Test of Courage: The Michel Thomas Story
by Christopher Robbins
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The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in which adventure and heartbreak combine to produce a unique form of wisdom. Until his death in 2005, he taught languages to ghetto kids, heads of industry and movie stars in a matter of days, succeeding even with people who considered themselves hopeless linguists. To those who have been taught by him, he seemed to be a miracle worker with a magical gift for unlocking the secret powers of the mind. This unique understanding was gained under show more extreme circumstances. Stateless in Vichy France at the beginning of the Second World War, he was incarcerated and starved in a concentration camp at the foot of the Pyrenees. Forced into slave labour in a coal mine in Provence, he avoided being sent to Auschwitz by hiding within the confines of a deportation camp for six weeks.He escaped death to join the Secret Army of the Resistance. He was arrested and interrogated by Klaus Barbie, Butcher of Lyon, whom he deceived into releasing him, and was later re-arrested by the French Gestapo and tortured. He held out by entering a psychological state in which he no longer registered pain and after six hours of torture, his tormentors threw him into a cell and he survived to re-join the Resistance. After the Allies invaded France he joined the American forces, fought his way into Germany and was with the troops who liberated Dachau. He personally interrogated the camp's hangman and oversaw his handwritten confession. At the end of the war he became a Nazi-hunter. Working for American Counter Intelligence he posed as a Nazi himself to infiltrate and expose underground networks of SS men dedicated to the return of a Fourth Reich. In spite of the fact that his entire family had been murdered in Auschwitz, and many close friends killed in combat, at the very end of the war he staged an elaborate gala evening in Munich which he called a Reconciliation Concert. Using German musicians, and in defiance of strict Allied non-fraternisation laws, he brought friend and foe together in the belief that there had to be a different and better future. Author Christopher Robbins has dug deep to explore and substantiate the details of the Michel Thomas story. He has authenticated every episode through camp records, Vichy documents, Resistance papers, US Army reports and hundreds of hours of interviews with this extraordinary man. The result is one of the most inspirational stories of the 20th century. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The popular concept of the modern intellectual is the bipolar opposite of the popular concept of the modern soldier. Most, in our culture, accept this as Truth and hardly find it a point of reflection. One need not go to far back in time however, to see how the concept of the Renaissance man as artist, intellectual, and citizen soldier has only recently been smothered and killed off. Many today believe that there is nothing worth defending, that violence--no matter what--is not justified. Michel's life is a rage against those people. Michel's life has been spent between obtaining prestigious degrees, creating revolutionary teaching techniques, fighting the Gestapo, and hunting Nazis. A Jew who escaped from a concentration camp and show more joined the French Resistance, his entire family was slaughtered by Nazi Germany. His greatest pain comes from the fact that for years the world stood idly by as millions of Jews were sent to their deaths. Michel's life is a beacon in an ethically and morally baron landscape. Like the author, I should note that my opinion of this man is not biased, as I am not a Jew. But also like the author, I'd like to quote the Russian poet who said, "I am not a Jew, but in the presence of anti-Semites, I am Jewish."
I give the book 4 stars because the organization of the book is sometimes awkward and I found that the percent narration to quotation was too far weighted towards the narration side. These points should not, however, distract the reader too much as this is simply a great story. show less
I give the book 4 stars because the organization of the book is sometimes awkward and I found that the percent narration to quotation was too far weighted towards the narration side. These points should not, however, distract the reader too much as this is simply a great story. show less
An amazing man who survived WW2 against all odds as a Jew fighting with the French resistance, then became a very successful Nazi hunter with the occupying US forces. Finally he developed a unique language teaching methodology. Inspiring but depressing reading of the atrocities he experienced and investigated.
I've used some of Michel Thomas' language materials and when I looked up the library website to get more, I found this biography, so I requested it. The "Test of Courage" is about mostly about his life during World War II and right after it, but there's a lot of background material to that too. I enjoyed the last part about his trying his language program with the disadvantaged to the elite.
Thomas, Michel, 1914-/Jews > Persecutions > France/France > History > German occupation,/1940-1945/Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) > France/Anti-Nazi movement > France/Military government > Germany
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Author Information
6+ Works 773 Members
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Michel Thomas
- Important places
- France
- Important events
- World War II (1939 | 1945); World War II, German Occupation of France (1940 | 1944); French Resistance
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality
- DDC/MDS
- 944.004 — History & geography History of Europe France and Monaco France
- LCC
- DS135 .F9 .T467 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Asia History of Asia Israel (Palestine). The Jews Jews outside of Palestine
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 76
- Popularity
- 415,486
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 2
