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World War II Alive and Well

11/2/2013

It seems that we can't get enough of World War II. The New York Times recent article, "Never Found, Architect of Holocaust Said to Be in Jewish Cemetery" [See: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/world/europe/muller-an-architect-of-the-holocaust-is-said-to-be-buried-in-jewish-cemetery-in-berlin.html?_r=0] tells the rather odd tale that one of the architects of the Holocaust, Heinrich Müller, is buried in an old Jewish cemetery. If he is, then fate is really capricious. There is no forensic evidence, but still the idea sends chills.

George Clooney is still on his roll with World War II movies and Monuments Men is due out shortly. This tale of Americans who rescued art from the Nazis will no doubt be exciting and generate a lot of publicity. The search for art stolen by the Nazis remains an ongoing quest, with "found" pieces surfacing each year.

Current mystery writer, Sara Paretsky, uses World War II as a backdrop in her latest novel, "Critical Mass." This excellent mystery tells the tale of past and present as a World War II refugee's work on computers reaches into the present. The novel shows how we never escape the past and it surely influences the present. Her main character, V.I. Warshawksi has a loving, but at times brittle, relationship with her surrogate mother, Lottie Herschel, who escaped from Vienna on the Kindertransport. Suddenly V.I. finds herself examining Lottie's past as well as her current client and their relationship to a Jewish female scientist who worked at a slave camp during World War II. The novel touches not only on World War II, but also on the role [or lack of credit] for female scientists in the 1930-50s and how little they were given credit for their accomplishments. The novel is part historical as it flashes between time periods, a complex mystery, and a tale of mothers and daughters. As usual, Paretsky weave life lessons into a page-turning mystery. Another home run for the acclaimed writer.

And, of course, the BBC has never abandoned World War II. Catch up on Spies of Warsaw. The four episodes follow a "spy" during World War II who tries to do the right thing, but are caught up in politics and his love for a married woman. Then there is the fascinating "Cambridge Spies." The documentary builds the background of the spies from Cambridge. We've all heard their names: Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, and Anthony Blunt, but it is thrilling to discover Donald Maclean who was also part of the group. The series focuses on those four, while the documentary tells the story of the Cambridge Five. Why did these men of privilege turn to spying? They did not do it for money as recent spies, such as Aldridge have, but rather for ideology. Fueled by hate of Fascism and a passion for social justice, they spied for Russia during critical times in the Cold War.

Plus the movie of The Book Thief is due out. The book was amazing and the movie had gotten good press. Similar in theme to In Hitler's Backyard.

So World War II continues in articles, stories, and movies.

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D-day on the normandy beaches

World War II Alive and Well

Gare Thompson

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