A former professor descends into darkness in this provocative story of a Nazi soldier torn between duty and conscience.East Prussia, Nazi Germany, 1939. History professor Erik Mueller is a model citizen and a family man. He’s also a decorated sergeant in the Gestapo. Proving his courage on the battlefields of Poland and the Soviet Union, and proud of the German army’s victories across Europe, he … across Europe, he embraces what he thinks is the righteousness of the Third Reich’s cause.
But his loyalties are soon tested when he crosses paths with his old university friend Trude Bensheim. Forced into unemployment for being Jewish, Trude and her husband start a secret organization to help Jews escape Germany. But when they are betrayed by someone they thought they could trust, their lives hang in the balance.
Erik feels responsible for Trude’s capture, and he knows he’s in a position to help them. But when everything he holds dear is at stake, will he save his friends…or himself?
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Not realistic, inconsistant
4 stars
Erik Mueller is an SS Sergeant in charge of a small unit as the Germans get ready to invade Poland in 1939. He faces fierce fire, boredom and the questionable actions of his superior. He is in line for a promotion until he voices his concerns to Lieutenant Sauer – the person who shot two unarmed Polish men. He is married to Corina and has a daughter named Greta. Corina is a social climber and a fanatical believer in the Nazi propaganda. His parents live with the family. A part of this book is told from his point of view on the frontlines of the war.
The other point of view is told from Trude Bensheim’s, a Jewish woman who is married to Johannes and has a daughter named Britta. Johannes was an activist who was obtaining visas for other Jewish persons but failed to get his own family out of Germany in time. They are hiding in their apartment, hoping against hope that the Gestapo doesn’t find them before they can think of a way out of the country.
After charging a machine gun nest almost singlehandedly and killing all five occupants, the Captain of the platoon promoted Erik to Lieutenant. They move through Belgium, France and head to Russia. All goes not too badly until they get just outside of Moscow.
Meanwhile Trude and her family are not faring well. In a last ditch attempt to escape and for an exorbitant sum of money, they are assured that a ship awaits them. When they arrive at the dock, Johannes is arrested. Trude and Britta manage to escape. Hiding in the house of a neighbor for several months, they make do. Trude keeps telling the elderly woman that they must move on; that the woman is putting her life in danger as well, but the woman won’t listen. One night when returning to the apartment, the Gestapo is at the house. Trude is dragged away as the Gestapo no doubt arrests her daughter and the elderly woman.
As the years roll by, Erik’s fortunes rise and Trude’s life is nearly destroyed. Then in one fell swoop, Erik falls.
This book is well written and plotted, but there is something about it that jars me. Perhaps it is a bit sappy, if one is allowed to say that about so serious a story. It was moving and sometimes difficult to read. I can’t put my finger on the reason I am left confused. The suspense starts out immediately and continues throughout the story. I enjoy WWII novels and this one is a winner for sure. I liked the characters: Erik with his sense of right and wrong, Captain Dutt, Mrs. Werner and Trude with her passion. I didn’t like Gunther the self-deluding monster, or Sauer the lying so-and-so or the social climbing Corina. Perhaps that’s it. There were so few characters to admire and so many to dislike. But then the topic is a horrific one and I’m sure the reader cannot like many people in so tragic a story.
I want to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Press for forwarding to me a copy of this interesting and engrossing book to read and enjoy.