The Latest

Dear Readers,

I hope this finds you all warm and well. Today is one of the coldest days I have ever experienced: O degrees with a windchil of -14. I actually think it is uncivilized. :)

As I do not post as regularly as before, I wanted to take some time to update you on project and life developments. As for the project, I hope to find funding to spend 2-3 weeks in El Salvador this summer in order to finish a few interviews and poke into some government archives. I am now interested in the treatment of German Jews in El Salvador during World War II. With its Good Neighbor Policy in tow, the United States facilitated (and demanded) the blacklisting of German Jews and non-Jews throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Some of these individuals were indeed Nazi party members but most were simply German nationals (a complex nationality at a difficult time). Most absurdly, German Jews were also included in these blacklisting efforts resulting in their deportation and subsequent imprisonment in the United States. An excellent book on the topic is written by Prof. Max Friedman and entitled "Nazis and Good Neighbors." It can be ordered on amazon.com and is THE example of a well-written and superbly interesting history book. I was motivated by Prof. Friedman's work and decided to take a closer look at El Salvador's policies during this time period. Let's just say the ride has been very interesting.

While I do aim to spend some time in El Salvador, I am happy to stay in the US for the rest of the summer! I hope to study German and in all my free time (!!) transcribe the remaining Spanish interviews from my year of research. This final task is of the utmost importance.

Finally, in the coming weeks I will announce the launch of my brand new website which will work to keep you updated of all my various travels, projects, writings, etc.

Please keep in touch and for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, stay bundled....