Un libro che tratta soprattutto di Torino e dintorni durante la fine del periodo fascista e anche dopo, quando i tedeschi presero controllo dell'Italia settentrionale. Mi pare un libro quasi autobiografico - il narratore, personaggio principale, somiglia molto al Pavese raccontato da Natalia Ginzburg nei suoi libri e saggi.
Ginzburg descrive una persona che rimane fuori di tutto, sopra di tutto, che non vuole immischiarsi nella vita quotidiana. Questo è lo stato esatto di questa casa del titolo; sopra Torino, vicino ma a parte. Dalla casa e dei colline dintorni sorveglia il bombardamento di Torino durante la guerra e si sente fuori di tutto questo. Il narratore-l'autore rimane fuori di tutto. Abita con una famiglia, la cui figlia è innamorata di lui, ma non vuole a che fare con lei. Lui è contro il fascismo, conosce partigiani di ogni lato politico, ma non vuole entrare nelle loro lotte. Passa un po' di tempo nascosto in un monastero, dove parla col fratello di Dio e della fede, ma non arriva a credere neanche in Dio. Questo passaggio è interessante perché il prete parla del prezzo della fede, la necessità di accettare certe cose che possono sembrare difficili, È come se non arriva a credere in niente, anche sgradevole, ma è il prezzo di crederci, di avere una certezza nella vita. Il narratore non può accettare quel prezzo, ne nella religione, ne nella politica, neanche nell'amore.
C'è anche in questo romanzo, come in La Luna e i Fallo, un ragazzo un po' dimenticato, un po' patetico, che cresce un po' solo, un po' dimenticato da tutti. Nei due romanzi è il narratore che si mette ad occuparsene. Questo bambino mi sembra un simbolo in qualche sorte, forse di come Pavese si vede ad un certo livello. Da un lato, nella sua distanza da tutto, c'è una superbia, una arroganza, ma da un altro lato, c'è un bambino a parte, dimenticato, lasciato troppo solo - insomma, caso triste.
È interessante notare che Pavese e anche Ginzburg sono scrittori autobiografici ad un certo livello, e nella loro narrazione e, con Ginzburg, nei saggi e libri apertamente autobiografici. Si raccontano nelle loro scritture. È molto diverso della letteratura francese della stessa epoca, che era molto più astratta, ideologica.
Showing posts with label WW 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WW 2. Show all posts
Tuesday, 3 March 2020
Thursday, 9 January 2020
Le Chagrin et la pitié - Marcel Ophuls
Un film sur la France sous l'occupation. Un film très controversé à sa sortie dans les années '60. Il paraît que la France a la mythologie qu'en général elle n'a pas trop collaborée avec les Nazis au cours de cette occupation, tandis qu'il semble que la vérité est tout à fait l'opposée. La collaboration était la politique officielle du gouvernement de Vichy. Au commencement des hostilités, le film donne les sens d'une élite française complètement démodée et hors de contact avec la réalité de la situation - perdue dans des illusions d'héroisme et gloire.
Plein de personnages fascinants, surtout les anciens membres de la Résistance qui s'y sont mis au début du conflit. Il y a aussi un noble très intéressant qui raconte franchement sa guerre en tant que membre de la Brigade Charlemagne, une brigade française qui faisait partie du Waffen S.S. Quand on voit tous ces personnages, toutes ces expériences et perspectives diverses, c'est un miracle que la France n'est pas tombée dans un désordre social absolu après la guerre. C'est peut-être l'accomplissement le plus important de De Gaulle à la fin.
L'autre chose qui fait rire c'est les cigarettes. Tout le monde est tout le temps en train de fumer....
Plein de personnages fascinants, surtout les anciens membres de la Résistance qui s'y sont mis au début du conflit. Il y a aussi un noble très intéressant qui raconte franchement sa guerre en tant que membre de la Brigade Charlemagne, une brigade française qui faisait partie du Waffen S.S. Quand on voit tous ces personnages, toutes ces expériences et perspectives diverses, c'est un miracle que la France n'est pas tombée dans un désordre social absolu après la guerre. C'est peut-être l'accomplissement le plus important de De Gaulle à la fin.
L'autre chose qui fait rire c'est les cigarettes. Tout le monde est tout le temps en train de fumer....
