[LEN-E] Leni died of cancer?

[Ron Koster]

Just to answer my own question... ;)

I just noticed that in Steven Bach's recent biography of her, he does 
mention that she had cancer. On page 296 he writes:

"A few months before the end, she had experienced stomach pains, and 
doctors opened her up to find the cause of her complaint. They closed 
her up again and told her she was in amazingly good health for a 
woman of one hundred. Maybe she was, all things considered. The 
official cause of death was cancer, but it was finally the inevitable 
triumph of time."

Apart from the aforementioned United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 
mini-biography of her on their web site, Bach's book is the only 
place I've ever heard any mention of Leni having had cancer (and the 
USHMM probably used Bach as their source, I can only assume). 
Interestingly, despite voluminous references for so many things in 
his book, Bach gives no reference at all for his statements about her 
cause of death, her having had cancer, her being "opened up".

So is it true? Does anyone have another reference for that?

This is one complaint (among several) that I have about Bach's book. 
On the one hand, he's done an admirable job of researching and 
referencing his biography of Leni, but on the other hand he hands out 
certain "facts" about her without providing any references at all, 
and comes to various quite negative "conclusions" about her based on 
what are *objectively* really quite innocuous (if not positive!) things.

Personally, although as yet I've only just skimmed through various 
sections of Bach's book and haven't read it in its entirety, I have 
also read many, many reviews of the book, plus interviews with Bach, 
not to mention that television interview of him on the Charlie Rose 
show. All in all, I find his book quite troubling with regard to many 
of the things he says, if only because of the overt -- and admitted 
-- *subjectivity* (not objectivity) of them, and even more because of 
the quite overt *propagandistic*(!) nature of his book (and all his 
subsequent promotional lectures on the topic).

In my estimation, it would seem that Bach himself hasn't learned the 
lessons of WWII, and has become exactly that sort of person which he 
so vehemently, and openly, detests. How ironic, indeed.

Ron :/

Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com
Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org
Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca