- A historical novel and a thriller based on a PhD Dissertation from Columbia University. The book reveals dark secrets of Nazi plans in Central America to take over the Panama Canal and the hidden lives of both Nazis and anti Nazis, Americans and Germans who were trapped in love and hate stories. A pleasure to read and Jewish and Gay humor at its best.- Jacobo Schifter, born in Costa Rica and a Ph.D from Columbia University, is currently Director of ILPES, a regional center for research and training. Dr Schifter who is one of the most prolific writers in Latin America, has written books on the Costa Rica Civil War, U.S-relations, and Costa Rican Antisemitism. He has also published controversial books in the States on male prostitution (Lila´s House, Haworth Press 1998), prisoners (Macho Love, Haworth Press, 1999); transvestites (From Toads to Queens, Haworth Press, 1999, a Lammy Finalist. He has published three more books with the Haworth Press(Public Sex, 2000; The Sexual Construction of Latino Youth, 2000 and Latino Truck Driver Trade, 2000).- In this novel, based on his Ph.D Dissertation at Columbia University, the author reveals his talent for storytelling and provides a striking account of Hitler's persecution of Polish Jews all the way to Central America, and how they fought against his plans for their destruction. The novel also reveals these immigrant's internal struggles for their personal liberation with regard to women's and gay rights, both in Germany, Poland, and Central America. It deals, for the first time, on issues of the 1930's and 40's, which no one had unearthed before, specially those relating to Nazi war efforts to take control over the Panama Canal. A must read for both its academic and riveting narrative.- The Sikoras are dying out! I shouted as I awoke. The Sikoras are dying out! The long dream had started in the Jewish cemetery. The graves of my maternal relatives seemed to be going up everywhere, two or three under construction while the cement was still fresh on the others, like a poorly planned but teeming slum of the dead. While the Schifters, my father's family, were reproducing like yeast, my mother's side was experiencing a population implosion. Before long, there would be more of us within the cemetery's brick walls than out. Hector asked me to calm down. Stop bringing the house down with your shouting, he said.There are still some relatives of your mother left. It's true that some of them are a little mentally defective, but there are others who can keep the species alive. You mean I had a nightmare? I asked. Another one,he said, referring to the dreams I had been having all week. I guess you won't be able to go to sleep right away. So, he added without much enthusiasm, why don't you tell me your dream? It might help you to settle down . San José's Jewish cemetery is located in a southwestern district of Costa Rica's capital, behind the much larger Catholic cemetery. The property was bought on April 19, 1931; my grandfather, David Sikora, was one of the promoters of the project. In one of the early dreams in the series, I saw him signing a check and handing it over to the seller in the name of the few Jews then living in the country. I intend to have my wife join me here, he told the seller, and I want a plot for her. If I have to strangle her one day, I don't want her buried in the streets like a dog…..