Half-Jew ~ Full Life
A Hybrid Holocaust and American Dream Story
With an Aryan mother and Jewish father, he would have been spared most of the horrors of the Holocaust. However, he decides to become a bar mitzvah the very week that the Nuremberg Laws are enacted. With that singular act, he puts the label “Jew” on himself. But this is no ordinary Holocaust story – if, indeed, any Holocaust story can be deemed “ordinary.” Pips’s Holocaust experience is distinct in several ways. First, he was a voluntary Jew. Second, when the deportations started, he chose to go underground in Berlin, hiding in the belly of the Nazi beast. Third, he was arrested four times and escaped three times. He could have escaped a fourth time, but realizing he had nowhere to go in a war-ravaged city, he thought being held prisoner was the better option. Finally, his wartime life in Nazi Germany wasn’t marked only by persecution—his life was saved several times by his very persecutors.
Pips’s decision to forgo a fourth escape was consequential in more ways than one. The prison in which he was interned morphed into a displaced persons camp when Germany surrendered in May 1945. There he spotted a young Hungarian beauty, Olga Horvath, who had arrived after surviving Auschwitz and the Death March to Bergen Belsen. Olga would become his wife and partner in scaling the ladder of the American Dream.
After two years living in the chaos of post-war Berlin, Olga and Pips received their papers for emigration to America. Arriving with nothing but a single trunk, they started their life in New York in a Bronx apartment shared with a Berlin refugee family. Lacking any professional training—his education was cut off at the age of 15—Pips began working as a waiter and then as a bicycle messenger, but he ended up co-owning the largest photo agency in the world (never having possessed a camera in his life). Along the way, they criss-crossed paths with the celebrities of their day, they took road trips across the US and vacationed in exotic places.
As Pips’s career progressed, he moved with his wife from the Bronx to a basement apartment in Brooklyn. From there, they moved to apartments in Kew Gardens, a leafy enclave with an unusual number of famous residents. Their final step up the ladder was an aerie at 860 UN Plaza, a gleaming Manhattan tower that, at one time, was considered the premier residence in New York City. It is from there that the chronically depressed Olga jumped from the roof to a terrible death. But Pips, ever the survivor, filled the void by confronting Berlin after decades of absence and by traveling to Israel, the country of his dreams. He also dealt with Olga’s absence in more sordid ways at a strip club he frequented and with two favourite sex workers to whom he had become attached.
Throughout his life, Pips wanted nothing more than to be accepted as a full Jew. He believed that he had nothing meaningful to leave behind. “I am the last of my family. So, when I’m dead, I’m finished. My family will have become extinct, and my only hope for survival beyond me is the knowledge that my tribe, the Jewish people, will survive.”
Praise for HALF-JEW ~ FULL LIFE:
“This is the astounding story of someone who belonged to a group that seldom get their histories told—mischlings—in this case with an Aryan mother and Jewish father. Amidst terror and mass death "Pips" is always larger than life—choosing, out of love, to be Jewish rather than save himself from deportation, going underground and surviving Gestapo arrests and imprisonment, hiding pillar-to-post including in a brothel run by a giantess; protected as the "pet Jew" of an SS officer, somehow walking away, leaping off a train, doing whatever it took to make it through the war. Georgette Bennett's jaw-dropping, page-turning book reads as comedy amidst horror, invincible life force against the odds of survival, and then, in America, an epic of genius chuztpah. And like all the most brilliant biographies it makes you wish you had known Pips in person. But by the end of the book you pretty much do.”
—Sir Simon Schama, broadcaster, historian, and author of many ground-breaking books, including Rembrandt’s Eyes and Landscape and Memory
“If Pip’s journey in Dickens’s Great Expectations was marked by ambition and transformation in the world of fiction, meet “Pips”—the real-life “Gary” Phillips (born Gerd Phillipsohn)—whose expectations were shaped by history itself. Half-Jew—Full Life isn’t a novel. It’s a riveting plunge into the heart of the Holocaust and the hope that survived its darkest depths. What makes Pips’s extraordinary life so unforgettable is Georgette Bennett’s remarkable gift as a storyteller. With a detective’s determination and a historian’s understanding, Bennett crafts his story from years of Pips’s own tape recordings, blending his voice, her memories, and deep historical context into a narrative as intimate as it is cinematic. In fulfilling her pledge to tell Pips’s story, she has not only given her late cousin-in-law his due. She has given us a character for the ages.”
— Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University
“Georgette Bennett magically weaves the extraordinary tale of Pips—the blond and blue-eyed child of a Christian mother—who embraces Judaism at the worst of times. Against all odds, he grabs hold of life, survives and prospers, and always finds and builds love to pull him through. This story, so wonderfully told, could not be more evocative of how we all need to live and so uplifting for our times. Half-Jew—Full Life is a book that belongs on everyone’s night table! But be warned, you won’t be able to put it down!!”
— Anthony Marx, President of the New York Public Library
“My work, in the theatre and in film, is constantly focused on one thing—storytelling. As Shakespeare repeatedly demonstrates, the drama is magnetic when exposing criminality, or celebrating moral fortitude, but these aims are most successfully achieved in his tragedies, comedies and histories, through the narrative. The true story we are told in Half-Jew—Full Life is riveting, as the reader experiences the nightmare of living through the Nazi determination to eliminate all Jews, but then, onwards through to life in New York during the second half of the 20th century, and on into the 21st. Following the journey of Gerd Philipsohn, whom we come to know as Pips, through persecution to survival to happiness, we become deeply emotionally involved in his story. That is the achievement of the brilliant storyteller, Georgette Bennett.”
— Sir Trevor R. Nunn, multiple Tony Award winning former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theater
“As an actor, I’ve had the privilege of playing many memorable roles. The greatest endorsement I can offer Georgette Bennett’s book is that I’d like to play Pips, the subject of her deeply intimate recounting of a unique character. She has succeeded in bringing an exceptional man to life, while humanizing the Holocaust and recent history. Along the way, she educates us about modern European history—Germany and Berlin, in particular—Jewish cultural life, the plight of refugees, celebrity culture, and “the American Dream.” All this is done in a fast-paced, poignant narrative that reads like a novel. Pips’s adventures are funny, harrowing, and improbable. But they’re real – and that makes his story all the more compelling. Half-Jew—Full Life takes you through the arc of an exceptional life, from birth to death, and stays with you long after the last heartrending sentence.”
— F. Murray Abraham, Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Grammy Award winner
“In her searing, deeply personal memoir, Georgette Bennett provides a guided tour of history’s darkest landscape during its cruelest hour. Steeped in history, the narrative is at the same time chillingly, ominously contemporary. Confronting the incendiary issue of our era, racial and religious identity, Half Jew, Full Life offers an eyewitness account of unthinkable, unspeakable horror that is also an eloquent testament to the resilience of the human spirit.”
— Richard Walter, author of Deadpan
“The story of Gary “Pips” Phillips slices through the history of Germany like a bleeding sword, a sharpened knife, a cleaver to the heart—I’m weeping and laughing and crying as the story of this little boy emerges from the vivid writing of his friend, Georgette Bennett. She paints the picture of his traumatic life as a child born of a Christian mother and Jewish father—whose faith he follows. This brought him close to death 1000 times and then life flung him into the world like a broken shining shield. Georgette Bennett has written the portrait—and she is a wonderful writer, bringing pages to the life of the story of her friendship, shared by her husband, Learned Polanski with their friend “Pips” and his kindness to them both. I could not put down the book. Bennett’s story of her friendship with Pip and his kindness to her through her life paint a picture of a hero, a gentleman, a survivor, and a truly determined soul whose whole life was survival; a flag against the demons of history, the horrors of dictatorship. His life breaks the heart. I was so moved by the story—the one we know and the one that rips through our hearts. We need his story today, to arm us, to inform us, to give us the courage to go on, to be brave, to be fearless.
God bless you “ Pips,” and thank you
— Judy Collins, Grammy winning singer-songwriter & author
A brave and timely proposal to name, investigate, and ultimately stop a new crime–the mass murder of millions of people for their faith.
Religion-related violence is the fastest spreading type of violence worldwide. Attacks on religious minorities follow a clear pattern and are preceded with early warning signs. Until now, such violence had no name, let alone a set of policies designed to identify and prevent it. A unique attempt to create a new moral and legal category alongside other forms of persecution and mass murder, Religicide explores the roots of atrocities such as the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Bosnian war, and other human rights catastrophes. The authors tap into their decades of activism, interreligious engagement, and people-to-people diplomacy to delve into a gripping examination of contemporary religicides: the Yazidis in Iraq, the Rohingya in Myanmar, Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists in China, and the centuries-long efforts to wipe out Indigenous Americans. Yet, even in the face of these horrific atrocities, the authors resist despair. They amplify the voices of survivors and offer a blueprint for action, calling on government, business, civil society, and religious leaders to join in a global campaign to protect religious minorities.