Saturday, 1 December 2018
Transcription - Kate Atkinson
A spy novel set during WW2 and the early years of the Cold War. Loosely built around the double agent revelations that actually occurred in MI5 during the 50s and 60s. Better written than the other book I tried by her. The ending comes as quite a surprise, but mostly because there seems to be almost nothing hinting at in the course of the story.
Monday, 10 July 2017
And the Weak Suffer What They Must? Yanis Varoufakis
An excellent look at the current crisis situation in the EU. Varoufakis discusses some complex economic models but he explains them clearly, so it is possible to learn quite a bit about macroeconomics. The goes over the Bretton Woods agreement, then the financialization structure that took its place after the Nixon Shock (when the US stopped backing European currencies at a fixed rate convertible to gold). He also traces the history of the EU idea from its earliest stages as a heavy industry cartel centred in France and Germany. He sees this origin as a corporate cartel as a major shadow hanging over the further development of the EU as primarily a regulatory economic block for large corporate interests - rules based, technocratic and essentially apolitical, asocial and antidemocratic.
He also looks at some of the shady practices of the EU bank in Frankfort leading up to the collapse of Greece and several other smaller EU countries in 2009. Predatory loan practices similar to the subprime mortgage crisis in the US. Banks pushing loans to high risk businesses and countries that could never pay them back, and then cutting the loans up to make derivatives of "shared risk" that were then sold to other EU national banks - who of course threatened to collapse when the true value of the derivatives emerged in the 2009 crisis.
He sees the EU technocrats and governing bodies as suffering from dogmatism which keeps them from seeing both the real nature of the economic problems and also the possible solutions which could be enacted (except that they come from outside accepted dogmatic thinking).
The German political and banking elite comes off quite badly in his analysis.
A complex book, worth rereading.
He also looks at some of the shady practices of the EU bank in Frankfort leading up to the collapse of Greece and several other smaller EU countries in 2009. Predatory loan practices similar to the subprime mortgage crisis in the US. Banks pushing loans to high risk businesses and countries that could never pay them back, and then cutting the loans up to make derivatives of "shared risk" that were then sold to other EU national banks - who of course threatened to collapse when the true value of the derivatives emerged in the 2009 crisis.
He sees the EU technocrats and governing bodies as suffering from dogmatism which keeps them from seeing both the real nature of the economic problems and also the possible solutions which could be enacted (except that they come from outside accepted dogmatic thinking).
The German political and banking elite comes off quite badly in his analysis.
A complex book, worth rereading.
Monday, 13 March 2017
Bury Me Standing - Isabel Fonseca
A personal documentary piece of writing about Roma in the various eastern European countries. Fonseca lives with some families, does extensive interviews with others, and gets herself onto the inside of the lives the Roma lead. Organized by country, which lets her examine subtle differences in how Roma are treated in different countries. Mostly focused on current situations, as well as aspects of earlier 20th C history and how it has affected the various communities.
Some interesting ideas emerge:
1) It would seem Roma don't want to be integrated into European society generally. They have a strong culture and set of values that have been maintained for centuries (many of the roots trace back to Indian society and caste structures) and want to keep them. What they want is space to earn a living in a way suitable to them and a safe place to live without harassment and prejudice.
2) The industrial period has been very bad for them. The various tribal groups seem to have had skills that were valued - such as metal work, basketwork, horse trading, various traditional skills - and which they used to make a living as they traveled from one town to the next. Industrial production and modernization has essentially eliminated the need for these skills, and seems to have left many Roma with no way to earn a living. It seems to me that there is a certain inability to adapt here as the world changes around you. Traditional roles and values, a lack of understanding (perhaps) of the importance of education in today's working world, seem to work against resolving this problem of how to live.
3) This idea of standing apart, of being a social group that only integrates so far - mostly for economic reasons - that keeps to itself apart socially and in marriage. It would seem to be a threatening stance to majority social groups within a country. Something similar could be said about aspects of Jewish society in Europe as well. It creates group cohesion but it also puts you in a vulnerable position. In a way, same could be said about Palestinians in Israel.
4) Traditional Rom have a strong sense of contamination/purity and contact with certain thing can make you impure. It seems to focus on what you put inside your body, or inside your house. Some Rom won't eat outside the home for fear of ritual contamination.
Some interesting ideas emerge:
1) It would seem Roma don't want to be integrated into European society generally. They have a strong culture and set of values that have been maintained for centuries (many of the roots trace back to Indian society and caste structures) and want to keep them. What they want is space to earn a living in a way suitable to them and a safe place to live without harassment and prejudice.
