How European Jews Shaped ‘The American Way’

“Look. Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman!” was the earliest television catchphrase I can recall as a boy. Never, until now, did I learn that the Superman character was created in 1935 by two Jewish men, Jerry Siegel and Joseph Shuster, whose fathers had escaped antisemitism in Europe. That’s just one of the cultural milestones embedded in the new book “The American Way: A True Story of Nazi Escape, Superman, and Marilyn Monroe” (Simon & Schuster; $28.99) as it chronicles co-author Bonnie Siegler’s grandparents’ and other family members’ persecution under the Nazis and dar…

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