Two Lives in Uncertain Times: Facing the Challenges of the 20th Century as Scholars and Citizens: 4 (Studies in German History, 4) - Hardcover

Iggers, Wilma; Iggers, Georg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845451384 ISBN 13: 9781845451387

Publisher: Berghahn Books, 2006

Synopsis

Two Lives in Uncertain Times Wilma and Georg Iggers came from diverse backgrounds, Wilma from a Jewish farming family from the border area of Czechoslovakia, Georg from a Jewish business family from Hamburg. This book relates their experiences of childhood and adolescence and then their lives together. It presents a history of changing conditions in US and Central Europe.

About this title

Review:

Reactions to the German edition:

"What among the advantages of this book has to be counted is the fact that the authors were fully aware of the political and social situation during the various stages of their lives and able to reflect on it." - H-German (H-Net)

Synopsis:

Wilma and Georg Iggers came from different backgrounds, Wilma from a Jewish farming family from the German-speaking border area of Czechoslovakia, Georg from a Jewish business family from Hamburg. They both escaped with their parents from Nazi persecution to North America where they met as students. As a newly married couple they went to the American South where they taught in two historic Black colleges and were involved in the civil rights movement. In 1961 they began going to West Germany regularly not only to do research but also to further reconciliation between Jews and Germans, while at the same time in their scholarly work contributing to a critical confrontation with the German past. After overcoming first apprehensions, they soon felt Gottingen to be their second home, while maintaining their close involvements in America. After 1966 they frequently visited East Germany and Czechslovakia in an attempt to build bridges in the midst of the Cold War.

The book relates their very different experiences of childhood and adolescence and then their lives together over almost six decades during which they endeavored to combine their roles as parents and scholars with their social and political engagements. In many ways this is not merely a dual biography but a history of changing conditions in America and Central Europe during turbulent times.

About this edition

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1845451384
• ISBN 13: 9781845451387
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 232