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In this unique memoir, now in English for the first time, Israel's
first Poet Laureate Avigdor Hameiri details a trip to Europe in
1930 from the perspective of a Hungarian Jew who had served in the
Habsburg Army. Upon visiting Austria, Hungary, Romania (including
parts of ceded Hungarian Transylvania), and Czechoslovakia
(including his Carpatho-Ruthenian homeland), he sees Europe in flux
on the brink of an unknown disaster. Austria and Hungary are full
of youth whose philosophy is "eat, drink and be merry; tomorrow we
die." There is fear of Bolshevism from without, but the unfelt
danger is German Fascism. Jews (especially in Hungary) are
assimilated but cannot escape from their Jewishness: some are
Zionists. Romania is corrupt and antisemitic. In Carpatho-Ruthenia,
Hameiri has two premonitions warning him to return to Israel, a
prediction of the destruction soon to befall Europe. Hameiri also
gives accounts of the artistic and cultural scenes of 1930s Europe,
as well as the world of Carpatho-Ruthenian Hasidism, which was soon
to be destroyed by the Holocaust. From the growing danger and
confusion surrounding inter-war Europe, in prose at once
compassionate and bitingly sarcastic, comes a sweeping account of
Jewish life in 1930 from one of Israel's prolific writers.
In this unique memoir, now in English for the first time, Israel's
first Poet Laureate Avigdor Hameiri details a trip to Europe in
1930 from the perspective of a Hungarian Jew who had served in the
Habsburg Army. Upon visiting Austria, Hungary, Romania (including
parts of ceded Hungarian Transylvania), and Czechoslovakia
(including his Carpatho-Ruthenian homeland), he sees Europe in flux
on the brink of an unknown disaster. Austria and Hungary are full
of youth whose philosophy is "eat, drink and be merry; tomorrow we
die." There is fear of Bolshevism from without, but the unfelt
danger is German Fascism. Jews (especially in Hungary) are
assimilated but cannot escape from their Jewishness: some are
Zionists. Romania is corrupt and antisemitic. In Carpatho-Ruthenia,
Hameiri has two premonitions warning him to return to Israel, a
prediction of the destruction soon to befall Europe. Hameiri also
gives accounts of the artistic and cultural scenes of 1930s Europe,
as well as the world of Carpatho-Ruthenian Hasidism, which was soon
to be destroyed by the Holocaust. From the growing danger and
confusion surrounding inter-war Europe, in prose at once
compassionate and bitingly sarcastic, comes a sweeping account of
Jewish life in 1930 from one of Israel's prolific writers.
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Hell On Earth (Hardcover)
Avigdor Hameiri; Translated by Peter C. Appelbaum; Introduction by Avner Holtzman
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R2,642
Discovery Miles 26 420
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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A literary account of the author's experience in World War I. Hell
on Earth is the second book written by Avigdor Hameiri (born
Feuerstein, 1890-1970) about his experiences as a Russian prisoner
of war during the second half of World War I. Translator Peter C.
Appelbaum first became interested in Hameiri's story after learning
that one quarter of the Austro-Hungarian army was captured and
imprisoned, and that the horrific events that took place at this
time throughout Russia and central Asia are rarely discussed in
scholarly texts. Available for the first time to an
English-speaking audience, this reality-driven novel is comparable
to classics like All Quiet on the Western Front and The Gulag
Archipelago. The text is deeply tragic, while allowing some humor
to shine through in the darkest hour. The reader is introduced to a
procession of complex characters with whom Hamieri comes into
contact during his imprisonment. The narrator watches his friends
die one by one until he is released in 1917 with the help of
Russian Zionist colleagues. He then immigrates to Israel in 1921.
Hameiri's perspective on the things surrounding him-the
Austro-Hungarian Army, the Russian people and countryside, the
geography of Siberia, the nascent Zionist movement, the Russian
Revolution and its immediate aftermath-offers a distinct personal
view of a moment in time that is often overshadowed by the horrors
of the Holocaust. In his preface, Appelbaum argues that World War I
was the original sin of the twentieth century-without it, the
unthinkable acts of World War II would not have come to fruition.
Hell on Earth is a fascinating, albeit gruesome, account of life in
prison camps at the end of the First World War. Fans of historical
fiction and war memoirs will appreciate the historic value in this
piece of literature.
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Hell On Earth (Paperback)
Avigdor Hameiri; Translated by Peter C. Appelbaum; Introduction by Avner Holtzman
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R1,341
R1,221
Discovery Miles 12 210
Save R120 (9%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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A literary account of the author's experience in World War I. Hell
on Earth is the second book written by Avigdor Hameiri (born
Feuerstein, 1890-1970) about his experiences as a Russian prisoner
of war during the second half of World War I. Translator Peter C.
Appelbaum first became interested in Hameiri's story after learning
that one quarter of the Austro-Hungarian army was captured and
imprisoned, and that the horrific events that took place at this
time throughout Russia and central Asia are rarely discussed in
scholarly texts. Available for the first time to an
English-speaking audience, this reality-driven novel is comparable
to classics like All Quiet on the Western Front and The Gulag
Archipelago. The text is deeply tragic, while allowing some humor
to shine through in the darkest hour. The reader is introduced to a
procession of complex characters with whom Hamieri comes into
contact during his imprisonment. The narrator watches his friends
die one by one until he is released in 1917 with the help of
Russian Zionist colleagues. He then immigrates to Israel in 1921.
Hameiri's perspective on the things surrounding him-the
Austro-Hungarian Army, the Russian people and countryside, the
geography of Siberia, the nascent Zionist movement, the Russian
Revolution and its immediate aftermath-offers a distinct personal
view of a moment in time that is often overshadowed by the horrors
of the Holocaust. In his preface, Appelbaum argues that World War I
was the original sin of the twentieth century-without it, the
unthinkable acts of World War II would not have come to fruition.
Hell on Earth is a fascinating, albeit gruesome, account of life in
prison camps at the end of the First World War. Fans of historical
fiction and war memoirs will appreciate the historic value in this
piece of literature.
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