Berlin and I

This cultural-historical book is the declaration of love for Berlin of a half-Jew who was born and grew up in a typical Berlin neighborhood. Now he lives in the United States, but his roots are still in Berlin. According to The Nuremberg Laws of 1936, he is a Mischling ersten Gradees, a half Jew, but is referred to by many Berliners as a Mampe Halb und Halb, a well-known bitter and herbal liqueur. The book depicts, among other things, life in a Berlin neighborhood with its language, its mixture of heart and snout; growing up with Jewish blood in his veins in the Third Reich; and living during the war and in the post-war era. Until 1945 the author’s life vacillated between the twins Eros and Thanatos, but Eros was the stronger of the two.