Pilgrimage from Darkness: Nuremberg to Jerusalem PDF
Preview Pilgrimage from Darkness: Nuremberg to Jerusalem
PILGRIMAGE FROM DARKNESS This page intentionally left blank PI L G RI M A GE F R OM D A R KN E SS NUREMBERG TO JERUSALEM DAVID E. FELDMAN University Press of Mississippi Jackson Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography www.upress.state.ms.us The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Copyright © 2004 by David E. Feldman All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America 0807060504 4321 As in all biographical works, this book is dependent upon the memories of individuals who have done their best to remember circumstances accurately. Every effort has been made to research and check the veracity of those memories and the history surrounding them. Dia- logue has been recalled and in some cases re-created as accurately as possible. In several instances details have been slightly altered for the sake of brevity or clarity, without the sac- rifice of fundamental historical accuracy. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have inadvertently occurred. Epigraph from fast of Eden by John Steinbeck, copyright © 1952 by John Steinbeck, renewed © 1980 by Elaine Steinbeck, John Steinbeck IV, and Thorn Steinbeck. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Feldman, David E. Pilgrimage from darkness: nuremberg to Jerusalem / David E. Feldman. p. cm. ISBN 1-57806-619-0 (doth: alk. paper) i. Eder, Asher, 1925- 2. Jewish converts from Christianity—Israel—Biography. 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)—Germany—Influence. 4. Israel—Biography. 5. Germany—Biography. I. Title. CTi9i9.P38E5934 2004 940.53>i8'o92—dc22 2003019183 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available To my wonderful wife, Ellen (Toot was right) To my sons In memory of the beloved Nettie Hyman and Gail Gluck "Don't you see?" he cried. "The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in 'Thou shalt,' meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—'Thou mayest'—that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man." —East of Eden by John Steinbeck AUTHOR'S NOTE In the summer of 2001,1 received a phone call from a man I did not know who wanted to take me to lunch. He said his name was Leonard Levine and that he lived here in Long Beach, New York. He had just read a book I had written about American servicemen stationed in China during World War II, and he wanted to tell me of his own expe- riences, which had been similar, and to talk about a book he was hop- ing to find someone to write. I had mixed feelings; his story might well be an interesting one, but many people had approached me with the notion that I should write about what they went through during World War II, and, as far as I was concerned, I had already done a book about the war and had moved on to other matters. We did meet, however, and, true to his word, after complimenting me on my work, Mr. Levine (now known to me as Lenny) did tell me a story that resembled what I had written about in Born of War. When I gently let him know that I was probably not going to be the one who would recount his experiences, he responded that he wasn't asking me to. He then proceeded to relate the riveting tale of a Christian German boy named Oskar Eder who had become involved with the Hitler 8 AUTHOR'S NOTE Youth and the Luftwaffe. Late in the war, the young man learned the whole truth about the Nazis and was devastated. Deeply affected and spiritually bereft, he set out on a quest that introduced him to several branches of Islam, to Hinduism, to a variety of Christian groups, and finally to Judaism. Converted by a rabbinic court in Haifa and mar- ried to a Holocaust survivor, he is today an observant Jew living in Jerusalem. That was the story Lenny Levine wanted me to write, and I eagerly agreed. I am grateful to Lenny and to Asher (formerly Oskar) Eder for trusting me with the telling. PILGRIMAGE FROM DARKNESS
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