…a deeply personal project, one that probes the meaning of language and family, inheritance and debt…Puchner's enthusiasm…inspires illuminating detours into subjects like the history of Esperanto and the birth of simultaneous interpretation at the Nuremberg trials.

"Martin Puchner’s The Language of Thieves is at its core a gripping autobiography dealing with the actions of non-Jewish Germans, both victims and perpetrators, in the Third Reich and their legacy to their children and—in Puchner’s case—their grandchildren. A brilliantly written, compelling read about language, displacement, and how the past forms all of us today."

"The Language of Thieves is a revelation: in telling the story of an underground language, Martin Puchner exposes a hidden corner of Europe’s—and his own family’s—surprising past. Entirely original, infectiously curious, by turns playful and poignant, it offers at once a fresh, fascinating insight into history and a thoughtful meditation on identity and belonging. The book sings with Puchner’s pleasure in the power of words to move, delight, deceive, and connect us."

"A deeply personal project, one that probes the meaning of language and family, inheritance and debt...[Puchner’s enthusiasm] inspires illuminating detours into subjects like the history of Esperanto and the birth of simultaneous interpretation at the Nuremberg trials. What endures is his fascination with the resourcefulness and resilience of generations of travelers, like the ones who came to his childhood home in Nuremberg, drawn by a hidden zinken."

Language impacts the world in so many ways, and in this audiobook listeners will discover how a secret language known as Rotwelsch led author Martin Puchner to discover his sordid family history. In audio, a book about language can be more powerful than its printed version, but will succeed only when, as here, the narrator delivers the words with a casual confidence that lends credibility to every word. Whether speaking Yiddish, Rotwelsch, or another language, Qarie Marshall reads flawlessly. The audiobook, complex yet never boring, raises troubling issues, including the Nazi allegiance of close family members. Marshall’s delivery reflects the work well. His style is direct, yet he excels in those moments that reveal Puchner’s emotional turmoil, such as when he discovers family secrets best left hidden. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

2020-07-28
An American professor discovers that his grandfather was a Nazi as well as a scholar with an interesting specialty.

Born in Nuremberg and now a professor of English at Harvard, Puchner made his discovery 30 years ago while studying at the Widener Library. Recalling that his German grandfather had been an archivist specializing in the history of names, he searched the card catalog for his papers and found a trove, including a 1934 article, “Family Names as Racial Markers,” which discussed Jewish names throughout history. Originally based on the Bible, they soon reflected non-Hebrew sources. Arriving in Germany in the Middle Ages, Jews often adopted German names, usually related to a location. Few chose Nuremberg, which forbade their settlement, but Frankfurter became a common Jewish name. A crucial change came after the 18th century, when nations granted Jews equal rights—“the worst mistake in history,” according to Puchner’s grandfather. En masse, Jews adopted German names, but since German Christians often chose biblical names, it became difficult to tell them apart. The author’s grandfather believed that because Jews sought to blend in to further their nefarious plans, the Reich should consult experts like himself to distinguish Jewish-sounding German names from German-sounding Jewish names. As a scholar in love with words and language, Puchner gives these priority, so his attention wanders, but the digressions are never less than intriguing. He cannot resist exploring the secret languages used by vagrants and criminals. From childhood, he was fascinated by Rotwelsch, a popular argot throughout Europe dating from the Middle Ages that contained terms from Hebrew, Yiddish, Latin, and Romani. It was regularly denounced by establishment figures, from Martin Luther to Puchner’s grandfather. The author also devotes long sections to Rotwelsch’s history, social role, and vocabulary.

A compelling mixture of memoir and philology.