GERMANIA: A NOVEL OF NAZI BERLIN

4 stars out of 5

Bleak. And, oddly, both enlightening and engrossing: Those are my reactions after reading this book. It was not, at least to me, an easy book to read. First of all, my coming of age happened on the lower cusp of the "Make Love, Not War" generation; I don't like the thought of war, much less reading about one. As for World War II, near the end of which this story is set, my earliest recollections, somewhere around age 4, is hiding with my mother while my father - an air raid warden in our small Indiana town - hit the streets to make sure all the residents had their lights turned off (in later years, though, I did wonder whatever possessed my mother to think we'd be safe hunkered down in an upstairs bedroom - but that's a story for another day).

At any rate, I've for the most part steered clear of reading books or watching movies about wars. But because this one is a murder mystery/thriller and offered to me from the publisher, I put aside my doubts and dug in. And in the end, it won me over, triggering emotions from hope to sadness to fear and giving me a unique glimpse into what it must have been like to live in war-torn Berlin in mid-1944. Honestly, I can't imagine hell being much worse.

The story centers around former Detective Richard Oppenheimer, who, as  Jew, has been relieved of duty under Nazi Germany rules. He's spared a worse fate, at least for the time being, because he's married to an Aryan woman named Lisa. They live in not much more than a hovel, which at any moment could be reduced to rubble by one of the frequent Allied air strikes. But then, his life takes a different turn: The Gestapo, it seems, need his expertise to help solve the gruesome murder of a woman whose mutilated body was laid out in front of a war memorial. He's reluctant to get involved - especially to help the people he sees as the enemy - but he also sees little choice. Soon, another body turns up in similar fashion - and now the search is for what is presumed to be a serial killer.

As he tries to skirt the uncertainties of interacting with a Gestapo supervisor (including such details as to when, or whether, he should keep the Star of David sewn onto his overcoat lapel as is normally required of him as a Jew), he becomes fascinated by the case. But many obstacles fall into his path, not the least of which is dodging the damage from incoming artillery. As all this unfolds and he's eager to nail the murderer, he tries to maintain his secret relationships with his anti-Nazi friends and keep up his hopes that he and his wife can escape to a safe country instead of being banished to a concentration camp - perhaps after the case is solved and he is no longer needed.

In between the action are extensive descriptions of what it was like to live in a war-torn city and the workings of the Nazi regime. It was to me a bit of a difficult read because scenes shift within the chapters with no warning; I lost count of the times I had to back up because I suddenly realized I was reading about an entirely different character in an entirely different setting. Still, it was overall a well-thought out, intriguing story I'm glad I took the time to read. Thanks very much to the publisher, via NetGalley, for offering a pre-release copy. Definitely worth reading!

Germania: A Novel of Nazi Berlin by Harald Gilbers (Thomas Dunne Books, December 2020); 348 pp.