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Two Lives in Uncertain Times

Facing the Challenges of the 20th Century as Scholars and Citizens

Wilma Iggers author Georg Iggers author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Berghahn Books

Published:1st Oct '06

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Two Lives in Uncertain Times cover

Published in Association with the German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C.

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 Göttingen 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.

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)

ISBN: 9781845451387

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 435g

230 pages