Those Who Save Us - Jenna Blum

Watching Portugal play Germany in the UEFA EURO tournament last week, I admit I was disappointed. Not only that Portugal lost. (I am never allowed to mock the fiancé’s yelling at sporting events again) But because half way through the game when German fans erupted into a repeated chant of “Clap Clap Clapclapcalp Clap Clap Clap Clap Deutschland!” my first thought was, “well that’s not something you want to see.”  

See, the sight and sound of thousands of Germans whelping with national pride sent a shiver down my spine. And it took me longer than I like to admit to remind myself that just like I was sitting in my living room rooting for my home country (or at least my family’s) , so these German fans had every right to stand and cheer for theirs.

It’s a sign of a good book when you find yourself thinking about it later. Just a few days before the Portugal/Germany game, I had finished reading Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum. And when I realized I was being a sore loser and completely irrational, I started thinking about the questions Blum deals with in her book.  

I can’t even put together the words to describe how horrific and disgusting the holocaust was. Anyone with a heart knows that what happened across Germany during WWII was terrible. When I hear survivor stories I am heartbroken at the thought of all the lives lost for no understandable reason.

What I haven’t often thought about, and what Blum addresses so beautifully, is what it must have been like to be a German during the war. And after. Her story focuses on mother and daughter Anna and Trudy. Trudy, a professor of German studies has spent most of her life trying to understand the war in an attempt to understand her mother. Anna on the other hand, has refused to discuss her experiences, preferring to leave the past in its place –tucked away and hopefully forgotten.

The novel transitions between Anna’s story, spanning 1939-1944, and Trudy’s mid-1990’s research into the lives of German women during the war. It’s easy from our comfortable modern point of view to admonish women like Anna. But when you really think about it, what were average German’s supposed to do in the face of the massive machine that was the Nazi party? At what point does the individual become responsible for the actions of their government? And how accountable is one person for the actions of others? Are we expected as citizens to blindly follow our leaders, or is it our duty to stand and fight when we don’t agree with their policies? Do we really expect people to sacrifice themselves and their families in the name of ideals? To put themselves in front of a loaded gun and say, “Stop” when they see injustice?

It is these questions that Blum asks through Anna’s story. The choices she, and millions of real women like her, made in order to keep themselves alive were difficult ones. Knowing the risks, knowing you would be put to death, would you hide a Jewish family? Give them food? Or would you turn away, swallow your guilt in order to save yourself and your children? Would you allow yourself to become the lover of a high ranking Nazi if it meant food on the table? Or would you keep your pride but starve?

I pass no judgment here. Thankfully I haven’t had to make those choices in my own life. And while it’s nice to assume you would be brave enough to stand up and fight, the reality is you never know what you are, or are not, capable of.

Its complicated stuff Jenna Blum deals with in Those Who Save Us. There are no clear right or wrong answers to the questions she brings up. What she does is make us think, make us put ourselves in Anna’s shoes and realize that judging another’s choices is easier than making our own.