story.”Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews, February/March 2016“Goldsmith’s well-written and well-researched account is personal and poignant.”
About the Author Martin Goldsmith is a host and classical music programmer for Symphony Hall on Sirius XM Satellite Radio and previously hosted NPR’s daily classical music program, Performance Today, from 1989 to 1999. He is the author of The Inextinguishable Symphony and lives in Maryland.AlexsWakeBook.com
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful. Powerful and Evocative Holocaust Memoir By SeattleBookMama Holocaust memoirs take on added urgency right now, between the revisionists who want to rewrite history and claim that the entire thing was either a hoax or dreadful exaggeration, and the fact that the eye witnesses and survivors are nearly all dead now. Martin Goldsmith retraces the journey, both academically and where possible, literally, to the places his Uncle Helmut and grandfather Alex were taken. It's quite a story, and would be a fun read if it were not so horribly, terribly true. As it stands, Goldsmith's narrative pulls his readers in one slim finger at a time, until we are held firmly to the text and must remain until it's done.The narrative starts out introspective and almost dreamlike. I nearly set it aside about twenty percent of the way in and not returned, thinking to myself that of course, I know the Holocaust was real, but do I want to read about it again? It's not an enjoyable topic, and what good can it do to revisit it? Furthermore, I started to believe that this particular narrative was not so different from other heartbreaking stories, and might be more of interest to the writer and his surviving kin than to strangers like me.I am glad I kept reading, because just past this point is where we quit the runway and the story takes wing. The writer starts with the visits, first to the Holocaust museum, and then to Europe. He is greeted warmly in his family's former homeland, and he makes speeches and accepts certificates and expresses appreciation to the family who now occupies what was once the family manse for their clumsy token gesture. The current owners clearly understand that circumstances have skewed things badly, and they want to make it up in some impossible way. They were wondering what he would think of a nice plaque on the building's exterior noting its place in history and recognizing his family.He understands these folks aren't the ones who stole from him. He says and does the right things, but the edge is unmistakably there, as part of him longs to say that if they really want to make things right, to give him back his family's home. Like many who lost wealth and/or family in the Holocaust, he waxes nostalgic, looking with poignancy at the beautiful place that should rightfully be his.Here I squirm a bit. I don't read rich people's stories for a reason. I don't believe anybody is entitled to vast wealth. It's why the only memoirs I avoid are those of the ruling rich.But another more important principle trumps my usual one: nobody, nobody, nobody should be disenfranchised of even a penny on account of their ethnicity or race. If anyone at all in Germany gets to have a big fancy house, then Goldsmith's family should. His resentment is righteous; he has the moral high ground here. I think back to an old bumper sticker I once saw, courtesy of the American Indian Movement during the 1960's that read, "AMERICA: love it or give it back." And thus is the untenable yet irreparable theft of the Holocaust's descendents. We can't fix it, so here's your framed letter, your trophy, your plaque, your award. His ambivalence runs deep and is clear and harsh. It should be.From there, Goldsmith's family saga telescopes out in a way that is so deft, I don't even catch the transitions. This is rare. I spent years of my life teaching teenagers how to make transitions in their writing, and usually when it is well done in professional writing, I sit back and admire it, like the French paintings he describes. I love to watch good transitions happen, but the very best are noteworthy in that I am so deeply into the text that they float by unseen. It's almost magical. And so, as the family's tale is told, we see the larger picture of France and French fascism.Many of us today want to believe that all of France and much of Germany was simply too afraid of the fascists to resist, but Goldsmith unflinchingly grabs us by the hair, makes us look. There are cheering throngs that are thrilled when the fascists take power. They aren't trembling; they are overjoyed. This is how fascism works, in demonizing a sector of the population, others believe themselves lifted up.In the end, I was glad to have joined Goldsmith on his journey. For anyone with a serious interest in World War II; the Holocaust; the face and effect of fascism; or contemporary European history, this gem is not to be missed.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful. A Powerful and Well-Told Story of Tragedy and "Inherited Guilt" By Glen S. Howard Shortly after publication of his first book, The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany Martin Goldsmith received a telephone call from Nobel laureate, author, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Offering high praise for the book, Wiesel urged Goldsmith to continue to share his talents and begin soon to write his next book. As a reader, I'm grateful that he took that advice.In "The Inextinguishable Symphony," Goldsmith told his parents' "story of music and love" as musicians in Nazi Germany. That story had a happy "ending," beginning with Günther and Rosemary Goldsmith's emigration to the United States in 1941. In contrast, "Alex's Wake" - the wartime saga of Günther's own father (Alex) and brother (Klaus Helmut) - ends tragically. It is no spoiler to reveal (as the book jacket does) that Alex and Helmut's awful two-year journey ended in Auschwitz in August 1942.Martin Goldsmith is a gifted storyteller with a talent for beautiful, evocative language. If you're familiar with his warm, resonant voice when hosting classical music programs on NPR or Sirius XM, it's easy to hear that voice while reading his story. (Of course, you don't have to just imagine it if you buy the CD or audiobook, which he narrates, rather than the book itself.) In "Alex's Wake," Goldsmith retraces his grandfather's and uncle's steps and tells their horrific story. He does so not only to share the lessons of a shameful history (in which both France and the U.S. were complicit) but also, more personally, to try to deal in some way with the revelation that his own father failed to do all he could to rescue Alex and Helmut from their fate. Although recognizing the irrationality of carrying such "inherited guilt" - after all, Goldsmith was born 10 years after his grandfather and uncle were murdered - he nonetheless felt compelled to try "to save them." And, he says, "If I couldn't save them, the least I could do was to place flowers on their graves, to tell the world their story, and to bear witness."In "Alex's Wake," Goldsmith does bear witness - powerfully, movingly, and with unflinching honesty. The book first introduces us to Alex and Helmut, two solid German citizens. Indeed, Alex had fought in the trenches of World War I on behalf of the Reich and received the Iron Cross; and he later owned a successful and popular clothing store in Oldenburg. But then came the rise of National Socialism, Kristallnacht (during which Alex was arrested and then imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp), and the beginning of Jews' "scramble to flee" Germany. Based on painstaking research, including in German and French archives, the book follows Alex's and Helmut's journey first aboard the ill-fated SS St. Louis from Hamburg, Germany to Havana, Cuba, where they expected to start new lives, grateful for having escaped the Nazis. But, with remarkable indifference, Cuba, the U.S., and Canada all turned the refugees away and forced the St. Louis to return to Europe. Alex and Helmut could have chosen to disembark in England but they decided instead on France. Had they only known that France would soon become "Vichy France," with its own network of thousands of camps for Jews and other "undesirables," they would no doubt have opted for England. They were initially welcomed in France with open arms, but in a very short time, Alex and Helmut "metamorphosed ... from displaced persons ... to enemy aliens."Interspersing his relatives' 1939-41 "voyage of betrayal" with his (and his wife, Amy's) own 2011 "journey of remembrance" across Europe, Goldsmith tells of Alex and Helmut's increasingly harsh experiences in one French concentration camp after another. He quotes at length from their remarkable letters, including their increasingly desperate pleas to Günther to help save their lives. And even though the reader, like Goldsmith himself, fully understands that that isn't going to happen, his powerful narrative compels us to share his irrational hope that the story might somehow have a different ending.The exceptionally moving coda of "Alex's Wake" retells Goldsmith's return, in September 2012, to his grandfather's beautiful home in Oldenburg, Germany. Confiscated by the Nazis, the home is now owned by a couple who were unaware of its shameful history but who now offer a gesture of remembrance and reconciliation. Although initially ambivalent about their offer, Goldsmith comes to terms both with it and, more importantly, with his own "inherited guilt and shame."As I read the final pages of this book, I found myself, oddly, both smiling and crying. "Alex's Wake" is both intelligent and emotional, both broadly historical and intensely personal, both horrific and life-affirming, both educational and enormously satisfying. It deserves a broad audience.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful. A Wonderful Book of Pain and Untimate Peace By Antonia Don't read this book if you don't want to be horrified. While Nazi atrocities are well documented and never fail to produce horror when discussed, personal familial stories are not well documented. Martin Goldsmith draws you into this book immediately, and it's impossible to put it down until the book is finished. You get to know his family and live this with them. Rather than have me describe Mr. Goldsmith's style, I suggest you click on both Inextinguishable Symphony and Alex's Wake on Amazon and read his prefaces. You will know what I mean; you'll be captivated and want to buy the book. While you're at it, buy both books. You won't be sorry.The important aspect of this book is the well-researched and well-documented presentation of the effects of the Holocaust on Mr. Goldsmith's family and particularly on him. This is one story out of millions of untold stories. The seeming "ordinariness" of the cited familial atrocities to millions of people, particularly the Jews, is what makes this book both compelling reading and horrifying at the same time. I read it in two days, not being able to leave it alone, and yet dreading what I knew was the inevitable outcome of his journey. He shares it most personally, and that is what makes it so compelling and yet painful. After such a journey for Mr. Goldsmith, he also shares his liberation from the guilt of having done nothing where he could have done nothing, while questioning his father's inactivity, where he could possibly have done something.While the final chapter does not make the horror go away--you will think of this book for days and days after--it is cathartic in that Mr. Goldsmith finds peace.
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