April 2012 Newsletter

March 25, 2012, Volume 2 # 15
Next Lecture Tuesday April 17, 2012

The next lecturer will be Lila Levinson who will talk about her new book, Gated Grief, the story of her father, an army surgeon who landed at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944 along with the first wave of American Soldiers. As usual the lecture will commence at 7 p.m. at the Millburn Library. Levinson's father tended to hundreds of wounded soldiers but was not prepared for what he experienced, when among the first group of Americans who liberated Nordhausen, the infamous Nazi Concentration Camp, he saw what happened to tens of tens of thousands of Jewish prisoners who had perished. The experience so affected him that he managed to virtually suppress the horrible memories and never discussed what he had seen his entire life. However, he did maintain careful records and pictures which he stored in a locked footlocker. His daughter discovered these records and documents after her father's death and decided the story was so important that she had to tell what her father was loath to discuss.  Gated Grief is the result of  years of research and countless interviews with war veterans and their families.

Lila is a resident of Texas and the Book Club is fortunate that Lila will travel to New Jersey to tell her father's story.  Lila taught a Holocaust literature course at St. Edward's University in Austin Texas. She is a freelance commentator on Cultural issues and her work has appeared in numerous newspapers and periodicals. The Writers League of America named Gated Grief the best narrative nonfiction book of the year.  Levinson's book will be available for purchase and signing after the lecture.

Andrew Nagorski
Andrew's lecture March 20 about his new book Hitlerland was a huge success. About 80 people were in attendance and thoroughly enjoyed his presentation. Twenty five books were sold and autographed. This was Andrew's second appearance at the Book Club.

Future Programs
 On Tuesday May 15, 2012 Dr. Josh Botts, Ph.D. from the State Department will give a talk on the most important, and clearly the most controversial Military Conference of World War II, the Yalta Conference. President Roosevelt was a sick man in February 1945 when he attended the Yalta Conference, dying less than two months later on April 12. Historians have debated for years whether Roosevelt, because of his health, and his determination to stake so much on the creation of the United Nations, gave Stalin too much and in the process set the stage for the Cold War. This will be an exciting and informative lecture.

The Wedemeyer Biography
John J. McLaughlin's biography of General Albert C. Wedemeyer is due for release this May. The name of the book is General Albert C. Wedemeyer, The Unsung Strategist of World War II. John will give a talk about his book on Tuesday, June 19, at 7 p.m.

There are no lectures during the months of July and August.  The Fall schedule will  be posted in the next Newsletter.