Stranger than fiction?

[winter]

If a book told about the male half of a pair of beautiful Jewish twins, flamenco dancers, who after his sister's death in the Shoah dressed up as her, sewing dresses and, with the help of an old German fan, becomes an assassin in the Jewish resistance, you'd say the author was being fanciful. Especially if they went on to describe the way the man assumed his sister's stage name and performed for years as Dolores, though he failed to teach Elvis Presley how to use the castanets ("Lovely man, but they just weren't for him.") Now he's ninety years old and fixing watches, aiding people with telling real gold from fake, helping crippled pigeons and yes, flamenco dancing in a new dress.

Sylvin Rubinstein. Something about this story touches me. I need to track down that documentary of his life.

Comments

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

awesome story, thanks for the link !

[winter]

I read the story today in the paper - the author conducted an interview with Sylvin and tracked down some people who remembered him from his resistance days. It's just kind of unbelievable in the transvestite flamenco assassin way, but Sylvin himself sounds so... nice and scary at the same time. He says he etched each killing into his mind, feeding on it like a hyena.

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

He sounds fascinatingly and beautifully compelling on so many levels. And seriously, transvestite flamenco assassin? That is the most incredible thing ever.

[winter]

That guy's a walking book in himself. And really, it's amazing how much Sylvin and Malke looked alike:

Sylvin now, Sylvin in 1930s, Malke in 1930s

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

If you get German tv channels, it's part of a four-part series called "Schicksale im Dritten Reich" that's aired occasionally on the smaller channels. I've seen about half of it a while ago, and it was a fascinating story.

[winter]

I'll have to look into it, though I think we only get two German channels now. I haven't watched TV in ages ^^;

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

It was on MDR last November, so they might show it again at some point. If I notice it, I'll give you a poke. :-)

[winter]

Thanks :) With the article in the paper, they might just show it around here too - I'll just ask Mother to look it up in the copyright system at the public TV, she administers it ;)

[carmentalis.livejournal.com]

*grin* Useful connection!

[applegnat.livejournal.com]

Wow. Thanks for sharing. This is pretty awesome stuff!

[winter]

Makes me feel a bit better about the characters I make up ;) I love the weirdest of WWII stories, even the true ones - a book I need to read is about a real event, when a camp survivor collecting stories was visited by an ex-camp guard who admitted it freely and waxed poetic on a male prisoner who'd been his lover at the camp, and what "good care" he'd taken of him. The same writer, in an interview, mentioned another camp love affair, a male prisoner and a female guard of the female prisoners, with him boasting of how gullible she was and her going to his mother on her vacation time, bringing food and news of her son...

[arabwel.livejournal.com]

Awesome :D *fangirls*

[reynardine.livejournal.com]

That is just incredible. What a story.

[winter]

There's a description in the interview, of his first kill - in the street, breaking the neck of a man who'd just shot a little Jewish girl in cold blood - that just gives me this image. It'll stay with me for long, that's for sure.

[winter]

I mean, the only thing cooler could be if he were a ninja on top of everything else :>

[arabwel.livejournal.com]

Yup :D

... must.. not... see.. howe.. many.. Gary Stu.. points.. he.. scores.. must.. not... ;:D

[winter]

Tons, probably :D Especially seeing as he used to seduce the Nazis to get them alone for assassination purposes. I mean, you read a book like that and you go "yeah, right, like that could happen..."

[arabwel.livejournal.com]

truth is stranger than fiction, always :D

[applegnat.livejournal.com]

All of this is fascinating - it's especially interesting to note how not only humanity, but also poetry and fiction can, contrary to the famous utterance, be possible after such an evil occurrence. What book is this, may I ask - and is it available in English?

[hotbeast.livejournal.com]

Historia brzmi jak scenariusz jednego z filmów Pedro Almodovara :)

[winter]

Dokladnie to samo powiedziala moja mama :)

[gisho.livejournal.com]

... As Donna Barr says, "I gave up trying to out-weird history long ago."

Because it's simply not possible. Wow. Such a weird yet nifty life!

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. Thanks for linking.

[winter]

It kind of makes me feel better about my own writing, because there's a way to go before it's implausible in reality ;)

[winter]

I just read the interview and went O_o I thought it might have been all a hoax, but there were witnesses and evidence and everything. They tracked down the daughter of a guy he mentioned, and she (now 72) said, "Sylvin? Oh yes, he was so fun. In the resistance with my older brother, and when he dressed up as a girl, no-one could tell the difference."

I love these stories, really.

[winter]

The book is Rudolf, written by Marian Pankowski. It does have an English edition and is usually classified as gay literature. I haven't read it, alas - just read an interview with the author.