No ordinary men : Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi, resisters against Hitler in church and state /

This spare, elegantly argued book rescues the gifted anti-Nazi lawyer Hans von Dohnanyi from the shadow cast by his better-known brother-in-law, the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer - and it also succeeds in rescuing Bonhoeffer from recent attempts to claim him as a progenitor for conservative evangelical causes. In a culture in which only the tiniest handful of Christians were willing to take action to rescue Jews, the Bonhoeffers and their extended kin stand out. Arrested in April 1943, the two men were subjected to incessant vicious interrogations before finally being executed just before war's end. Dohnanyi was repelled from the start by the Nazis' perversion of the law. While finding ingenious means to spirit Jews to safety, he also kept a secret record of the Nazis' crimes in the hopes that the documents would assist the prosecution of the regime's leaders once it was defeated. These papers ultimately proved the anti-Hitler conspirators' undoing. Meanwhile, Bonhoeffer is repositioned here in the intrachurch struggles over the meaning of the Gospels, which were in fact his chief concern. It is to Sifton and Stern's credit that they make the intricacies of faith - and their relevance in Bonhoeffer's exceptional political clarity and valor - luminously comprehensible to the theologically uninitiated.

Under the Third Reich, many a moral compass was abandoned in capitulation to prejudice and mania. Basing their work on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's and his brother-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi's own letters and writings, Sifton (senior vice president, Farrar, Straus & Giroux; The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War) and Stern (Univ. Professor Emeritus, Columbia Univ.; Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichroder, and the Building of the German Empire) explore how these two extraordinary men influenced the German resistance movement. Bonhoeffer, a Protestant pastor, provided the religious center with his writings on faith, ethics, and the role of the church. Von Dohnanyi, a lawyer, worked to keep the rule of law alive, using the Nazi machine against itself in his work in the courts, in German military intelligence, and in saving others under Nazi threat. These men collaborated closely while working with other well-known resisters in a race to save their country. Briefly but effectively, the authors highlight each man's special place in the German resistance and underscore his deep humanity. VERDICT Specialists and academics are well familiar with these men but will appreciate this treatment; those unfamiliar with Bonhoeffer and von Dohnanyi will find this book a starting point for further study. [See Prepub Alert, 5/20/13.]-Maria Bagshaw, Elgin Community Coll. Lib., IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A convincing argument that theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his often overlooked brother-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi "deserve to be remembered together" for their courageous resistance to Hitler's Nazi regime. Sifton (The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in the Times of Peace and War, 2003) and Stern (University Professor Emeritus/Columbia Univ.; Five Germanys I Have Known, 2006, etc.) have unique vantage points. Stern's parents were friends of Bonhoeffer, and he remains a friend to the children of Bonhoeffer's sister. Sifton's father, famed theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, was also a friend and colleague. Both were active opponents of Hitler from the beginning. Bonhoeffer had won an international standing working against the Aryanization of churches in the 1930s. Dohnanyi attempted to help people targeted by the regime and began to compile a chronological record, together with documentation of Nazi crimes, for use after the regime fell. While working in counterintelligence, he recruited Bonhoeffer to join with him and his sister Christine in what the authors call "their conspiracy against the state." Dohnanyi and Bonhoeffer were subsequently involved in organizing the March 1943 plots against Hitler. Held for two years under appalling conditions, they were executed less than a month before the end of the war, as were other members of their extended families. Particularly powerful are the quotations from letters and communications from jail. The authors quote from a letter Christine wrote in September 1945: "I believe it is better to know for what one dies than not to know what exactly one is living for." Sifton and Stern answer the question about whether Bonhoeffer has been remembered correctly and also discuss both men's unsuccessful attempts to reach out to the Allies for support. A concise yet powerful contribution to an even larger history.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.