Tag: Nazi Germany

The German Wife: A Novel Book Review

War forces us to hate one another based on outside characteristics such as the nation of origin. But that does not mean, that we can see each other as human beings once the conflict ends.

The German Wife, by Kelly Rimmer, was published last year. The book follows two women as their fates are intertwined in post-war Huntsville.

Lizzie Miller experienced unimaginable loss during The Great Depression. After the war is over, she is appalled that Operation Paperclip has allowed former Nazi scientists into the country and into the most sensitive scientific work of the era. While other women in the community are eager to welcome the wives and children of these scientists, Lizzie is completely against the idea and is not silent about it.

In 1930 in Berlin, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes, whose husband is a respected academic, does not agree with the politics of the new government. But his status gives them a leg up. For this alone, she is willing to make some compromises. It slowly becomes clear that that are difficult decisions to be made. After the war, Sofie arrives in America, expecting some sort of hostility. But she has no idea that the secrets from the past are going to catch up with her.

This is an amazing book. Both Lizzie and Sofie are in a tough position. Due to circumstances forced upon them by history, they have to make choices that would otherwise not exist.

I wanted to be on Lizzie’s side. She has every right to be angry. But I also understand that Sofie is caught in an impossible position. She has two young children to take care of. But she also has her own moral compass that goes against everything she is seeing and hearing.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

The German Wife: A Novel is available wherever books are sold.

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The Right Wants to Eliminate the LGBTQ Community

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

It’s not exactly a secret that the cultural and religious right does not approve of anything other than the traditional gender binary. Anyone who does not fall into the archaic idea of what it is to be strictly “male” and “female” is therefore open to criticism, hate, and denial of rights.

As of last week, the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida extended to 12th grade. It was previously verboten for students in kindergarten to third grade. So, in essence, the first time that a young person will truly wonder about gender and sexuality will be in college. Given how much we go through by the time we reach that age, it may be a little more difficult to dismantle what we did or didn’t learn when we were younger.

Though Ron DeSantis and his allies claim that it is “parents’ rights” when it comes to what children learn in school. In a sense, it is. A parent certainly has a say in their offspring’s education. But when it is used as a smokescreen to reach a political end, it smacks of something darker and menacing that we ignore at our own peril.

In Montana, Democratic transgender state representative Zooey Zephyr was blocked by her Republican colleagues when she objected to a bill that prevents gender-affirming care to minors. As with the Tennessee Three a few weeks ago, she was silenced because she dared to speak out. Given the response from the voters and the swift backlash that the lawmakers in Tennessee received, I have every hope that she will be back in the state house sooner rather than later.

I don’t want to say this, but I feel like I have to. The comparisons to the dehumanizing of the LGBTQ community (which I am a part of) scare me to no end. In Nazi Germany, the Holocaust did not start with ghettos, mass graves, and gas chambers. It started with ugly stereotypes and caricatures that opened the door to denying my brethren their humanity and for most of them, their lives.

Their ultimate goal is to eliminate us. At best, they want to force us underground and take away our rights. At worst, they want to not exist.

Either way, it is a scary premise that we should not ignore.

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Thoughts on Yom HaShoah 2023: Book Bans, Repeating History, and A Slight Glimmer of Hope

The only way to truly learn from the past is to walk through the pain. The problem is that many of us, for a variety of reasons, are unable to walk through that pain.

Today is Yom HaShoah. Though World War II ended 77 years ago, it sometimes feels like we are still stuck in 1940s Europe. Antisemitism is on the rise. Book banning is becoming the new norm in certain parts of the country.

Last week, two African American teenagers verbally assaulted Jewish teenagers via the Nazi salute.

Beyond the obvious disgust, this incident points to the lack of education. Black people in Nazi Germany were as much a target as Jews, Roma, LGBTQ, etc.

But even with all of that, there is still light. The #StandUpToJewishHate campaign will (crossing fingers) will prevent another Holocaust.

May the memories of the 6 Million (my own relatives among them) be a blessing. #ZL

Code Name Sapphire Book Review

When one nation forces occupation on the other, there are two choices: stay silent and hope that you live to see freedom. The other is to fight against the occupier, knowing full well what the consequences could be.

