Surviving Hitler
This is the incredible true story of a Norwegian SS officer and a Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivor, who found each other after World War II and fell in love. It was one of the most heart-wrenching, beautiful tales of survival I've ever read. It's astounding everything that both of them went through, and how many times God preserved their lives. They experienced the war in very different ways, Agnes as a Jewish concentration camp prisoner and Gustav as an SS officer, stationed at the Russian front. She risked her life several times, and bravely defied all odds and survived Auschwitz and the Bremen work factory in Germany. He also nearly died at the front, once from a deadly wound and another time from illness. But he fought valiantly and did his best to always do the right thing, even during such a dark, evil time. In 1946, Agnes and Gustav met while she was working at a soup kitchen as a waitress. Even though he eventually revealed his background to her, she was loving and compassionate and took care of him while he recovered. They married in 1947, joined the Church of Latter- Day Saints, and together raised five children. In 2014, their eldest son published this amazing novel. I would definitely encourage anyone who is interested in World War II or Holocaust history to purchase this book. You won't be disappointed. On top of the unique love story, there is a depth of historical facts and information on the war in its pages.
The Jewess and the Captain: 1995 Documentary
This is another true story, which nearly moved me to tears when I watched it. Although it does not have a happy ending, it is even more proof that my book did indeed happen in real life. The young girl and man pictured above are Ilse Stein, an 18 year old Jewish girl, and Willi Schultz, a 42 year old Nazi officer. In 1941, Schultz was put in charge of the Minsk ghetto in Russia. There, he met and fell in love with Ilse, and made her his secretary. Throughout their short-lived 6 month romance, he protected her at every cost, in spite of the danger it posed for him. He eventually went on to rescue her, her family, and 20 other Jews, from being sent to a concentration camp. His love for her was greater than his fear of the risk he was taking. It is a short documentary, but very inspiring and moving. It shows interviews of Ilse, many years later, and documents what life in the Ghetto was like in the 1940s.
The Nazi Officers Wife:
This tale, by far out of all the autobiographies/novels I've read or watched, is my favorite. Edith Hahn Beer was an Austrian Jewish woman in 1938, studying to be a lawyer at university. She was one exam shy of graduating, when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany. Her and her mother were sent to a Polish ghetto and Edith was transported to a labor camp in Germany. Separated from her family and country, she sent haunting, sad letters to her boyfriend, during that time, telling of how difficult and hopeless life was in the work camp. When she returned to Austria, she was eventually denounced and abandoned by her lover, who was a Austrian Christian. He told a devastated Edith that it was too risky and bothersome to be involved with her, because she was a Jew and hiding to avoid being sent to a concentration camp.
Edith was forced to find a better way out, as many of her friends had begun to denounce her and refuse to let her stay with them. A trust-worthy, Aryan friend of hers gave her false identification papers, and she disguised herself as a young 21 year German woman, by the name of Grete Denner. In order to survive, she had to completely forsake her Jewish identity and find work as A Red Cross aid. In 1942, she met Werner Vetter, a member of the Nazi Party. He quickly fell in love with her, obviously unaware of who she really was. Although Edith protested when he proposed and eventually confessed to being a Jew, Werner married her and hid her true Jewish identity.
In 1945, Werner was captured by the Russians as a POW. While her husband was gone, Eva was forced to try and feed and protect their young daughter on her own, while the Russian army invaded and killed/raped German women on the streets. Eventually, she managed to bring her husband home, and miraculously both her and her infant survived. I would recommend this novel to anyone, who is fascinated by the Holocaust/ World War II period. It is a very heartbreaking, but interesting and unusual and riveting story. You will not be disappointed in the slightest.
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