2) The industrial period has been very bad for them. The various tribal groups seem to have had skills that were valued - such as metal work, basketwork, horse trading, various traditional skills - and which they used to make a living as they traveled from one town to the next. Industrial production and modernization has essentially eliminated the need for these skills, and seems to have left many Roma with no way to earn a living. It seems to me that there is a certain inability to adapt here as the world changes around you. Traditional roles and values, a lack of understanding (perhaps) of the importance of education in today's working world, seem to work against resolving this problem of how to live.
3) This idea of standing apart, of being a social group that only integrates so far - mostly for economic reasons - that keeps to itself apart socially and in marriage. It would seem to be a threatening stance to majority social groups within a country. Something similar could be said about aspects of Jewish society in Europe as well. It creates group cohesion but it also puts you in a vulnerable position. In a way, same could be said about Palestinians in Israel.
4) Traditional Rom have a strong sense of contamination/purity and contact with certain thing can make you impure. It seems to focus on what you put inside your body, or inside your house. Some Rom won't eat outside the home for fear of ritual contamination.
A People Uncounted
A film about the Roma in Europe - some historical overview, but mostly focused on "The Great Devouring", as they call the Holocaust experience during the Nazi period. Interviews with survivors of camps, of the Moldavian exile and starvation of Romanian Roma. Lots of great interview footage with Roma activists and historians also. An excellent film - moving, personal, yet includes some excellent critical examination and commentary.
A Canadian-made film.
A Canadian-made film.
Monday, 14 November 2016
On the Natural History of Destruction - W. G. Sebald
Great title, but a bit misleading. The book is actually a look at the failure of post-war German literature to come to terms with the massive physical, social and cultural destruction that Germany experienced during WW 2. Each essay looks at a particular aspect of this failure to grasp and reflect upon these experiences, preferring to make as if to walk a way and pick up a new beginning, preferring to leave them forgotten or at least ignored.
The first essay outlines the immense physical destruction of many German cities, and the innumerable deaths during the bombing raids. He then discusses how there is very little in German post-war literature that actually reflects this physical destruction just in terms of accurate description.
The second essay discusses an author who was at one time popular, and the false or doubtful assertions about his place in the Nazi debacle that are found in his work. The attempt to shift blame and responsibility, the rewriting of personal history to hide things from the past or cover them over.
The third essay looks at an author, Jean Amery, who survived torture at the hands of the S.S and also Auschwitz, and who is unable or unwilling to forgive, to forget, to pardon, to move beyond resentment against history, against Germany, against the Reich. Sebald looks at the tenability, the justifiability of this stance in spite of the general publics preference for acceptance and moving on.
The fourth essay looks at the war experience as reflected in the work of a painter, Peter Weiss.
Interesting thought and reflections and certainly within the big concerns of Sebald with remembering and the inevitable loss of memory, of the past.
To find:
Peter Weiss works
Jean Amery books
The first essay outlines the immense physical destruction of many German cities, and the innumerable deaths during the bombing raids. He then discusses how there is very little in German post-war literature that actually reflects this physical destruction just in terms of accurate description.
The second essay discusses an author who was at one time popular, and the false or doubtful assertions about his place in the Nazi debacle that are found in his work. The attempt to shift blame and responsibility, the rewriting of personal history to hide things from the past or cover them over.
The third essay looks at an author, Jean Amery, who survived torture at the hands of the S.S and also Auschwitz, and who is unable or unwilling to forgive, to forget, to pardon, to move beyond resentment against history, against Germany, against the Reich. Sebald looks at the tenability, the justifiability of this stance in spite of the general publics preference for acceptance and moving on.
The fourth essay looks at the war experience as reflected in the work of a painter, Peter Weiss.
Interesting thought and reflections and certainly within the big concerns of Sebald with remembering and the inevitable loss of memory, of the past.
To find:
Peter Weiss works
Jean Amery books
Friday, 21 October 2016
Austerlitz - W. G. Sebald
A strange novel, otherworldly somehow. It reminds me a bit of Sostiene Pereira in that it an account the story of the main character as recounted by someone to whom the story was told.
It also has an otherworldly mistiness or vagueness in that the instalments of the story are told in a variety of settings and countries around Europe through planned or chance encounters between the narrator and the main character, Austerlitz. The setting are described in minute detail, from train stations to seedy cafes.
