Home » Posts tagged 'Nazi'
Tag Archives: Nazi
Killers of a Certain Age–all-female assassin squad
Killers of a Certain Age
by Deanna Raybourn
It is with mixed feelings that I review Killers of a Certain Age. I think I wanted it to have the same vibes as The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osmond, but that is not really fair. I knew going in that the story was about a group of retired female assassins, but that summary does not encapsulate Deanna Raybourn’s story satisfactorily.
The beginnings of the larger group which calls itself by the code name “the Museum” are people who were frustrated at the escape of so many Nazis who were slipping away from (and sometimes with the help of) various governments after World War II. They decided to pursue justice. When most of the Nazis had been tracked down and “disposed of,” they turned their attention to other “targets that had been scrupulously vetted and chosen because their deaths would benefit humanity as a whole.” Their mission was to bring justice, not to pursue what was lawful. Bottom line: the end justifies the means. The philosophy underlying the plot makes me uncomfortable. I am trying to disregard those feelings as I review the book.
Killers of a Certain Age has four main characters, the women who spent the last forty years killing specific targets only as assigned. They were not allowed to have outside contracts. These agents were chosen, recruited, and trained by the administration of the Museum. They trusted the board members and fully expected to live out their retirement years with a good pension. Unfortunately, there are political happenings with the organization and putting out a “hit” on these women is part of the fallout.
The backgrounds of the assassins are interesting as well as their relationships with each other. The story is told by relating current events as well as including chapters that reveal the details of prior assignments. The women are well-trained and use their respective skills to compensate for the decline of physical strength and flexibility brought on by age. The reader has a first-hand view of their plan to save themselves without hurting innocent bystanders.
Although I didn’t enjoy Killers of a Certain Age, I did appreciate the women’s attempts at dark humor. I commend the author for her writing skills and her creation of a complex plot. My favorite aspect of the book lies in the ingenious codes used to communicate secretly. I’m sure that a lot of readers will give the book two thumbs up, but it was just not the right read for me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense
Notes: Lots of violence and bad language
Publication: September 6, 2022—Berkley (Penguin Random House)
Memorable Lines:
The tunnel led into a courtyard bordered by four brick buildings, each one more decrepit than the last. The facades, linked by galleries and staircases, leaned against each other for support like elderly women having one last gossip.
We looked like a girl gang that would have the Queen as our leader, all low heels and no-nonsense curls. Mary Alice had even tucked butterscotch candies in her purse, which she handed out to porters in lieu of tips.
Two good hits and the lock dropped off. “Subtle,” she said. “Natalie, I’m tired, I am covered in mud that is at least seventy percent dead people, and I am hungry. Do not test me.”
Three Sisters–survival in the midst of death
Three Sisters
by Heather Morris
I present to you a review for a book that will transport you unwillingly from Slovakia into the death camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. The horrors are especially difficult to read about because this novel was so well researched including interviews with primary sources, two of the three sisters who are protagonists in Heather Morris’ Three Sisters. The third sister had passed away before the author began this project. Unlike some survivors of the concentration camps, these sisters talked about their experiences to people who wanted to hear, especially their family members. These relatives were a treasure trove of information about the camps, the Nazi selections of individuals, hiding from the SS, and the kindness and treachery of nonJews.
Family, of course, is very important to Cibi, Magda, and Livi, the three sisters. Their father makes them promise to always stay together and support each other. Their grandfather gives them the mantra of “hope and strength” which they carry with them through the worst of times. Later they can joke about bad conditions by comparing them to the deprivation they experienced in the camps.
Three Sisters is a hard book to read, but another worthwhile reminder to not allow this history to repeat itself. Ironically, the last part of the book which was about happier times brought the strongest emotional response from me. This reaction is a tribute to Heather Morris as a storyteller who, despite the tragic subject matter, brings her characters to life in such a way that you feel like you really know them and you understand them as much as is possible as an outside observer.
I recommend this book. I know these characters will stay with me for a long time.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: by the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Publication: October 5, 2021—St. Martin’s Press
Memorable Lines:
As the plaintive cries of their families fade, new voices—angry, hate-filled voices—greet them as they make their passage through the town. Their former friends and neighbors are hurling rotten fruit and stale bread at their heads, yelling their joy that the Jews are finally leaving. Cibi and Livi are stunned by the taunts, the full-throated bile being dispensed from snarling mouths.