Praise for RELIGICIDE :
"This is a timely and richly informed reminder of the central place that religious and cultural conflict has in our contemporary world. It is also a reminder of how religion can be misused to attack the liberal secularism upon which we depend to protect our human rights."
-Sir Simon Schama is University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University
“Naming something gives us the power to fight it. That’s what White and Bennett do in their call to name the violence against religious groups… And you’ll see why protecting religion is a moral imperative for the most secular of global power brokers.”
-Erin Burnett, News Anchor, Outfront, CNN
"Religicide offers a visionary and pragmatic roadmap to curb religiously motivated violence. The authors transcend conventional foreign policy wisdom by proposing unprecedented engagement of religious leaders and civil society to cultivate peace, justice, and healing for the communities most at risk."
-Queen Noor of Jordan
"How can our conflicted, crisis-plagued world, where over 80% of people identify with some religion, have a healthier, more peaceful future that respects our pluralist reality? The global achievements of Georgette Bennett and Jerry White in both religious and secular spheres give their answer unique credibility and weight. They not only offer a prophetic, realistic, and well-researched response to the ways in which religions are being horrendously and increasingly persecuted today; they also propose a practical solution that they themselves have begun to realise. Their vision of how a Global Covenant of Religions can in practice mobilise towards a better global future is the wisdom our century most needs."
-David F. Ford OBE, Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus, University of Cambridge
"This sophisticated analysis identifies the gaps in human rights law and provides realistic correctives for those gaps. As has been the case time and again in these authors’ distinguished careers, Religicide pulls no punches in revealing the limits of the UN and other international bodies on which we depend for security. But its prescription for derailing anti-religious violence goes far beyond officialdom to tap the economic, political, and social, resources, local and national, that can be mobilized in a comprehensive covenant to protect oppressed religious groups. Religicide is a must-read for diplomats, policy makers, religious leaders, scholars, and anyone who cares about human rights and religious freedom."
-Rabbi David Saperstein, former U. S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and Director Emeritus, Religion Action Center of Reform Judaism
""Religicide" is a new word for an old problem. Nevertheless, we are witnessing acts of violence perpetrated against religious minorities at a scale not seen in centuries. The authors of this indispensable volume have not only documented these crimes, they have given the victims a voice and offered some measure of hope for the world’s most vulnerable religious communities. This is a timely and invaluable collection. "
-Reza Aslan, author of No god but God and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
“This timely book offers an opportunity for policymakers, activists, and diverse religious leaders to dive deeper into the underlying causes of anti-religious violence.”
-Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, from Religicide Foreword
THOU SHALL NOT STAND IDLY BY is my account of finding an entry point to take on an intractable humanitarian crisis through humanitarian diplomacy. It is a largely untold story of unprecedented and improbable partnerships between Syrians and Israelis, sworn enemies, who rose above mutual suspicion and hatred in order to alleviate terrible suffering. We had to navigate politics while keeping a tight focus on the critical task of delivering life-saving aid. That human story is told against the background of geopolitical obstacles that threatened our work at every turn. While I’ve built what we did and what we learned into policy recommendations, THOU SHALL NOT STAND IDLY BY is also a guide for anyone of good will who wants to find a way to help, but doesn’t know how to get started. It has been said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in Syria, making this book particularly timely.
Praise for THOU SHALT NOT STAND IDLY BY :
"Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By is the story of one of the most important and improbable humanitarian initiatives of our time. In turn inspiring, heartbreaking, and exhilarating, this book is above all a testament to how a few determined people can change one tortured corner of the world. Anyone concerned with the future of the Middle East—with the future of humanity—should read this powerful book.”
--Yossi Klein Halevi, Senior Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, Author, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
"Georgette Bennett is not one to stand idly by, and when confronted with the Syrian refugee crisis of historic proportions, she dove in to find a way to help. She never took no for an answer, pulled out all the stops to corral governments, armies, organizations, and civil society to stop their real wars and their turf wars to cooperate, at least in ‘the crevices,’ to help people most in need on a huge scale, and in doing so building new relations across long-time enemies. This is humanitarian diplomacy at its best, engineered by a civilian Jewish woman of conviction in a region where any or all of those can get you in huge trouble. Not only is the blow by blow riveting, but here is a story to inspire all of us to use what we have at our disposal to help each other as humans, and to get past the rigidities which have left way too many as collateral damage.”
