I Am Andre German Jew, French Resistance Fighter, British Spy
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Independent scholar Diana Mara Henry (Brandeis MA 2000, Harvard B.A. 1969, Ferguson History Prize, 1967) has since 1985 translated and researched the memoirs, assembled a pioneering bibliography, and corresponded with survivors of the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Alsace, France. In 2004 she created www.natzweiler-struthof.com. Her video interview of Phillip Maisel is at the USHMM. She has been published in the Journal for Ecumenical Studies, reviewed Resistance in the Second World War for the Journal of Military History. She has also presented at conferences and symposia at the University of Salzburg, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Genocide Studies Progam of Yale University, German Studies Association Summer Workshop at the Freie Universitat of Berlin, Birkbeck University of London, Monash University, The 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and others. Diana's first career, as a photojournalist, was honored with exhibitions including at the National Women's Hall of Fame, Overseas Press Club/NYC, the Organization of American Historians' Centennial Conference, and the Woodrow Wilson Center. Named special collections of her work were purchased by UMass/Amherst, The NY State Museum, the Schlesinger Library at Harvard, and the NY Public Library. Her books of photography are Women on the Move and A Life in Photography and her art is on display at saatchiart.com.<p>‘An important book and one that is exhaustively researched and powerfully written.’ <b>Damien Lewis</b>, author of <i>The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.</i></p><p>'A very moving account….A really superb book on the French Resistance…..very well written…..' <b>Robert Lyman MBE, </b>writer and historian</p><p>‘Any memoir of a WW2 SIS/MI6 agent is to be welcomed as a rarity. Fascinating reading and an important addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in the 'secret war'.’ <b>Paul McCue</b>, Executive Trustee, The Secret WW2 Learning Network </p><p>‘An amazing story of courage, endurance and bravery, told in intimate detail.’ <b>David Tremain</b>,<b> </b>author of <i>Churchill's German Spy.</i> </p><p>‘One feels a great admiration and affection for the person of André. This fine work will certainly serve as a reference and documentation of the Résistance in Brittany.’ <b>Monique Le Tac</b>, author of <i>Yvonne Le Tac.</i></p><p>‘An excellent biography of a very brave man. A true “ripping good yarn”’ <b>Tim Spicer</b> OBE, author of <i>A Suspicion of Spies.</i><i></i></p><p>‘The captivating and well documented biography of a most amazing wartime agent and resistant my father had dealings with inside SIS.’ <b>Caroline Gentry</b> Babois,<b> </b>daughter of John Edward Gentry, RNVR, Officer Commanding of the Anglo-French Communications Bureau, Paris. </p><p>‘This is a fascinating work of history and a compelling read.’ <b>David J. Simon</b>, Director, Genocide Studies Program, Yale University</p><p>‘Diana Mara Henry’s gripping account is a remarkable and inspiring tale of heroism during the darkest hours of the Holocaust.’ <b>Michael G</b>eheran, author of <i>Comrades Betrayed: Jewish World War I Veterans under Hitler </i></p><p>‘We follow with interest her indefatigable work on the biography of Joseph Scheinmann/André Peulevey in the context of the field of research about "Natzweiler." We wish <i>I am André</i> the success it deserves.’ <b>Dorothée R</b>oos,<b> </b>President of KZ-Gedenkstätte Neckarelz</p>
The life of 'Andre' Joseph Scheinmann is more intriguing and compelling than any work of fiction. His true-life story of derring-do starts as a Jewish youth in Munich, whose family moves to France in 1933 to escape the Nazi tide. He joins the French army at the outbreak of WW2 and escapes from a prisoner-of war camp after the bitterly brief fight for France in the summer of 1940.
Andre becomes a spy and saboteur for the British and Free French whilst working undercover as translator and liaison with the German high command at the Brittany headquarters of the French National Railroads. Summoned by the British, he clandestinely crosses the Channel for initiation and training as an MI6 agent in England. His network betrayed during his absence, he is arrested on his return to France. Andre then begins an even more perilous journey with interrogation in Gestapo prisons and the little-known Natzweiler concentration camp in Alsace, before being transferred to Dachau and Allach, ahead of the advancing Allies.
Many vintage photographs and letters from his agents come to illustrate this heart-pounding story of a debonair young man in a broken world who remade himself as a cunning fighter for freedom.