…they will never forget their desperation to put something, anything, in their stomachs. These days they savor every mouthful, but, more than that, they cherish the freedom to move around the city as they choose, no longer under the watchful and penetrating gaze of a kapo or worse, an SS officer.
Cibi thinks about the space in her heart where God used to live and wonders, for a second, if the peace she feels in her sisters’ arms is a sign that maybe He never really left.
The Warsaw Orphan–survival in the Ghetto
The Warsaw Orphan
by Kelly Rimmer
World War II is a popular subject for historical fiction. There are so many countries involved along with a variety of religions and philosophies. Lots of major political figures vie for power. Lives are turned upside down, families destroyed, and cultural icons demolished. In the midst of this upheaval, the citizens of Poland find themselves in a tug of war between Nazi Germany and the Red Army of the Soviet Union.
Roman, raised Catholic, is part Jewish. As a teenager he feels compelled to keep his Jewish family safe and later to fight from the Warsaw Ghetto with the Resistance for Poland’s freedom. Emilia (known as Elzbieta on her false identity papers) finds a way to work daily in the Ghetto under horrible conditions to help the people there who are overcrowded and sick from diseases and malnutrition. Their paths cross, and Roman and Emilia begin a friendship that lasts across the years.
In The Warsaw Orphan, Kelly Rimmer creates three dimensional characters who change and mature as a result of both growing up and experiencing the dramatic events that the war brings into their lives. They both see and endure things no one should have to—especially not teenagers. There are many characters of note and none of them see life as black and white. Many events take place in the grey area of life where one’s values and necessities do not line up perfectly. Some of the characters are Christian, some are Jewish, and others are atheists. Some are moral, decent people while others are torturing murderers.
The plot is told alternately from Roman’s and Emilia’s points of view. This is an effective way of narrating this story as it takes us on the personal journey each has to endure. There are decisions the characters have to make that affect others, not just themselves. The plot leads the reader through the many emotions that engulf the characters: grief, fear, shame, guilt, revenge. There are also moments of kindness, love, protectiveness, and generosity.
I thought The Warsaw Orphan was good, but the final fourth of the book was both surprising and riveting. You can’t expect a book about WWII to be filled with happiness and light, but I was amazed at Rimmer’s creative abilities to put her characters in desperate situations and then resolve them in a hopeful and rational way.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction, General Fiction
Publication: June 1, 2021—Harlequin (Graydon House)
Memorable Lines:
Bystanders have allowed themselves to be convinced that the Jews are not like us, and as soon as you convince someone that a group of people is not human, they will allow you to treat them as badly as you wish.
Those agonizing weeks during the Uprising confirmed that art is not always for the viewer. Sometimes the very act of creating can mean salvation for the artist.
As punishment for our decision to rebel, our homes, our libraries, our monuments and our infrastructure would be reduced to dust. It wasn’t enough that they had taken our people and our homes—they were going to take what was left of our culture.
The Medallion–for the love of a child
The Medallion
by Cathy Gohlke
What is worse than being a Pole during World War II? Being a Jew.
And what is worse than either? Being a Polish Jew, a target for abuse, humiliation, torture and destruction.
The Medallion by Cathy Gohlke tells the story of two families whose lives and deaths become joined through the horrors and hardships of life in Poland in World War II. Janet is a Polish fighter pilot married to Sophia, an English citizen, alone in Poland, but with a heart for Jewish children. Rosa has to make the most difficult decision possible to save her beloved daughter’s life. Her husband Itzhak, an electrician, endures the most horrific task assigned to any person by the Nazis, digging up mass graves with his bare hands. Can anything good possibly emerge from the desperation of this story?
Many of the characters in The Medallion are fictional, but are inspired by interviews and textual research. Some are found in history, including Irena Sandler who rescued 2,500 children and Dr. Janusz Korczak who ran an orphanage.
