Das Haus: in East Berlin: Can two families -- one Jewish, one not -- find peace in a clash that started in Nazi Germany? - Softcover

Das Haus (The House) in East Berlin is the true story of two German families – one Jewish, the other not – whose paths first crossed in Nazi Germany and 70 years later again in the United States in the quest to have a house, which was located in the former East Germany, returned to its rightful owner. You will find out how the two heirs, who started out as antagonists in the 10-year struggle over the ownership of the house, ended up co-authors of this book. In fact, the turbulent history of 20th century Germany, from World War I through the Nazi era, the Soviet occupation of East Germany, the rise and fall of East Germany, all the way to the post-Cold War struggles to determine the rightful heirs to a property sold by a Jewish family to a member of the Nazi Party a half-century earlier, are all part of the story of Das Haus.

What was it like for a six-year old boy to live in the house through the battle for Berlin as the Third Reich collapsed under the murderous onslaught of the Soviet Army to end World War II in Europe?

How did the daughter of the Jewish owner of the house who had sold it to a German Nazi escape to England at the last minute and was also able to bring her young daughter to Britain?

What was the role of "junkyard dog" lawyer?

What was it like as the two families struggled -- unbeknown to each other -- to make their way to America and tried to rebuild their lives in the United States?

Once the Berlin Wall came down and German unification took place, what was the struggle like as the heirs of the two families separately tried to have Das Haus returned to them?

How did the German heir's diligent search for the Jewish heiress fare as he tried to work out a common approach to getting the house back?

What came as the biggest shock of the odyssey to the German heir as he found out what happened within two years after his parents had purchased Das Haus?

Was what the German Gentile heir saw as an interminable back-and–forth with the Jewish heiress actually her struggle with her Jewish culture? Did trying to get the the house back cause her to reexamine her Jewish heritage?

How did the German heir deal with the fact that his father had been a Nazi, albeit only a “nominal” Nazi party member according to his denazification proceedings? But was he the Nazi who kept threatening the Jewish owner of the house with burning it down unless he received monthly payoff?

For more detail about the book, click on “Look Inside” feature on the top left hand side of the page.

Personal Note From the Authors: One of the authors, J. Arthur Heise, was the six-year old boy who witnessed the Battle for Berlin and went on to become a journalist, the retired founding dean emeritus of the nationally distinguished journalism school at Florida International University in Miami and the author of two non-fiction books. The other author, Melanie Kuhr, is the great granddaughter of the Jewish couple who sold the house to Heise’s father. After a successful big-business career, she is now the CEO and part owner of a company in Texas.