Pam Jenoff‘s new novel, Code Name Sapphire, was published last month. Hannah Martel is on the run from Nazi Germany. After losing her fiance during a pogrom, she hopes that the ship she is on will take her to America and freedom. But it is sent back to Europe ( a la SS St. Louis). With nowhere else to go, she lands in Brussels and moves in with her cousin Lily and Lily’s family.

Instead of laying low, she returns to her previous resistance work, hoping that this will be her ticket out. Joining the group known as Code Name Sapphire, she meets its leader, Micheline, and Micheline’s brother, Matteo. When a mistake causes Lily’s family to be arrested and put on the list for deportation to Auschwitz, Hannah has to choose. She can continue with her resistance work or find a way to undo the damage of her error.

Jenoff does it again. Her narratives are powerful, human, and compelling, and speak to the complications that war creates. One of the things that spoke to me was the perceived comfort that Lily believed was hers. Knowing what we know now, it was merely a smoke screen that temporarily delayed the inevitable.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Code Name Sapphire is available wherever books are sold.

P.S. It is beyond disgusting that once more, the Republican Party appropriates history to fit their needs.

ARC Review: Code Name Edelweiss Book Review

History is full of lessons that are there for us to learn from. The question is, can we learn from the past or are we too stubborn/afraid to see it?

Code Name Edelweiss, by Stephanie Landsem was published this month.  Liesl Weiss is a single mother living in Los Angeles in the early 1930s. Without her husband, she is the sole caretaker of the young children and aging mother. Though her younger brother lives with them, he cares more about himself that the family. When she loses her job, everything goes to pieces.

A wanted ad leads her to Leon Lewis, a Jewish lawyer who believes that Nazis have infiltrated Hollywood and are planning to use it to spread their message. But the powers that be are putting their focus elsewhere. Without any other options in sight, Liesel accepts his offer to spy on her friends and neighbors. What starts out as a mere paycheck turns into a realization that there is a dangerous undercurrent that could destroy the country.

Based on a true story, this book is amazing. Part spy thriller and part historical fiction, it is one hell of a ride. From the word go, the danger is in the reader’s face. I love Liesel as the main character. She is a woman walking a tightrope that could tear at any moment. Torn between her conscience and doing what she needs to do to keep her family afloat, Liesel has to make a choice that could put everyone she loves in danger.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely. I would even go as far as to say that it is one of my favorite books of 2023 so far.

Code Name: Edelweiss is available wherever books are sold.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC review copy.

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World Book Review

Millions walked into Auschwitz. Only a few walked out.

Rudolph Vrba (nee Walter Rosenberg) was within the minority that lived to tell the tale. His story is told in the new book The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World. Written by Jonathan Freedland, it was published in October.

Until Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escaped the notorious concentration camp, no one outside of Nazi Germany knew that it existed. The information they shared with the world would later be known as the Vrba Wetzler report. At a mere 19 years ago age, Vrba helped to save 200,000 lives while wishing he could have saved more.

This is an amazing book. It is a heart-pounding thriller that kept my heart in my throat. For anyone who denies that the Holocaust happened, the details provided will (hopefully) wash away those doubts. The information provided is so granular that it’s as if the reader was there.

What I really liked about it was that it represented Vrba as a full human being, warts and all. For all of his heroism during the war, his life in the post-war years was complicated and far from easy.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World is available wherever books are sold.

Eternal Book Review

Growing up is never simple. We are often faced with challenges that force us to make difficult choices or face a reality that we would prefer not to.

Eternal, by Lisa Scottoline, was published earlier this year. Growing up in Rome, Marco, Sandro, and Elisabetta have been best friends since they were young. Marco is the son of a former cyclist and ardent follower of Benito Mussolini. Elisabetta was raised in an artistically inclined family, Her dream is to become a novelist. Sandro is Jewish and a promising mathematics genius.

Two major events upend the world as they know it: World War II and their teenage years. Marco loves Elisabetta. But Elisabetta loves Sandro. As their love triangle intensifies, so does the fascist government and the increasing influence of Nazi Germany.