—Anthony Marx, President and CEO, New York Public Library
"Georgette Bennett has turned her life story into a force for humanity. When she sees suffering, she takes personal and moral responsibility to do something about it. The Syria war is a stain on humanity and this book shows what it means to stand by Syrians suffering at the hands of their own government. The world needs more people like Georgette Bennett.”
—David Miliband, President, International Rescue Committee and former UK Foreign Secretary
"Georgette Bennett is truly one of our better angels, caretaking all of us by caretaking those most in need: Syrian refugees. A child of the Holocaust, she is also the woman who established the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian refugees. Refugees everywhere need everyone’s help all over the world and Georgette Bennett is on the front lines of it all. We owe her a debt of gratitude.”
—Mandy Patinkin, Actor, Activist on behalf of refugees
"This remarkable book is a testament to three things: first, the inhumanity that persists in the world, seen in the brutal treatment by the Syrian regime of millions of its own people. Second, the painstaking, behind-the-scenes and largely thankless work that goes into trying to help those suffering on a massive scale. And third, the difference that one person can make. It's the story of Georgette Bennett, private citizen with a steely determination to come to their rescue, who found the unlikeliest of benefactors, and to this day, simply refuses to give up.”
—Judy Woodruff, Anchor and Managing Editor, The PBS NewsHour
Blessed are the peacemakers and blessed is Georgette Bennett. In this fascinating and well written book she describes her dogged efforts to help those devastated by conflict and search for ways to bring people of differing faiths together. The stories she tells are an important reminder that we could all do more to try to make the world a better place.”
—Fareed Zakaria, Host, CNN GPS
This explosive and thought-provoking investigation goes to the heart of America’s fear of crime by taking on the most common myths and sets them straight. Looking at crime as the sum of complex social forces, I draw upon the nation’s trends in demographics, politics, economics, religion, technology, education, and law to project the patterns that crime will follow in the future. Crimewarps shows how crimes are defined in and out of existence relative to the climate of the times. The book is organized around six major displacements of crime patterns or crimewarps. It separates the white-collar crimes that are a growing threat from the violent street crimes that are declining. We learn why women and old people will be the new criminals and why crime is shifting from the Frost Belt to the Sunbelt. The book explores new forms of crime that are emerging from changes in the economy and why most “vice” will be legalized. Despite high-tech responses to crime, “Big Brother” will sneak up on us through our neighbors. Finally, the book shows how the political process is creating a growing menace to the Bill of Rights and demonstrates just how far we’re willing to go in our desperation for law and order.
Praise for CRIMEWARPS:
"[This] highly regarded book analyzes the ripple effect of intersecting new social forces in changing the nature of crime and society's changing responses to crime. It has attracted as much praise as it has caused commotion:'
-Washington Post
"A Megatrends of crime: fascinating speculations on America's next half-century of law-breaking and enforcement from a top criminologist. A ground-breaking book, solidly researched but easy to digest:'
-Kirkus Reviews
"Crime remains one of people's most pressing concerns and government'sgreatest challenge. This book explores every aspect of crime today and dares to predict what it will be tomorrow. And it is not justabout crime, but about our whole society and where we are headed.It may not always prove right, but it certainly is insightful and intelligent-full of fluent, fact-packed, provocative prognostications--
of value to anyone interested in understanding crime and trying to stop it."
- Governor Mario M. Cuomo
"Through the prism of crime in America, Georgette Bennett takes a myth-shattering look at our culture with implications and predictions for the future of crime, personal values, civil liberties, sex roles, etc. I found CRIMEWARPS powerful and provocative, an unusual view of our society and the direction it is taking."
-Norman Lear
“Dr Georgette Bennett’s book is must reading for criminologists and laypersons alike concerned about our criminal justice system. The author, a respected expert in this area, provides new and invaluable insights about justice and crime. A unique aspect of the book is a perceptive analysis by the author of the deleterious influence of the radical right in opposing efforts to deal reasonably and effectively with crime and its consequences to society.”
—The Honorable Arthur J. Goldberg, former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
“Only a sociologist could provide such an encompassing, penetrating, well-written analysis of crime as Dr. Bennett did.”
—Dr. Amitai Etzioni, author of An Inmodest Agenda: Rebuilding America Before the 21st Century and director of the Center of Policy Research
“Georgette Bennett is highly qualified to write Crimewarps. Dr. Bennett makes you think, and when you have a thinker writing a book like this, there is always some controversy. I found this book to be both controversial and stimulating.”
—The Reverend Dr. Bill Graham
