Fictional Tadek is a collective image of liberated prisoners of war/former concentration camp inmates who were allowed (and quite often forced but mostly that happened to the Soviet citizens and not foreign-born ones) to join the Red Army, just like Gulag political prisoners that were sent to the front-line according to a decree of the State Defense Committee that was issued at the end of March 1945, just two weeks before the offensive of Berlin took place. The volunteers (like Tadek) were given preferential treatment, while the rest of the forcibly conscripted men were usually sent to the penal battalions and mostly used as cannon fodder by the commanders at the beginning of each battle.
The first day of the battle itself, including the sappers working at night, the hellish artillery attack, and the use of the 143 searchlights directed at the enemy positions are true to historical fact. The use of the German POWs for propaganda purposes and sending them back into the city is also based on the historical accounts. You can read more about the battle itself and all of the details concerning it in A. Beevor’s, “The Fall of Berlin 1945.”
Even though Gerlinde Neumann’s character is fictional, she was inspired by an example of Rainer Höss, the infamous Kommandant Höss’s grandson, who not only publicly denounced his grandfather and cut all ties with his family, after learning of his grandfather’s crimes committed in Auschwitz but declared that if Rudolf Höss had a grave, he’d spit on it.
“He was a cold-blooded soldier who got 20,000 people killed by dinnertime – with the excuse that he just did his job. Yet, later in the day, he would turn into a loving father, who would tuck his kids into bed.” (Rainer Höss).
Fictional Gerlinde finds herself asking the same questions – how her loving father could also be a ruthless killer, at the same time? – and slowly begins to undergo the same transformation, from a seemingly ignorant, young girl to a rational and independent-thinking adult who can’t possibly accept her father’s arguments and excuses despite the tight bond between the two. It’s easy to imagine that it’s the most difficult choice in any person’s life, to choose between a blood relative and some abstract, universal justice, and the ones who choose the abstract, universal justice over their own family member (in a case when that family member clearly chose the wrong side of history to fight for) shall always have my utmost respect.
“The ideology virus is still alive today and all far-right parties are exactly the same as the Nazis. They never switched rules. They use horrible phrases to influence young people and say that minorities steal jobs and space. Just like the Nazis did with the Jews. They find effective and silent ways to spread their hate to others. But now they are not just talking about Jews, now the target is much bigger.” (Rainer Höss)
Just like Tadek’s, it is my hope that we’re still better than this and can eradicate the corrosive, hateful elements from our society and coexist peacefully together. Perhaps then the next generation won’t have to resent their fathers and grandfathers and be proud of them instead.
Thank you so much for reading!
The End
Thank you for reading The Aftermath! Gerlinde’s story is over, but if you were intrigued by her idol, Margot von Steinhoff, who spied for the allies, or wonder how exactly Otto Neumann became involved with the Nazi Party, my newest series Metropolis will answer all of these questions!
All of my books – links and book club questions included – can be found here on my website. You can also subscribe to my newsletter here:
http://elliemidwood.com
About the Author
Ellie Midwood is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning historical fiction author. She owes her interest in the history of the Second World War to her grandfather, Junior Sergeant in the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the First Belorussian Front, who began telling her about his experiences on the frontline when she was a young girl. Growing up, her interest in history only deepened and transformed from reading about the war to writing about it. After obtaining her BA in Linguistics, Ellie decided to make writing her full-time career and began working on her first full-length historical novel, "The Girl from Berlin." Ellie is continuously enriching her library with new research material and feeds her passion for WWII and Holocaust history by collecting rare memorabilia and documents.
In her free time, Ellie is a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, neat freak, adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew, and a doggie mama. Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.
Magda’s Mark
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger
Contents
Synopsis
Prologue
I. June 1941–March 1942
II. June 1942
III. October 1942–December 1942
IV. April 1945–September 1945
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Synopsis
When war changes the person you believed yourself to be…
In the face of the enemy, can a badly scarred woman become the hero she doesn’t want to be?
1941. The Sudetenland. Magda is employed by the Taubers, a family who loves her like
