Inspired by the Holocaust Memorial Week of 21-27th January, Georgina Holland began to explore the difficult subject through literature. One month on, she discusses two great books which take a surprising new look at the history of WW2, and questions the writers behind them…
During the Holocaust memorial week of January, I attended a book talk by British author and historian Keith Lowe. Listening to Lowe talk about his research, the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, his findings, as well as to the reactions of those in the audience, inspired me to read into a subject that I only really had an understanding of from time spent in history lessons. In doing so I came across two books, a fiction and a non-fiction, which approached the topic with a surprisingly fresh and innovative approach. Both texts caught me by surprise and taught me that such events can be explored outside of the classroom.
I began with Keith Lowe’s own book; Savage Continent. This was a book which explored an unexpected era – the Holocaust’s aftermath. Lowe focuses in on Europe in the years 1944-1949; a time of chaos, political upheaval, legal uncertainty, and unconstrained violence. Lowe explained that his aim with Savage Continent was to deal with the consequences of the war and of the Holocaust, to highlight how the war did not end neatly, and, in many parts of continental Europe, how it didn’t really end at all. He explained, “we have a cosy idea that May 8th came along and there was a big party […] and everything went back to normal”. “There was the party” he tells us, “but they woke up with the mother of all hangovers.” In Germany for example, there was no police, no electricity, no government; whole institutions were wiped out in Eastern Europe. “This book is about that period of chaos where nobody knows what the future will hold.”
And this is what really set the book apart for me – it deals with the unexpected. Not only does it deal with the reader’s expectations of what a history book about WWII will discuss, but it challenges the misconceptions of how the war ended and what happened next. In particular, Lowe excels when dealing with the issue of those who survived the Holocaust and their ‘what happened next’. He tells us that Jews returned home not to “sympathy”, but instead to an “embarassed silence”. For example, Lowe describes the difficulty for Jews who survived the war but returned home to find that there belongings had been taken up by former friends and neighbours. During his research, he came upon an old joke in Budapest: “A Jew returns from the concentration campus and sees his friend. His friend says to him, ‘it’s so good to see you, how are you?’ The Jew replies, ‘it was awful, and now all I have is the shirt on your back.'”
If you are looking for a book which will delve into the unexplored history of the Second World War, then Savage Continent is the book for you. It’s approach is entirely unexpected and sheds new light on a subject which has been analysed (and rightly so) time and time again. When asked if anything in he was surprised by his findings, Lowe admitted that even he was shocked at the level of destruction: “I was ignorant as to the extent of the damage in Italy”, for example. Lowe was also surprised by the tactics that he would have to employ during his research, learning that “it’s what is left unspoken that sometimes gives the biggest clue.” And that is what Savage Continent seems to me to do, to explore the unspoken and analyse the unexpected.
From an unexpected historical text, to a emotional work of fiction, I turned next to a novel in my quest to read into the Holocaust and its history. I came upon Richard Foreman’s Warsaw. The book focuses on three characters in the Warsaw ghetto, 1942: Adam Duritz, a corrupt Jewish policeman; Thomas Abendroth, a German soldier; and Jessica Rubenstein, a beautiful and vulnerable Jewish girl. For these characters their only salvation in a hostile environment which breeds corruption, as well as disease and death, will be love. I questioned Foreman on his motives for writing the book, his approach in doing so, and his experiences in writing about such an emotional and difficult era of history. Surprisingly his research began not with Germany, but with Russia: “in a sense the book is partly a homage to certain 19th century Russian novelists I read in my early twenties, the research was already half done from devouring Russian literature years ago. In regards to the more conventional research into the history behind the Warsaw Ghetto I was fortunate in knowing a number of World War Two historians who could point me in the direction of the best books to read.”
At no point does Foreman soften the subject of the Holocaust. Although peppered with stories of love, this is certainly not a romantic story of good overcoming evil, and his descriptions of the treatment of Jews can, at times, be extremely graphic and sobering. I asked Foreman if these scenes were as difficult to write as they are to read: “The chapters and scenes were planned beforehand in many respects, which perhaps lessened the drama or trauma I felt when writing certain sections of the books. But even now there are scenes in the novel which can provoke powerful emotions when I approach Warsaw as a reader, as opposed to writer. Although I have never been a Jewish policeman or German soldier I would be lying if I said that the book is not autobiographical in some ways. Reading and writing Warsaw was an act of catharsis, as well as creativity. It took a lot out of me. I’m just glad that when people read it the book gives something back.”
What I loved about Warsaw was its brave approach to the subject of the Holocaust; particularly in the handling of the character of a German soldier which is, in many ways, a positive one. Foreman told me that “should Warsaw have been written shortly after the war I may have received criticism for creating the character of Thomas – a “good” German soldier – but I think both British and German readers are now ready for such a sympathetic portrait.” And this is where the motive of both books can be linked, in their innovative approaches to creating a portrait of the Holocaust and its history. As Foreman explains; “I was conscious of trying to expand the reader’s understanding of the Third Reich, as well as of the Warsaw Ghetto.”
Upon purchasing both books I had expected to come away with a better understanding of the history of the Second World War and to have read a book which attempts to put into words the narrative of those who experienced it. In many ways this is exactly what I got, but I also gained so much more. Whether through an exploration of an era which is often misunderstood, or by telling the story of a group that was denied a voice, both Lowe and Foreman provided me with a new means of understanding WWII and its aftermath. I would thoroughly recommend both of these texts to those who are also interested in expanding their understanding of a period of history which is marked by war, death, and the unexpected.
By Georgina Holland – Exeposé Online Books Editor
Click here to purchase Richard Foreman’s e-book ‘Warsaw’ for just £2.99
Click here to purchase Keith Lowe’s Save Continent via Amazon
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