2013 — ISBN-13: 9780817318000. Cloth, 8vo, 232 pages. Eva Goldschmidt Wyman, tells her family's story, and that of thousand of others, who escaped from Nazi Germany to Chile in the 1930s and 1940s, a time when the Chilean Nazi party was active in Chile's major institutions. The book is based primarily on interviews with German Jewish refugees, family correspondence, and research in German and Chilean primary sources from the period. It begins with an intimate account of Jews in Germany in the 1930s as conditions for Jews deteriorated. Wyman recounts Kristallnacht in Stuttgart, where her father was principal of the Jewish school, his imprisonment in Dachau, and his release and immigration to Great Britain. Escaping Hitler details her familys escape from Nazi Germany and subsequent life in Chile, providing an intimate look at daily life on the steam ship Conte Grande during the voyage from Italy to Chile in 1939, as well as Nazi espionage and anti-Semitic activity in Chile and the Nazi influence in South America in general. Recounted in an intimate and personal style, Escaping Hitler immerses the reader in an extraordinary chapter of contemporary Jewish history both inside Germany and South America. It is an augmented translation of her earlier work in Spanish, Huyendo del Infierno Nazi: La Inmigración Judio-Alemana hacia Chile en los Años Treinta (Santiago, RIL, 2008). Escaping Hitler brings new material to the English speaking audience and as such is a contribution to Holocaust history. It is a fascinating and informative read presenting a well-researched and well-documented story of German Jewish refugees in Chile and their complicated encounters with German and Nazi immigrants.Steven B. Bowman, author of The Jews of Byzantium, 12041453. New Condition in Dust Jacket. (HOLO2-118-9)
