Melissa Müller Books

With much new material relating to the betrayal of the Frank family and their attempts to leave for the US in the first years of the War, this updated edition is the definitive biography of Anne Frank

Alice Herz-Sommer was born in 1903 in Prague—the Prague of the Hapsburgs and of Franz Kafka, a family friend. Musically very gifted, by her mid-teens Alice was one of the best-known pianists in Prague. But as the Nazis swept across Europe her comfortable, bourgeois world began to crumble around her, as anti-Jewish feeling not only intensified but was legitimized. In 1942, Alice's mother was deported. Desperately unhappy, she resolved to learn Chopin's 24 Etudes—the most technically demanding piano pieces she knew—and the complex but beautiful music saved her sanity. A year later, she, too—together with her husband and their six-year-old son—was deported to a concentration camp. But even in Theresienstadt, music was her salvation and in the course of more than 100 concerts she gave her fellow prisoners hope in a world of pain and death. This is her remarkable story, but it is also the story of a mother's struggle to create a happy childhood for her beloved only son in the midst of atrocity and barbarism. Of 15,000 children sent to the camp, Raphael was one of the 130 who survived. Today, Alice Herz-Sommer lives in London and she still plays the piano every day.

Melissa shares her lifelong passion for Sicilian food through a firsthand narrative filled with recipes and stunning photographs, providing an insider's perspective on this enchanting island. Her connection to the land and its heritage resonates in every paragraph and image, creating a beautiful and delicious story. This bittersweet nostalgia for Italian roots reflects the privilege of sharing such tales, and Melissa has executed it impeccably. Her work embodies the essence of Sicilian food, wine, history, and culture, allowing readers, cooks, and diners to experience her ardor and wisdom. The book is a definitive blend of culinary brilliance, family lore, and narrative writing, heralding a new generation akin to M.F.K. Fisher or Alice Waters. Sicily stands as a center of fusion cuisine, where traditional Italian recipes are enhanced with Mediterranean flair. Melissa channels her summers spent with grandparents on the island into accessible recipes for antipasti, fish, meat, and desserts, making it feel like learning family recipes in a cherished kitchen. Additionally, her text offers practical tips for sourcing great produce and attending local festivals for those planning a visit.

'To have such an uncomplicated, unaffected witness present at some of the key defining moments of the 20th century was fortunate for historians. Frau Junge's book has sold 100,000 copies in Germany and it is easy to see why: her testimony rings absolutely true, when other politically motivated accounts of the last days of Hitler do not' Andrew Roberts, Evening StandardTraudl Junge was 22 years old and dreamt of a career as a ballerina, until the 'opportunity of her life' beckoned and she was appointed as Adolf Hitler's secretary. From 1942 until his death she was at his side in the bunker, typing his correspondence, his speeches and even his last private and political will and testament.It was only after the war that the horrible reality of Hitler's regime began to dawn on her, and she became racked with guilt for 'liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived.' Her journal, written in 1947, is a startling eyewitness account of Hitler's court during its final years, and of the building sense of doom as the war progressed.

Im größten Kunstraub aller Zeiten enteignete das Naziregime etwa 600 000 Kunstwerke aus jüdischem Besitz. Sie wurden gestohlen, beschlagnahmt, eingezogen, zwangsverkauft oder versteigert. Seit 1945 bemühen sich Geschädigte und Erben meist mit mäßigem Erfolg um die Rückgabe ihrer 'verlorenen Bilder', der oft letzten physisch greifbaren Erinnerungen an die in der NS-Zeit 'verlorenen Leben'. Während die Medien häufig nur über die heute zu erzielenden Kaufpreise der Bilder berichten, erzählt dieses Buch von den Menschen hinter den einstigen Sammlungen und gibt tiefe Einblicke in die Problematik der Kunstrestitution. Das Buch stellt die Biografien vor von: LILLY und CLAUDE CASSIRER, Berlin PAUL WESTHEIM, Berlin ALFRED, TEKLA und HANS HESS, Erfurt LEO BENDEL, Berlin ELEONORA und FRANCESCO VON MENDELSSOHN, Berlin WALTER WESTFELD, Düsseldorf SOPHIE LISSITZKY-KÜPPERS, Hannover/München MAX SILBERBERG, Breslau MAX STEINTHAL, Berlin OSCAR HULDSCHINSKY und ANN SOMMER, Berlin ADELE und FERDINAND BLOCH-BAUER, Wien KARL GRÜNWALD, Wien ALMA MAHLER-WERFEL, Wien ALPHONSE MAYER und LOUIS NATHANIEL DE ROTHSCHILD, Wien JACQUES GOUDSTIKKER, Amsterdam

«O diário de Anne Frank, escrito entre 1942 e 1944, num anexo secreto em Amesterdão, é um eterno testemunho de coragem, esperança e vontade viver - e o mais lido dos documentos sobre o Holocausto. Esta biografia não pretende substituí-lo, antes acrescentá-lo. Procurei uma visão mais ampla, objetiva, seguindo pistas, recusando contentar-me com meias respostas, em busca para pessoa para lá da lenda, conhecendo em detalhe a vida de Anne e de todos sobre os quais escreveu. Quis reunir o maior número de fragmentos deste mosaico e criar uma imagem, o mais autêntica possível, de Annelies Marie Frank, cujo nome invoca humanidade, tolerância e direitos humanos.» Melissa Müller

Melissa Müller untersucht die Liste der "Gottbegnadeten", auf der von den Nazis als unersetzliche Künstler eingestufte Persönlichkeiten wie Hans Albers und Leni Riefenstahl stehen. Sie beleuchtet deren Leben, Verstrickungen und das Verhalten von Mitläufern sowie von wenigen, die dem Regime widerstanden, und stützt sich auf zahlreiche Quellen.