Mendelssohn Is on the Roof (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780810116863)

Julius Schlesinger, aspiring SS officer, has received orders to remove from the roof of Prague's concert hall the statue of the Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn. But which of the figures adorning the roof is the Jew? Remembering his course on racial science, Schlesinger instructs his men to pull down the statue with the biggest nose. Only as the statue they have carefully chosen begins to topple does he recognize that it is not Mendelssohn; it is Richard Wagner.

Thus begins a story of disarming simplicity that traces the transformation of ordinary lives in Nazi-occupied Prague. Death abetted by the petty malevolence of Nazi functionaries wins all the battles but ultimately loses the war, defeated by the fragile flowering of courage and defiance.

Author: Jiri Weil
ISBN-10: 0810116863
ISBN-13: 9780810116863
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/25/1998
Pages: 228
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.72h x 5.56w x 0.69d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 02/28/1999 pg. 24