At the core is the story of the young Jewish children who were sent by their parents to England from Germany in 1938 or 1939 to save them from the coming disaster. Obviously, many of these children were never able to be reunited with their families. Some, like Austerlitz, retained only the vaguest of memories of their origins and grew up not even knowing they were Jewish.
The story is Austerlitz's slow descent into a form of nervous collapse essentially due to a rootlessness and emotional disengagement, and then the slow discovery of something of his origins, his family's past and the source of some of the strange images and pictures he carried in his mind from his early childhood.
There is also the idea of moving through a world where so much of your own history and culture have been erased. (Funnily enough, Palestinians could say the same about their own homeland with the deliberate Israeli policy of destroying all remains of villages. Also Armenians as Turkey has pursued the same policy. And the Balkans where each group tries to write the other out of its territorial history. It is a form of public psychological disturbance or madness.)
A bit hard to get into at first as it is slow, but worth it.
It also has an otherworldly mistiness or vagueness in that the instalments of the story are told in a variety of settings and countries around Europe through planned or chance encounters between the narrator and the main character, Austerlitz. The setting are described in minute detail, from train stations to seedy cafes.
At the core is the story of the young Jewish children who were sent by their parents to England from Germany in 1938 or 1939 to save them from the coming disaster. Obviously, many of these children were never able to be reunited with their families. Some, like Austerlitz, retained only the vaguest of memories of their origins and grew up not even knowing they were Jewish.
The story is Austerlitz's slow descent into a form of nervous collapse essentially due to a rootlessness and emotional disengagement, and then the slow discovery of something of his origins, his family's past and the source of some of the strange images and pictures he carried in his mind from his early childhood.
There is also the idea of moving through a world where so much of your own history and culture have been erased. (Funnily enough, Palestinians could say the same about their own homeland with the deliberate Israeli policy of destroying all remains of villages. Also Armenians as Turkey has pursued the same policy. And the Balkans where each group tries to write the other out of its territorial history. It is a form of public psychological disturbance or madness.)
A bit hard to get into at first as it is slow, but worth it.
Saturday, 27 August 2016
Midnight at the Pera Palace - Charles King
Subtitled "The Birth of Modern Istanbul"
Clever use of the Pera Palace as a focus to look at the emergence of modern Turkey and explore some of the rich 20th c history of Istanbul.
He looks at the Young Turk and Ataturk periods as well as the occupation at the end of WW I. There is also quite a bit about the post-Revolution Russian community and what became of it. There is a whole chapter on Trotsky's time on Büyükada. You also get a glimpse of the intrigues during WW 2 when Turkey was neutral and every side had spies and agents operating in the city. There is a chapter on the discoveries that led to the Haghia Sophia becoming a museum. There are also several chapters on the role that Istanbul played as a transit point for Jews escaping Europe en route to Palestine during the later half of WW II.
One thing I found interesting is some of the detail on how Ataturk and the Republic used taxation and government seizure to push Jews and other ethnic groups out of their businesses (and by extension out of the city) and then sold their property and goods to the up-and-coming Turkish middle-class/party hacks. In one instance a war tax of 150 to 200% of total value was placed on Jewish, Greek and Armenian businesses. So after the Young Turks were chases from power, ethnic cleansing continued, just in a neater, tidier form...
Clever use of the Pera Palace as a focus to look at the emergence of modern Turkey and explore some of the rich 20th c history of Istanbul.
He looks at the Young Turk and Ataturk periods as well as the occupation at the end of WW I. There is also quite a bit about the post-Revolution Russian community and what became of it. There is a whole chapter on Trotsky's time on Büyükada. You also get a glimpse of the intrigues during WW 2 when Turkey was neutral and every side had spies and agents operating in the city. There is a chapter on the discoveries that led to the Haghia Sophia becoming a museum. There are also several chapters on the role that Istanbul played as a transit point for Jews escaping Europe en route to Palestine during the later half of WW II.
One thing I found interesting is some of the detail on how Ataturk and the Republic used taxation and government seizure to push Jews and other ethnic groups out of their businesses (and by extension out of the city) and then sold their property and goods to the up-and-coming Turkish middle-class/party hacks. In one instance a war tax of 150 to 200% of total value was placed on Jewish, Greek and Armenian businesses. So after the Young Turks were chases from power, ethnic cleansing continued, just in a neater, tidier form...
