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caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
4.0
The received wisdom of the Holocaust is that all the Jews went passively to their deaths like so many sheep and all Germans either committed heinous war crimes or stood passively by and allowed them to happen. There is also the notion that only Jews died in concentration camps. Then, if you're like me and find history fascinating, you read more and learn about the Warsaw Ghetto and Sobibor and partisan groups of all kinds (even Jewish ones). You learn about the resistance movements in various places (and the very real consequences to taking part in them). The literature (both fictional and non-fictional) is rich and worthwhile. Yet this is the first time that I've really understood that there was an active resistance inside Germany. Yes, I knew that the communists and trade unionists and social democrats and lots of anything else that can be imagined were purged pretty much throughout the time leading up to the war and during the war itself. Yes, I knew that there were a number of different conspiracies to assassinate Hitler. What I didn't know about was the Rote Kapelle (the Red Orchestra) and the gripping story of their courageous resistance from within the highest echelons of German society and the horrible price they paid for it.
Nelson's book documents this group in intricate well-researched detail using as many primary sources as she could get her hands on. Often characterized as Soviet spies, the group was actually filled with artists and intellectuals who passed along information to the Soviets, but who also organized and participated in various resistance efforts in their community. The horror of it all is that it was the sheer ineptitude of the Soviets that ultimately got them caught and executed. The sheer enormity of the risks these people took for so very little gain was both inspiring and terribly tragic. The cast of characters is large, but Nelson does a great job of telling this story. I'd like to say that the aftermath of their sacrifice was justice for the people who perpetrated their deaths, but those individuals were protected by the US in a misguided attempt to fight the demons of communism.
Lastly, I was struck by the information that over a period of twelve years almost 3,000,000 Germans were in and out of concentration camps and penitentiaries for political reasons. About 800,000 were arrest for overt anti-Nazi acts; of these, only 300,000 were still alive after the war so about 500,000 died resisting the Nazi government.
The thirties and the run up to the War and the War itself are crucial to understanding the world today. So much of history repeats itself again and again - the more information we have, the more nuanced our view, the more prepared we will be to fight fascism wherever it occurs.
Nelson's book documents this group in intricate well-researched detail using as many primary sources as she could get her hands on. Often characterized as Soviet spies, the group was actually filled with artists and intellectuals who passed along information to the Soviets, but who also organized and participated in various resistance efforts in their community. The horror of it all is that it was the sheer ineptitude of the Soviets that ultimately got them caught and executed. The sheer enormity of the risks these people took for so very little gain was both inspiring and terribly tragic. The cast of characters is large, but Nelson does a great job of telling this story. I'd like to say that the aftermath of their sacrifice was justice for the people who perpetrated their deaths, but those individuals were protected by the US in a misguided attempt to fight the demons of communism.
Lastly, I was struck by the information that over a period of twelve years almost 3,000,000 Germans were in and out of concentration camps and penitentiaries for political reasons. About 800,000 were arrest for overt anti-Nazi acts; of these, only 300,000 were still alive after the war so about 500,000 died resisting the Nazi government.
The thirties and the run up to the War and the War itself are crucial to understanding the world today. So much of history repeats itself again and again - the more information we have, the more nuanced our view, the more prepared we will be to fight fascism wherever it occurs.
archytas's review
4.75
For me, this was a profoundly important book. Because it reverses the common lessons about human nature taken from Germany - that governments are saviours, and people are weak brutes who secretly revel in the persecution of their neighbours. This is about those who walk into almost certain torture and death, simply because they couldn't imagine not.
I have little knowledge of WW2 history - the one modern history unit I studied chose to focus exclusively on the psychology of Hitler in covering the topic - and what I gleaned from this book was a story very different from the casual impression of Germany infatuated with Hitler, and a brave Allied army who conquered it.
Instead, Nelson unfurls a tale of a Germany racked by terror and political assassination; of a Nazi party riding to dominance on a potent mix of smart parliamentary alliances; total media control and a willingness to use mass executions to eliminate opposition. Nelson cites a figure towards the end of the book - that 3 million Germans were punished for opposing the Nazis, and 500,000 of those executed - that give some idea of both the existence and the repression of the opposition. Earlier in the book, she details the annihilation of any organised alternative to the Nazis - the Communists; the Social Democrats; the trade unions and churches who maintained independence. The swift nature of this repression led to survivors fleeing the country on masse, to "organise from exile". The organised opposition within the country by the mid-30s is shattered.