The tales of these two families are difficult to read but also inspiring. Towards the end of the book, when the war is over and all should be well, it isn’t. Sophia finds herself in a moral and personal crisis of faith that intimately affects the lives and futures of herself and those she loves most.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Tyndale House Publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian, Historical Fiction
Notes: The end of this book also includes discussion questions, notes to the reader about the writing of this book, and historical notes.
Publication: June 4, 2019—Tyndale House Publishers
Memorable Lines:
“Adonai makes a way when there appears no way. It is His specialty. Remember the Red Sea.” The words of her old friend came back to her, just as they did so often when Sophie felt at her wits’ end.
The Germans wanted to make certain that Poles were equipped only to follow orders, mostly for menial labor. They espoused the belief that a thinking Pole was a dangerous Pole. Hence, Polish schools were closed and thousands upon thousands of children did not learn to read or write—unless they were taught in secret.
“We’re not meant to handle life alone, Sophie. It’s too hard, too unpredictable, too messy and big. There is One who is willing and ready to help, to travel with us, if we let Him.”
The Only Woman in the Room–beauty, talent, and brains
The Only Woman in the Room
by Marie Benedict
We meet Hedy Kiesler as a young actress in Vienna, Austria, in 1933 just as munitions manufacturer Friedrich (Fritz) Mandl begins courting her. Europe is on the cusp of war, and Hitler has started his attack on Jews. Under other circumstances, Hedy’s parents might have refused permission for the courtship, but they could see the benefit of a marriage to the rich, powerful, and well connected man.
Unfortunately, Mandl’s character changes after their marriage, and he becomes abusive and controlling. Hedy’s father had encouraged her as a child in studying many subjects, especially the sciences. Hedy teams her interest in science with her position as an ornament at dinner parties to listen in on the conversations of dangerous and powerful guests in the Mandl home. Later, after escaping from Fritz, she tries to use that knowledge to save lives as Hitler continues his military advances.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part deals with Hedy, her marriage, and the entrance of the United States into the war. The second focuses on her two careers after her escape from Fritz: one as the famous Hedy Lamarr (her new, non-German sounding, stage name) and the other as an inventor. Her talents as an actress and her incredible beauty outweigh her potential contributions to the war effort in the eyes of the men in power at that time.
In The Only Woman in the Room, Marie Benedict has created a historical novel about a very complex woman living in times that were difficult for everyone, but especially for women. It is important to remember that even though the book is well researched, Benedict is basically filling in the skeleton of a plot with details, some of which are true and others that only might have occurred. In this book Hedy is overcome with guilt over hearing Hitler’s plans but not doing anything about them. She doesn’t believe in God, but she is dogged by a fear that she has not done enough to make up for her silence and inaction. Of course, as she finds out later, as a woman there was little she could contribute that would be valued. During the last part of the book, I couldn’t help but wonder whose scales she was concerned about—her own sense of morality, public opinion, or judgement by a higher being. That was never clarified and yet it appeared to be a driving force for her.
I liked this book but not as much as Benedict’s two prior books, The Other Einstein and Carnegie’s Maid. All three novels address the hidden contributions of women. All three ladies are women of talent and intellect operating under difficult circumstances. All deserve respect, but I think I can empathize more with Mileva, Einstein’s first wife, and with Clara, a lady’s maid in Andrew Carnegie’s household. Hedy was born into privilege and by virtue of her beauty moved in important social circles. Although perhaps it shouldn’t, that background erects a barrier for me.
The Only Woman in the Room is a well-written and well-researched historical novel. Benedict specializes in drawing out the stories of women whose intellectual abilities have been overlooked. It will be interesting to see whose story she will discover and share in her next historical novel.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Sourcebooks Landmark for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Historical Fiction
Publication: January 8, 2019—Sourcebooks Landmark
Memorable Lines:
I’d become like one of the Rembrandts on the wall or the antique Meissen porcelain on the sideboard. Simply another priceless, inanimate decoration for Fritz to display, a symbol of his wealth and prowess.
It seemed that my best chance of undermining the Third Reich—and ensuring that a German submarine or ship never again harmed a ship full of refugee children—might be to somehow use the knowledge I’d gathered to capitalize on the weakness in the German torpedo systems.
“I must admit it would be hard for us to sell our soldiers and sailors on a weapons system created by a woman. And we’re not going to try.”
education pathways 