Saturday, 20 August 2016
Rites of Spring - Modris Eksteins
An interesting exploration of the early part of the 20th century from two perspectives - the avant-garde art movements in Paris and Berlin, and also the rhetoric and unfolding of WW1 (with an additional look at the rhetoric of Nazism in the 30s).
While providing details about ideas, perspectives and goals of major art figures as well as political and military figures, Modris is mainly teasing out an idea that both the avant-garde movements and german militarism (and later Nazism) share certain central ideas or goals - the search for authentic experience, the need to break down old social and artistic barriers and structures, the need to build some kind of new man, new order, new aesthetic while at the same time not having a clear idea of what is to follow. The main impetus is the idea of breaking free and an extreme individualism.
Kind of interesting to think about these origins of what is the dominant western individualistic ethos of our time...
Another point that struck me was the importance of Berlin as an avant-garde centre in that time period. Paris seems to have dominated the plastic arts, but Berlin is the source of much of the modern in the living arts - architecture, technological design, furniture, etc. Kind of knew this but not as clearly.
You could say that militarism and Nazism led to a kind of void - modern plastic arts seem to have suffered the same fate. You cannot live in perpetual rebellion. The 20th C as the age of adolescence....
While providing details about ideas, perspectives and goals of major art figures as well as political and military figures, Modris is mainly teasing out an idea that both the avant-garde movements and german militarism (and later Nazism) share certain central ideas or goals - the search for authentic experience, the need to break down old social and artistic barriers and structures, the need to build some kind of new man, new order, new aesthetic while at the same time not having a clear idea of what is to follow. The main impetus is the idea of breaking free and an extreme individualism.
Kind of interesting to think about these origins of what is the dominant western individualistic ethos of our time...
Another point that struck me was the importance of Berlin as an avant-garde centre in that time period. Paris seems to have dominated the plastic arts, but Berlin is the source of much of the modern in the living arts - architecture, technological design, furniture, etc. Kind of knew this but not as clearly.
You could say that militarism and Nazism led to a kind of void - modern plastic arts seem to have suffered the same fate. You cannot live in perpetual rebellion. The 20th C as the age of adolescence....
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Every Man Dies Alone - Hans Falla
A story about Nazi resisters in Berlin during WW2. Based on a true story. Falla evokes the pettiness, sadism and egotism of the period, with the SS at the top instilling fear throughout the whole of society, and everyone else either trying to be invisible or curry favour but ratting on others. An image of a society based on the worst, most destructive attributes of humans, with the criminals and sadists running the show. Interesting that Communist societies seem to have gone the same route - something about narrow ideology and the opportunities it presents to those who crave power and status.
This is probably a truer portrait of that society than the one presented by Dick in his police mysteries set in that period. Dick exposes the corruption of the powerful, but he doesn't explore the pettiness, the grinding down of the general population. Falla does both.
It is interesting, the "you're either with us or against us" mentality - you don't have to actively act against the regime to be arrested. It is enough to be passive in the face of it; neither acting for nor against. Reminds me of Bush's comment after 9/11.
The superior, above-the-law attitude of the police in the story is also reminiscent of the many police incidents with Blacks in the US recently. There seems to be that same sense of superiority, of limitlessness of power, and of despising the Other.
This is probably a truer portrait of that society than the one presented by Dick in his police mysteries set in that period. Dick exposes the corruption of the powerful, but he doesn't explore the pettiness, the grinding down of the general population. Falla does both.
It is interesting, the "you're either with us or against us" mentality - you don't have to actively act against the regime to be arrested. It is enough to be passive in the face of it; neither acting for nor against. Reminds me of Bush's comment after 9/11.
The superior, above-the-law attitude of the police in the story is also reminiscent of the many police incidents with Blacks in the US recently. There seems to be that same sense of superiority, of limitlessness of power, and of despising the Other.
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin - Timothy Snyder
A history of Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Baltic States and Western Russia from the late 20's (Stalin's takeover) to the end of WWII. An account of the upheaval, planned murder, mass relocations and the effects of war in this area that was occupied three times over that period - first by Russia and Germany, then by Germany and finally by Russia.
The history of this time period is not well-presented in the West's version of WWII.
Some facts:
In this period, Germany and Russia killed roughly the same number of people.
Most Jews who were killed in the war came from Poland - Western European Jews represented a small percentage.