Soon, they will all be tested. As a Jew, Sandro’s world becomes ever restricted by the antisemitic Nazi race laws. Marco gets involved in local government and Elisabetta must fend for herself. Everything and everyone they know will become unrecognizable, forcing all of them into adulthood and the complications that arise from this transition.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a reminder that the Holocaust extended to the whole of Europe. The Jews of Southern Europe were a target as much as their Central and Eastern Europe co-religionists. What was different was that Rome’s non-Jewish community did not wholeheartedly accept the ideology of the German invaders. There were many who maintained friendships with their Jewish friends and neighbors while helping them in whatever way they could.

Though it is not a quick read, it is well worth the time it takes to complete the novel. I was quickly engrossed in the tale and the changing relationship between the main characters.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Eternal is available wherever books are sold.

The Only Way to Resolve January 6th is a Repeat of the Nuremberg Trials

From a historical perspective, one of the most important legal trials was the Nuremberg Trials. Between November of 1945 and October of 1946, it laid out the cold, hard facts about the destruction and mass murder brought about by Nazi Germany.

As of now, the tentative date on which the January 6th commission will reveal an interim report is sometime this summer. I propose that when the information becomes public, Congress holds what is essentially a repeat of the Nuremberg Trials.

It should air in primetime, on every major network. The purpose of this to ensure that every American is shown how the former guy and most of the Republican party has manipulated our political norms to ensure their victory.

Now granted, there will be many who will try to downplay the evidence and replace the facts with baseless lies. But until we know the truth in its most complete form, it will continue to haunt us and threaten the values that are the core of this nation.

Republican Fuckery: MTG’s Gazpacho Comment & You Know Who’s Burning Documents

When it comes to the United States, we want to believe that the people who work at the highest levels of our government are good faith actors, even if we do not agree with them.

The last few years have proven us wrong.

Last week, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene misspoke when she referred to Capitol police as Gazpacho police. Gazpacho is a type of soup.

“Not only do we have the DC jail, which is the DC gulag, now we have Nancy Pelosi’s Gazpacho Police spying on members of Congress,”

https://giphy.com/gifs/seinfeld-soup-no-for-you-j2pOFyuTJqWj9S5qdE

What she meant to say was Gestapo. In Europe during World War II, they were the undercover arm of the police and were known for not being subtle or gentle in doing their job. I would love to laugh at her, knowing that this is not the first stupid comment she has made and it will likely not be the last. But I can’t. Once more the inappropriate use of Holocaust imagery is being used in a way that at best is misunderstood and at worst disrespectful.

In other news, he who shall not be named is accused of violating the Presidential Records Act. It requires all outgoing Presidential administrations to transfer all documentation to the National Archives. In a move that surprises no one, he is accused of taking boxes of classified documents to his home in Florida and destroying other paperwork along the way.

I don’t know about anyone else, this screams that he has something to hide. When someone is innocent of the crimes they are being accused of, they act in a certain manner. When they are guilty and know that they have done something wrong, they do anything and everything in their power to hide the evidence. The hypocrisy and silence from the right compared to the accusations leveled at Hillary Clinton during the last days of the 2016 Presidential election says it all.

Just another day of Republican fuckery in America.

The 2022 Olympics & the Uyghur Torch Bearer: History Repeats Itself

Human history is cyclical. The details may change, but the general narrative is static.

As is standard practice at the beginning of every Olympic season, the games are opened by a couple of torchbearers. As I write this, this year’s competition is held in Beijing, China. According to many journalists and media outlets, this nation has a long list of human rights abuses.

Among them is the treatment of the Uyghurs. In an attempt to quell the criticism and prove the rest of the world wrong, a Uyghur athlete was one of the competitors chosen to light the torch during the opening ceremonies. If the Chinese government thought that this would silence its critics, they were wrong.

Eighty-six years ago, Berlin was the host city for the Olympics. Like the Chinese government, the Nazi-run German government needed to put on a good face for visiting contenders and officials. They did so by “allowing” fencer Helene Mayer to compete. Her father was Jewish, her mother was not. According to the Nazi racial Laws, Mayer was a mischling. Though she was classified as a Jew and had Jewish lineage via her father, Mayer did not consider herself to be Jewish.

If history is any indicator, we have an opportunity to save lives and prevent another Holocaust. The question is, what is the rest of the world going to do? Are they going to sit idly by while innocent people are being slaughtered? Or will they step up and make it clear that what the Chinese are doing is unacceptable?

Only time will tell, but I hope that they will finally do the right thing.

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