Winter/Spring Schedule 2018:

January 10th:  
Steve Twomey will discuss his book "Countdown to Pearl Harbor."  Read more about Mr. Twomey and his book on his publisher's page at Simon & Shuster.

March 14th: 
Joshua M. Greene will discuss his book, "Justice at Dachau." Read more about the book »

April 11th: 
John Lanza will discuss his book "Shot Down Over Italy."  Read more about the book »







May 9th: Major Michael Kiser, "How Auftragstatik and other German leadership constructs apply to the modern army."

June 20th:  
Kathryn Smith will discuss her  book "The Gatekeeper: Missy Lehand, FDR, and the Untold Story of the Partnership that Defined a Presidency."  Read more about the book »

Kessel Video now online

Peter Kessel's lecture on Jackie Robinson and the 761st is now online at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9obPPUT2Xs

SHU Professor, James Kimble to Present on December 6

Our next meeting is December 6: Dr. James Kimble will talk about his book, "The Home Front and the War of Steel." 7 p.m. at the Millburn Free Public Library

Holiday Party Reminder for Monday, December 11, 2017 at Mayfair Farms This year's Holiday Party is set for Monday, December 11th at 7 p.m. at Mayfair Farms. Cost will be $85 per person. We have enhanced the menu and appetizers, and should have fun filled evening with a WWII trivia contest with prizes. Please support your club and reserve your spot and respond by December 1, 2017.

I hope to see you there! Make checks payable to the NJ WWII Book Club, and mail to Dr. Richard C. Schonberg, 225 Millburn Avenue, Ste. 205, Millburn, NJ 07041.

Hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Paul Zigo lecture now online onYou Tube

The Paul Zigo lecture of September 6th, 2017, entitled "When Men Have to Die," is now available for viewing on You Tube at: https://youtu.be/42sn4_qE3gs.

Sarah Kaminsky on 60 Minutes

For those of your fortunate enough to have attended last year's Holiday Party, you will recall our guest speaker was Sarah Kaminsky, who discussed her book about her father, Adolfo, the master forger who saved thousands of Jewish lives.

This past Sunday, 60 MINUTES ran a segment where Anderson Cooper interviewed Sara and her father.

• You can see the interview on the 60 MINUTES website at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-a-wwii-era-forger-saved-lives-one-fake-document-at-a-time/ 
• You can see a video of Ms. Kaminsky's presentation from last year on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUYscrh1NqQ

Holiday Party set for Monday, December 11th, 2017 at Mayfair Farms

This year's Holiday Party is set for Monday, December 11th at 7:00 pm at Mayfair Farms. Cost will be $85 per person. We have enhanced the menu and appetizers, and should have fun filled evening with a WWII trivia contest with prizes. Please reserve your spot and respond by December 1st, 2017. Make checks payable to the NJ WWII Book Club, and mail to Dr. Richard C. Schonberg, 225 Millburn Avenue, Ste. 205, Millburn, NJ 07041.

Allen Boyer Presents on October 11

Allen Boyer will present a lecture about his book, "Rocky Boyer's War: An Unvarnished History of the Air Blitz That Won the War in the Southwest Pacific"  at the next meeting of the Book Club on October 11.

Save the date for the following:

• November 8: Peter Kessel will discuss Jackie Robinson and African Americans in the all African American tank unit, the 761st. 
• December 6: Dr. James Kimble will talk about his book, "The Home Front and the War of Steel."   
• December 13: Holiday Party at Mayfair Farms

 Up coming  Fall 2017 meetings for the NJ WWII Book Club:

September 6th:  Paul Zigo will talk about the book "When Men Have to Die, Bataan Death March Memoir,"  co -authorized by the late Dr. John McLaughlin and Marie Somers .

October 11th: Allen Boyer will present a lecture about his book, "Rocky Boyer's War: An Unvarnished History of the Air Blitz That Won the War in the Southwest Pacific."

November 8th: Peter Kessel will discuss Jackie Robinson and African Americans in the all African American tank unit, the 761st.

December 6th: Dr. James Kimble will talk about his book, "The Home Front and the War of Steel."  

Bruce Tucker presents "Hidden Agenda"

Mr. Bruce Tucker will present "Hidden Agenda” at the June meeting of the Book Club.

The presentation is about about Germany’s numerous secret wartime technologies, experiments and the scientists, engineers and technicians who developed them. During the closing months of the war and afterwards, these experts in the fields of rockets, jets, aeronautical medicine, chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, were secretly smuggled out of Germany into the United States.  Some of these experts were known Nazi party members and/or members of the SS, but they avoided standing immigration laws, the FBI, and any potential prosecution for war crimes at Nuremberg.

The main purpose of this top secret operation was to capture, secure and transplant former enemy military experts and their technology, in the interests of national security, thus providing the United States with strategic and tactical advantages in preparation for a new cold war with the Soviet Union.

Join us on June 14 for this exciting presentation.

Next meeting features Susan Carruthers

The New Jersey World War II Book Clubs will present a lecture by the local historian, Susan Carruthers, entitled, The Good Occupation:American Soldiers and the Hazards of Peace.  The lecture is based on her book by the same title, and will be presented at the Millburn Free Public Library on Wednesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. 

Waged for a just cause and culminating in total victory, World War II was America’s “good war.” Yet for millions of GIs overseas, the war did not end with Germany and Japan’s surrender. The Good Occupation chronicles America’s transition from wartime combatant to postwar occupier, by exploring the intimate thoughts and feelings of the ordinary servicemen and women who participated—often reluctantly—in the difficult project of rebuilding nations they had so recently worked to destroy.

Book Club Meets on Thursday, April 6

On THURSDAY, April 6th at 7 PM at the Millburn Free Public Library, Seth Meyerowitz will discuss his book entitled The Lost Airman.

For fans of Unbroken, this is the remarkable story of World War II American Air Force turret-gunner Staff Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz, who was shot down over Nazi-occupied France and chased by the Gestapo. Rescued by the French Resistance, he had to pretend to be a deaf and mute to aid in his escape for freedom to Allied lines. His ordeal lasted for over six months, during which he was captured.

Seth Meyerowitz is the grandson of Arthur Meyerowitz and detailed the account in his riveting book, which he will present at Thursday's meeting.

March 8 Speaker Is Patricia Chappine

At the next meeting of the New Jersey World War II Book Club, Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m., Patricia Chappine will  present a lecture entitled  "Women in the Holocaust: Rescue and Resistance." 

Dr. Richard Schonberg, president of the club, will discuss the different ways women engaged in resistance while imprisoned in concentration camps, specifically in Auschwitz, women who joined partisan units, and the stories of several rescuers.

When Men Have to Die - Bataan Death March Memoir

Dr. McLaughlin's last project was putting into print the memoir of a young soldier, Harry J. Whittinghill, who survived the Bataan Death March.  Together with Paul E. Zigo and Marie D. Somers, the book When Men Have to Die, is available on Amazon, either in book format or for the Kindle.

Mr. Zigo, co-author of the book (and past Book Club presenter), will be presenting a lecture based upon this book:  

BATTLE FOR BATAAN: WHEN MEN HAVE TO DIE
April 5, 2017
6 p.m.
Belmar Public Library
517 10th Avenue, on the corner of 10th Avenue and E Street
Belmar, NJ
(732) 681-0775

Videos Available on YouTube

Videos from the Book Club's last two meetings are available on YouTube:

• Sarah Kaminsky's lecture about her father - Adolfo Kaminsky, A Forger's Life - at the Book Club's Holiday Party on December 14;
• Dr. David Fogelsons's February 8 lecture on Truman and the Cold War.

Book Club Founder Died on January 7, 2017

The New Jersey World War II Book Club regrets to inform that its founder, Dr. John J. McLaughlin, died on January 7, 2017 after a brief illness.

Dr. McLaughlin's intelligence, avid curiosity and generosity will be sorely missed by all those who knew him.  His dedication to the Book Club was without peer.

For a full obituary, please click here »

January 11 Meeting Cancelled

The January 11, 2017 meeting of the NJ World War II Book Club has been cancelled.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 8,