As many Poles were killed by the Russians and the Germans as Jews.
Belarus lost half of it's population at that time.
Jews represented less than 1% of the German population at the start of the war.
More Jews were killed in one day by a bullet to the head than all the people who died in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped.
The Allies actually did not see any of the German death camps - they were all liberated by the Russians. The Allies saw the work or concentration camps, and more people survived in those than died.
The Russian's system of concentration camps was far larger than what was established by the Nazis.
There is also some discussion of why Hitler and the Nazis developed the war plans they did, and also why Stalin was involved in so much ethnic and political cleansing (or Terrors).
A good read for a revision of our picture of WWII and where the action really was.
The history of this time period is not well-presented in the West's version of WWII.
Some facts:
In this period, Germany and Russia killed roughly the same number of people.
Most Jews who were killed in the war came from Poland - Western European Jews represented a small percentage.
As many Poles were killed by the Russians and the Germans as Jews.
Belarus lost half of it's population at that time.
Jews represented less than 1% of the German population at the start of the war.
More Jews were killed in one day by a bullet to the head than all the people who died in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped.
The Allies actually did not see any of the German death camps - they were all liberated by the Russians. The Allies saw the work or concentration camps, and more people survived in those than died.
The Russian's system of concentration camps was far larger than what was established by the Nazis.
There is also some discussion of why Hitler and the Nazis developed the war plans they did, and also why Stalin was involved in so much ethnic and political cleansing (or Terrors).
A good read for a revision of our picture of WWII and where the action really was.
Saturday, 25 July 2015
The Zone of Interest - Martin Amis
"Zone of Interest" seems to be a Nazi term referring to death camps in general or perhaps specifically to Auschwitz.
The various characters present different lives within the camp as well as different views and reactions to both the Nazis and the camp itself. There are hardcore Nazis, SS officers who support the war but see the Jewish death camps as pointless and unnecessary, there is an SS officer who works behind the scenes to slow and sabotage the Nazi war effort, there is the wife and family of the head of Auschwitz who also live at the camp, there is a Sonderkomando prisoner also.
It is a fairly heavy book, though not as much as you might expect. The focus is not on the details of the exterminations and living conditions, but on the lives and minds of the people surrounding the camps.
There is also an exploration of the Nazi idealism - views on women, patriarchy, sexuality (male) - and some hints of the crazy ideas they came up with such as a extraterrestrial origin of Aryans. Amis captures the strangeness, the craziness and the essential incomprehensibility of the whole period.
There is an excellent bibliography in the back of the book:
To Find:
- Primo Levi's books about his time in Auschwitz, If this is a Man & The Truce
- Explaining Hitler; Ron Rosenbaum
- Defying Hitler & The Meaning of Hitler, both by Sebastian Haffner
- The Journey Back from Hell, Anton Gill ( survivor accounts)
- book on Hitler by Alan Bullock
- Doctor 117641, Louis Micheels
- I Shall Bear Witness. Victor Klemperer
- Diary of a Man in Despair, Friedrick Reck
- (others there to pull out too)
The various characters present different lives within the camp as well as different views and reactions to both the Nazis and the camp itself. There are hardcore Nazis, SS officers who support the war but see the Jewish death camps as pointless and unnecessary, there is an SS officer who works behind the scenes to slow and sabotage the Nazi war effort, there is the wife and family of the head of Auschwitz who also live at the camp, there is a Sonderkomando prisoner also.
It is a fairly heavy book, though not as much as you might expect. The focus is not on the details of the exterminations and living conditions, but on the lives and minds of the people surrounding the camps.
There is also an exploration of the Nazi idealism - views on women, patriarchy, sexuality (male) - and some hints of the crazy ideas they came up with such as a extraterrestrial origin of Aryans. Amis captures the strangeness, the craziness and the essential incomprehensibility of the whole period.
There is an excellent bibliography in the back of the book:
To Find:
- Primo Levi's books about his time in Auschwitz, If this is a Man & The Truce
- Explaining Hitler; Ron Rosenbaum
- Defying Hitler & The Meaning of Hitler, both by Sebastian Haffner
- The Journey Back from Hell, Anton Gill ( survivor accounts)
- book on Hitler by Alan Bullock
- Doctor 117641, Louis Micheels
- I Shall Bear Witness. Victor Klemperer
- Diary of a Man in Despair, Friedrick Reck
- (others there to pull out too)
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