A Small Town Near
Auschwitz
By Mary Fulbrook
Historian Mary Fulbrook tells the
story of Udo Klausa, a civilian administrator in the small town of Bedzin.
This is a non-fiction account of
events that took place during World War Two taken from memoirs, interviews,
testimonies, personal letters, and other sources. For the most part this is a
vivid and startling look into the actions of the Nazi group. The biggest
problem I have with this novel is that the man Mary Fulbrook is writing about
is the husband of her God Mother, so though she tries not to the novel itself
has a tone of “It wasn’t him it was the times.”
In one instance she is recounting one of her God Mother’s letters where
the woman is talk about the filthy Jews and the author states that this is a
normal reaction of Germans in the time. This I can understand no matter how
hard you try to be objective when there is a personal connection to something you
are biased by default. What drove me crazy however is that she stated that
people were all too willing to discuss what had happened.... I just got back
from living in Germany and I can say for an absolute fact this is not true,
which leads me to wonder how exactly she got these people to talk to her and
how many euros she was flashing around. Other than this it is an interesting
read though there are times when it seems like the author is making excuses for
a man who had a role in the atrocity that occurred. It seems like this will be
one of those that you will either love or hate with no middle ground, I can see
how some people will enjoy this since the author does a remarkable job in
recounting historical events but I can also see how some will hate it.
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