Time of Terror-Road to Revival: One Person’s Story

In his memoir, Time of Terror-Road to Revival, Jacob G. Wiener delivers a virtual tour of what life was like for a teenager during the decisive years when Hitler amassed power and incited the populace to adopt his worldviews. Supplying accurate historical and political background, Wiener describes how he pursued his education and even increased his religious commitment despite ever-restrictive laws and increasing hostility. His saga recounts his own tragedy and terror at the hands of the Nazis, his negotiations with the Nazis to establish a Jewish school, his struggles to escape Germany, and his subsequent life in Canada and the United States. His sharp and detailed recall of events supplies an accurate historical accounting of the cataclysmic events in Germany that led to World War II. A theologian, social worker, and scholar with a doctorate from New York University in human development and social relations, Wiener provides a unique perspective on the rise of Nazism and the challenges of rebuilding his life in the United States.

Rabbi Dr. Jacob G. Wiener, born in 1917 in Bremen, Germany, experienced the rise of Nazism and the Kristallnacht terrors, including the murder of his mother. He fled to Canada, then the U.S., and earned a Ph.D. in human development and social relations. He now volunteers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.