title: Jewish Legends (Masterworks of Modern Jewish Writing Series) (English and German Edition)
author:  Stefan Zweig 
description: Zweig, the Austrian-Jewish author whose popular biographies and novels were read throughout Europe before World War II, wrote several excellent stories about Jews during the Nazi period. For the first time, this collection, published originally in Sweden, is appearing in the U.S. In these finely crafted pieces, Zweig skillfully explores questions of humanity, morality and religion. The best story is "Buchmendel," a compelling portrait of a secondhand book dealer in Vienna whose disinterest in everything except books proves tragic for him during the dehumanizing brutality of World War I. Another deftly told tale, "Virata or the Eyes of the Undying Brother," concerns a holy man in ancient India who learns that he cannot retreat from the world and that his actions affect the lives of others, sometimes disastrously. Some stories, like the self-consciously written "Rachel Arraigns with God," are not as successful. Generally, however, this is a powerful and haunting compilation. <br />Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  ![img](images/cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THE  
  BLESSING  
  AND THE  
  CURSE
  
  
  _The Jewish People and Their Books_  
  _in the Twentieth Century_
  
  
  ![img](images/tit.jpg)
  
  
  ADAM KIRSCH
  
  
  ![img](images/logo.jpg)
  
  
  **W.W. NORTON & COMPANY**
  
  
  _Independent Publishers Since 1923_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  CONTENTS
  
  
  [_Introduction_](int.xhtml#int_1)
  
  
  [I. EUROPE: THE FUTURE DISAPPEARS](pt1.xhtml#pt_1)
  
  
  [_The Road into the Open_ by Arthur Schnitzler and _The Trial_ by Franz Kafka
  3](ch1.xhtml#ch_1)
  
  
  [_Red Cavalry_ by Isaac Babel](ch2.xhtml#ch_2)
  
  
  [_Satan in Goray_ by Isaac Bashevis Singer](ch3.xhtml#ch_3)
  
  
  [The Diary of Victor Klemperer](ch4.xhtml#ch_4)
  
  
  [The Diary of Anne Frank](ch5.xhtml#ch_5)
  
  
  [_Night_ by Elie Wiesel](ch6.xhtml#ch_6)
  
  
  [_Survival in Auschwitz_ by Primo Levi](ch7.xhtml#ch_7)
  
  
  [_Eichmann in Jerusalem_ by Hannah Arendt](ch8.xhtml#ch_8)
  
  
  [II. AMERICA: AT HOME IN EXILE](pt2.xhtml#pt_2)
  
  
  [_The Rise of David Levinsky_ by Abraham Cahan](ch9.xhtml#ch_9)
  
  
  [_Bread Givers_ by Anzia Yezier