Five-Minute History: Alsace at the End of World War II
By J. Paul Rieger
As an American baby boomer, I’ve always been fascinated with World War II and particularly how the world was so easily torn apart by the hateful designs of a mere few men. A Most Unlikely Man: A Tale of Resistance is set in the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp located in Alsace, France. Alsace is an appropriate setting for my historical drama. The Alsace region, located between the Vosges Mountains to the east and the Rhine River to the west, had been ceded, conquered and passed between France and Germany many times over the centuries. Following World War I, the Treaty of Versailles returned the region to France. But Alsace became German again in June,1940, through forcible annexation following the defeat of France.
Post annexation, a “Germanification” effort was implemented by the Nazis. All things French were obliterated. Assimilation into German culture was mandated. Speaking French or Alsatian was forbidden. French place names and road signs were changed to German. Only German currency could be used. French books were stripped from libraries. “Undesirables” such as Jews and naturalized French citizens were de-naturalized and expelled. Alsatian, “malgré-nous” (“forced against our will”) men were conscripted by the Nazis and sent to fight at the brutal Russian front. Approximately 43,000 Alsatian men lost their lives in battle. At home, a Resistance movement grew, fueled by the efforts of a sixteen-year-old boy by the name of Marcel Weinum. His “Black Hand” resistance, populated by fellow-teens, ran propaganda raids and sabotage missions against the Nazis.
A Most Unlikely Man: A Tale of Resistance takes place in that window of time between the liberation of Paris by the Allies in August, 1944 and the final ejection of the Germans from Alsace in February, 1945. Following Paris’ liberation, and thanks to a fierce Allied bombing campaign, the Nazi forces remaining in France eventually came to understand that their defeat was near at hand. Allied forces had swept through France at a rate unexpected by the German High Command. Fear and distrust ran rampant among the Nazi troops remaining in the field. The atmosphere of mistrust is central to the story’s plot.
My novella features two protagonists. Isadore Levinsky is a Jewish prisoner who’s survived by taking more than his share of food. He’s reconciled himself to his own self-preservation even knowing that such has led and will lead to the demise of other prisoners. He sees his situation as utterly hopeless and wonders why he’s worked so hard to survive.
Otto Beck is a gentile pacifist who’s been unexpectedly thrown in with the Jewish prisoners. Beck demands that all food and water be shared equally. He encourages the prisoners to learn about one another. He rehumanizes them. He provides hope. Naturally, he continually butts heads with the cynical and despairing Levinsky. Beck has a plan for liberation that he refuses to divulge. Levinsky counsels the prisoners to ignore Beck’s promise of false hope.
Beck’s plan depends in large part in cultivating mistrust among the remaining few Nazis left to run the previously evacuated camp. He gently turns the Nazis against one another by preying upon their fears and egos. He claims to have heard Resistance fighters freely entering the camp. He implies that he’s privately met with the camp’s mostly absent colonel. He sows distrust between the regular army privates and the S.S. officers who continually take advantage of their rank and privilege.
I don’t want to spoil the reading experience for followers of Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots by revealing any more of the plot. But, if you enjoy tales of resistance and liberation, please consider putting A Most Unlikely Man: A Tale of Resistance on your holiday reading list.
A Most Unlikely Man
Isadore Levinsky is a survivor. No stranger to concentration camps, he’s been freighted by boxcar to yet one more, possibly his last, before death by rifle or neglect. He’s survived this far because he’s done what any person would do under the circumstances: everything possible, irrespective of the consequences for others. At the nearly deserted Natzweiler-Struthof camp, Levinsky matches wits with fellow prisoner Otto Beck, a self-proclaimed pacifist, gentile and admitted liar. Beck has decreed that all food and water will be shared equally. He’s rallied the men and challenged his Nazi overseers, willingly taking their beatings and abuse.
But is Beck a charismatic con man or a liberator? Previously convicted for treachery, Beck is architect of an escape plan specifically designed to assist his Nazi captors.
Can Levinsky and the men survive Beck and find their way to freedom?
A Most Unlikely Man: A Tale of Resistance is a story that resonates with our own times. Uplifting and inspiring, the story draws us into a dark past we must never forget, while shining a ray of hope for our future.
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Thanks so much for hosting J.P. Rieger today, with such an insightful post linked to his new short novel, A Most Unlikely Man.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Cathie xx
The Coffee Pot Book Club