Refuge in Hell: How Berlin's Jewish Hospital Outlasted the Nazis

The phenomenon of Berlin`s Jewish Hospital`s survival during the Holocaust may not necessarily be seen as the "miracle", if we shall carefully read the book. Actually, the author clearly describes on how the Nazi burocreacy managed to turn a normal medical institution of capital`s Jewish community in to a kind of "receiving-room" for the ones who were predestined to die later in concentration camps...

Fair play suggests reading a book before purporting to review it, especially when that review is accompanied by an unfavorable rating. If Rivka Elkin had read Refuge in Hell before writing her review, she would have seen that the author does not claim to have done the first historical research on this subject. To the contrary, Mr. Silver pays tribute to the work done by Ms. Elkin and the authors of Zerstorte Fortschritte and acknowledges that their efforts established the basic historical record concerning the Berlin Jewish Hospital during the period 1938-1945. The only claim of uniqueness made for Refuge in Hell is that it is the first English-language book on the subject. The book's contribution is to have made this story available, in a readable style, to a general readership in the English-speaking world and to have added to the work done by Ms. Rivkin and other earlier researchers additional information based on survivor interviews and on documents that only became available in the course of the author's own research.Like Ms. Rivkin, Ms. Opperman deals not with the actual content of Refuge in Hell (which she appears not to have read) but with loose characterizations about the book made by reviewers. The author is unlikely to have had any control over what these reviewers said. His work should be judged on its own merits.

Daniel Silver?s book is meticulously researched, well written and in many ways awe-inspiring. He has preserved for all time, through personal interviews and an exhaustive review of historical documents housed all over the world, the unbelievable story of the only Jewish institution in Berlin to have made it through the Nazi regime relatively unscathed. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Holocaust and/or Germany!

This story is amazing. There are few history books that are compelling reads, but this one is. I could not put it down. Surprising details of Nazi Germany abound in the book, and ultimately one is left with an amazing story. Many explanations, none of which can fully explain this miracle.

The survival of the Jewish Hospital in Berlin through the Holocaust is an anomaly of history. It is surprising that Silver is the first to tackle this subject and fortunate that he does a masterful job. I recommend this book very highly. I read it by flashlight as we recover from the hurricane and it speaks highly for Silver's subject and writing style that I couldn't put the book down under difficult reading conditions. Silver's book treats a similar subject to the Invincible Symphony, the struggle to survive of the German Jewish orchestra. While Refuge in Hell is more of a history and the Invicible Symphony is more of a family memoir, both books are excellent treatments.