Alex's Wake: A Voyage of Betryal and a Journey of Remembrance

Summary (from the publisher): Alex’s Wake is a tale of two parallel journeys undertaken seven decades apart. In the spring of 1939, Alex and Helmut Goldschmidt were two of more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany aboard the St. Louis, “the saddest ship afloat” (New York Times). Turned away from Cuba, the United States, and Canada, the St. Louis returned to Europe, a stark symbol of the world’s indifference to the gathering Holocaust. The Goldschmidts disembarked in France, where they spent the next three years in six different camps before being shipped to their deaths in Auschwitz.

In the spring of 2011, Alex’s grandson, Martin Goldsmith, followed in his relatives’ footsteps on a six-week journey of remembrance and hope, an irrational quest to reverse their fate and bring himself peace. Alex’s Wake movingly recounts the detailed histories of the two journeys, the witnesses Martin encounters for whom the events of the past are a vivid part of a living present, and an intimate, honest attempt to overcome a tormented family legacy.

Review: I received a copy of this book from FSB Associates.

 

Martin Goldsmith grew up in a family haunted by grief over the murder of multiple family members during the Holocaust and guilt that they were unable to save them.  In this book, which is part history and part memoir, Martin retraces the tragic voyage of his grandfather Alex and uncle Helmut that ended not in freedom but in their murders in Auschwitz. In doing so, he learns more about his relatives' final years on earth but also comes to peace with their deaths and the reality that he can do nothing to save them but honor their memory.

 

All stories of the Holocaust are tragic and moving in their insight into the individuals behind the numbers. Goldsmith's family story is no different. Alex and Helmut's story does seem particularly tragic because they so nearly escaped. In 1939, they both boarded a ship to Cuba, with plans to send for the rest of the family in Germany once they were settled. Yet with Cuba in sight, the more than 900 Jewish refugees were refused refuge in Cuba. After weeks of debate and rejection, the refugees were split between four different countries. Alex and Helmut were sent to France and spent the next three years in multiple camps before they were sent by train to their deaths in Auschwitz. Meanwhile, Alex's other son Gunther (the author's father), escaped to America with his wife, but proved unable to save the rest of his family left behind in Germany.

 

I greatly enjoyed the family's history as Goldsmith retraces his family's steps. It was particularly tragic to see how well-to-do his family was before the war, owning well-established businesses and occupying the most prominent homes. I was less inspired by Goldsmith's memoir-like sections, where he waxes poetic about his own journeys to retrace his grandfather's story: "I am startled but not completely thunderstruck to behold Poseidon emerging from beneath the sea, his trident brandished aloft. It turns out to be only a local fisherman wearing a shiny black wetsuit, his spear gun clutched in one hand" (207). The author writes about his emotional turmoil throughout the journey and his struggle with both anger and grief. Although his meetings with historians and individuals who knew his family certainly contributed to the story, I could have done with less of his own personal anguish and more of a focus on the real tragedy - the murders of his family members.

 

That being said, its quite understandable that Goldsmith has such high emotional stakes in uncovering as many details of his family story as possible. He was raised in the shadow of his father Gunther's guilt, as the last letter Alex wrote to Gunther from the camp expressed his frustration at his son's seeming lack of interest in his freedom and a stern warning; "If you don't move heaven and earth to help us, that's up to you, but it will be on your conscience" (262). I did wonder why the author shares so little about his grandmother and aunt, who also lost their lives in the Holocaust.

 

For the author, the journey recounted in this book is like "a pilgrimage and an act of love that might, in some mystical manner unknown to me, reach my relatives and grant them a measure of the peace I so wished for them" (308). While it is regrettably too late to save Alex and Helmut from their horrific ends, I think they would appreciate that their grandson/nephew has taken such pains in uncovering their story and preserving their memory to share with others.

 

Stars: 3