Tiferet Israel March Book Club- Defending Britta Stein

Defending Britta Stein
By Ronald H. Balson

Video footage has cap­tured 92-year-old Brit­ta spray-paint­ing the words ​“Liar, Trai­tor, Nazi Col­lab­o­ra­tor, and Betray­er” on the out­side wall of 95-year-old Ole Henryks’s, Melan­choly Dane, a pop­u­lar Chica­go restau­rant. Ole, who is soon to receive entry into the Dan­ish-Amer­i­can Association’s Hall of Fame, vehe­ment­ly denies the accu­sa­tions, claims he is a hero who saved Jews, and insists on his day in court in order to clear his name. Brit­ta is up for the battle.  Defend­ing Brit­ta Stein inter­weaves two nar­ra­tives: Britta’s seri­al­ized account of her ear­ly life in Den­mark and the present-day court case.

Ole Hen­ryks tries to rewrite his­to­ry as Brit­ta Stein relates her mov­ing account to try to right it. We will examine the themes of good and evil, truth and lies, courage and betray­al, and pun­ish­ment and revenge. Defend­ing Brit­ta Stein is a book worth reading.

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