And into it's place, Nelson explains, rolls individuals like the book's protagonists. Young, idealistic couples and singles, some blue-collar workers, some intelligensia (these are the focus of the book), with no previous experience, just convinced one had to do something.
And in place of the images of the brave Allied forces, Nelson paints a compelling portrait of criminally indifferent Soviet and American spies and officials, solely concerned with their game of espionage and political alliance, with no regard at all to the fates of Germany's people, including Jews. The Soviets refusing to believe the intelligence - which included the exact dates of the invasion and the names of the towns Hitler hit - the Americans simply indifferent. Both sides urging the Resistance to cease any activity which might endanger their intelligence work - such as organising others to fight the regime, or helping Jewish residents. While Nelson never gets opinionated, this is a tale of heroes and villains, and it is the brutality of governments more concerned with playing games than saving lives that is most challenging. (A British official, asked to assist in protecting one of the activists, declines simply noting that he would make a more useful martyr than an assett).
This careless neglect results is a burying of the work of the German resistance after the war. Perhaps the most upsetting part of this book is when the Allied forces in West Berlin are so focused on defeating the Communists that they pardon Nazis, and bury the tales of the resisters they persecuted, many of whom were left-wingers. In turn, the Soviets are only interested in tales which portray Soviet sympathisers, and the German Communist Party are the sole heroes. Nelson keeps the tone factual and neutral, but her buried outrage comes through every clipped sentence.
The Red Orchestra are as much avatars for Germany as Hitler and Goring.Clearly written, methodically researched, and Nelson explains where evidence is unclear with appropriate humility and respect for the nature of reconstructing history.
I have little knowledge of WW2 history - the one modern history unit I studied chose to focus exclusively on the psychology of Hitler in covering the topic - and what I gleaned from this book was a story very different from the casual impression of Germany infatuated with Hitler, and a brave Allied army who conquered it.
Instead, Nelson unfurls a tale of a Germany racked by terror and political assassination; of a Nazi party riding to dominance on a potent mix of smart parliamentary alliances; total media control and a willingness to use mass executions to eliminate opposition. Nelson cites a figure towards the end of the book - that 3 million Germans were punished for opposing the Nazis, and 500,000 of those executed - that give some idea of both the existence and the repression of the opposition. Earlier in the book, she details the annihilation of any organised alternative to the Nazis - the Communists; the Social Democrats; the trade unions and churches who maintained independence. The swift nature of this repression led to survivors fleeing the country on masse, to "organise from exile". The organised opposition within the country by the mid-30s is shattered.
And into it's place, Nelson explains, rolls individuals like the book's protagonists. Young, idealistic couples and singles, some blue-collar workers, some intelligensia (these are the focus of the book), with no previous experience, just convinced one had to do something.
And in place of the images of the brave Allied forces, Nelson paints a compelling portrait of criminally indifferent Soviet and American spies and officials, solely concerned with their game of espionage and political alliance, with no regard at all to the fates of Germany's people, including Jews. The Soviets refusing to believe the intelligence - which included the exact dates of the invasion and the names of the towns Hitler hit - the Americans simply indifferent. Both sides urging the Resistance to cease any activity which might endanger their intelligence work - such as organising others to fight the regime, or helping Jewish residents. While Nelson never gets opinionated, this is a tale of heroes and villains, and it is the brutality of governments more concerned with playing games than saving lives that is most challenging. (A British official, asked to assist in protecting one of the activists, declines simply noting that he would make a more useful martyr than an assett).
This careless neglect results is a burying of the work of the German resistance after the war. Perhaps the most upsetting part of this book is when the Allied forces in West Berlin are so focused on defeating the Communists that they pardon Nazis, and bury the tales of the resisters they persecuted, many of whom were left-wingers. In turn, the Soviets are only interested in tales which portray Soviet sympathisers, and the German Communist Party are the sole heroes. Nelson keeps the tone factual and neutral, but her buried outrage comes through every clipped sentence.
The Red Orchestra are as much avatars for Germany as Hitler and Goring.Clearly written, methodically researched, and Nelson explains where evidence is unclear with appropriate humility and respect for the nature of reconstructing history.
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