Behind Every Great Man by Marlene Wagman-Gellar
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It is true, with most of history
we think only of the men that were involved.
Hardly ever do we hear about their wives who were at home (or sometimes
by their sides) while their husbands made history. While watching Schindler’s List I
didn’t think about what Oskar Schindler’s wife was doing while he was creating
his list. To be honest, I didn’t think
Mr. Schindler even had a wife. According
to Behind Every Great Man: The Forgotten Women Behind the World’s Famous and
Infamous, he certainly did.
Behind
Every Great Man is full of women you probably either never heard of, or did
not give much thought. Even before
reading Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X I knew Malcolm X had
a wife, I just didn’t know anything about her.
Sadly, after reading the book, I still couldn’t tell you anything. I don’t know if that was because she was not
in the book much, or because I had to rush through it for a class (it has been
a long time since I read the book, so I honestly don’t know the answer). Either way, it was with Behind Ever Great
Man that I truly got to know who Betty Dean Sanders, the wife of Malcolm X,
was. Ms. Sanders (later to become Betty
Shabazz, amongst other names) grew up in a foster home where race relations
were not discussed. It was not until she
was older and out on her own that she began to see and understand the
discrimination that was happening around her.
It was this new information, and an invitation to dinner at the Nation
of Islam Temple of Harlem, that led Ms. Sanders to meeting her husband and onto
the life she was destined to lead.
Another
person whose wife I never thought about was Simon Wiesenthal’s. Again, as with Mr. Schindler, for some reason
I had it in my head that Mr. Wiesenthal did not have a wife at all. In reality, there were many times when he
almost didn’t. He and his wife, born
Cyla Müller, were separated so
many times in their early years together, and for many different reasons. At first, it was for Mr. Wiesenthal to go to
school. Then once Mr. Wiesenthal and Ms.
Müller were married, they
were split apart because of World War II.
In all honesty, it is pretty much a miracle that this husband and wife
found each other after the war. Believing
his wife to be dead, it was only by the help of others and a stroke of luck
that Mr. and Ms. Wiesenthal found each other again. After that, it was with Ms. Wiesenthal’s love
and support (even though she did not want to hear the stories) that Simon
Wiesenthal became possibly the most well-known Nazi hunter in history.
Since
I have spoken about Simon and Cyla Wiesenthal, let me go back to Oskar
Schindler and his wife Emilie. She
should have gotten so much more credit for what Mr. Schindler is famous for having
done than she did. Born Emilie Pelzl,
she helped create the list that saved I don’t know how many Jews from
execution. She was also the one who
acted as a double agent, helping the Jews during the day, and pretending to be
friends with the SS and their wives by night.
After the war, the Schindlers had to escape Poland because both those
for and against the Nazis saw the Schindlers as enemies. On top of being on the run, Ms. Schindler
also had to deal with her husband’s infidelities and money-making schemes. It was a hard life, which is why I’m glad
that in the 1990s, Ms. Schindler finally got the recognition she deserved.
I’ve
really only given you summaries of just a few of the women that are in this
book. Many of the other women I have
never heard of, but there are some I certainly have. Betty Ford (a first lady of the United
States), of course, Jane Henson (the Muppets!), and Ethel Rosenberg (always
said in connection with her husband, Julius), are some of the ones I had heard
of, amongst others. The one I probably
knew the most about was Alma Hitchcock (born Alma Reville). Having seen the movie Hitchcock, and
having watched a lot of Hitchcock films and specials, I have learned how
skilled and involved Ms. Hitchcock was in the film process. She gave suggestions and made observations
that improved the films her husband made, turning them into the classics they
are today. Ms. Hitchcock also put up
with the man himself, something that is rumored to not have been an easy feat.
While
a great many of the women written about in this book were supportive of their
husbands (frequently living devastating lives because of it), not all of them
were. Some of the women talked about
were far more interested in the money and the fame their husbands brought
them. In either case, it was fascinating
to read about each of these women, especially since so many were connected to
other well-known people even before they met their famous husbands. This just goes to show how small this world
can truly be.
With
so many men we are taught about in history, there are tons of women left to
learn about. In the back of Behind
Every Great Man there is a way to contact the author to suggest a woman you
think should have their story told. I’m
hoping this means there is another book in the works, because I would really
like to read these other women’s stories.
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