By
– August 25, 2011
The Enemy I Knew tells the story of German Jews who escaped from Nazi Germany and were then drafted into the Allied forces. It describes how these men and women served their new countries and the unique skills that made them useful soldiers in their new army.
The book is composed of 27 biographical sketches, including that of Heinz Kissinger, known today as Henry Kissinger. When Kissinger escaped from Germany with his family in 1938 they lived in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan. In 1943 Kissinger was drafted into the U.S. army as a rifleman. It didn’t take long before his genius was detected and he was brought into the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC). By the end of the war he was actually the military governor of Krefeld, Germany. The rest, as they say, is history.
The Enemy I Knew is a fascinating read about the transformation of German Jews from potential victims of Nazi persecution into pursuers of Nazi tyranny and into U.S. military heroes.
The book is composed of 27 biographical sketches, including that of Heinz Kissinger, known today as Henry Kissinger. When Kissinger escaped from Germany with his family in 1938 they lived in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan. In 1943 Kissinger was drafted into the U.S. army as a rifleman. It didn’t take long before his genius was detected and he was brought into the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC). By the end of the war he was actually the military governor of Krefeld, Germany. The rest, as they say, is history.
The Enemy I Knew is a fascinating read about the transformation of German Jews from potential victims of Nazi persecution into pursuers of Nazi tyranny and into U.S. military heroes.
Micah D. Halpern is a columnist and a social and political commentator. He is the author of What You Need To Know About: Terror, and maintains The Micah Report at www.micahhalpern.com.
