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Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler
In this unforgettable book, distinguished author Anne Nelson shares one of the most shocking and inspiring–and least chronicled–stories of domestic resistance to the Nazi regime. The Rote Kapelle, or Red Orchestra, was the Gestapo’s name for an intrepid band of German artists, intellectuals, and bureaucrats (almost half of them women) who battled treacherous odds to unveil the brutal secrets of their fascist employers and oppressors.
Based on years of research, featuring new information, and culled from exclusive interviews, Red Orchestra documents this riveting story through the eyes of Greta Kuckhoff, a German working mother. Fighting for an education in 1920s Berlin but frustrated by her country’s economic instability and academic sexism, Kuckhoff ventured to America, where she immersed herself in jazz, Walt Disney movies, and the first stirrings of the New Deal. When she returned to her homeland, she watched with anguish as it descended into a totalitarian society that relegated her friends to exile and detention, an environment in which political extremism evoked an extreme response.
Greta and others in her circle were appalled by Nazi anti-Semitism and took action on many fronts to support their Jewish friends and neighbors. As the war raged and Nazi abuses grew in ferocity and reach, resistance was the only possible avenue for Greta and her compatriots. These included Arvid Harnack–the German friend she met in Wisconsin–who collected anti-Nazi intelligence while working for their Economic Ministry; Arvid’s wife, Mildred, who emigrated to her husband’s native country to become the only American woman executed by Hitler; Harro Schulze-Boysen, the glamorous Luftwaffe intelligence officer who smuggled anti-Nazi information to allies abroad; his wife, Libertas, a social butterfly who coaxed favors from an unsuspecting Göring; John Sieg, a railroad worker from Detroit who publicized Nazi atrocities from a Communist underground printing press; and Greta Kuckhoff’s husband, Adam, a theatrical colleague of Brecht’s who found employment in Goebbels’s propaganda unit in order to undermine the regime.
For many members of the Red Orchestra, these audacious acts of courage resulted in their tragic and untimely end. These unsung individuals are portrayed here with startling and sympathetic power. As suspenseful as a thriller, Red Orchestra is a brilliant account of ordinary yet bold citizens who were willing to sacrifice everything to topple the Third Reich.
Based on years of research, featuring new information, and culled from exclusive interviews, Red Orchestra documents this riveting story through the eyes of Greta Kuckhoff, a German working mother. Fighting for an education in 1920s Berlin but frustrated by her country’s economic instability and academic sexism, Kuckhoff ventured to America, where she immersed herself in jazz, Walt Disney movies, and the first stirrings of the New Deal. When she returned to her homeland, she watched with anguish as it descended into a totalitarian society that relegated her friends to exile and detention, an environment in which political extremism evoked an extreme response.
Greta and others in her circle were appalled by Nazi anti-Semitism and took action on many fronts to support their Jewish friends and neighbors. As the war raged and Nazi abuses grew in ferocity and reach, resistance was the only possible avenue for Greta and her compatriots. These included Arvid Harnack–the German friend she met in Wisconsin–who collected anti-Nazi intelligence while working for their Economic Ministry; Arvid’s wife, Mildred, who emigrated to her husband’s native country to become the only American woman executed by Hitler; Harro Schulze-Boysen, the glamorous Luftwaffe intelligence officer who smuggled anti-Nazi information to allies abroad; his wife, Libertas, a social butterfly who coaxed favors from an unsuspecting Göring; John Sieg, a railroad worker from Detroit who publicized Nazi atrocities from a Communist underground printing press; and Greta Kuckhoff’s husband, Adam, a theatrical colleague of Brecht’s who found employment in Goebbels’s propaganda unit in order to undermine the regime.
For many members of the Red Orchestra, these audacious acts of courage resulted in their tragic and untimely end. These unsung individuals are portrayed here with startling and sympathetic power. As suspenseful as a thriller, Red Orchestra is a brilliant account of ordinary yet bold citizens who were willing to sacrifice everything to topple the Third Reich.
388 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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December 24, 2018This book covered a group of Germans opposed to Hitler’s regime before and during WWII. They were mostly upper-class and mostly connected with the film or literary industry. During that time, any opposition to the ruling regime was a crime, so the members of the group were risking their lives to follow their conscience. They were able to send a little information to the Soviet Union (but Stalin disregarded it) and they printed and handed out a lot of anti-Nazi fliers. But people all over Europe were doing similar or even more dangerous things, so their work didn’t strike me as much as the work of other groups have. Their story is worth telling, but probably would have been better suited to a chapter in a book rather than an entire book. Perhaps to make up for the lack of material, the author repeated herself and wrote about tangents. Some parts of the book were interesting, but more parts dragged.
Early in the book, the author compared the fame of the July 20th plot involving Claus von Stauffenberg with the relative obscurity of the Red Orchestra group. It makes sense to me. Both groups were caught and killed for their beliefs, but Stauffenberg almost killed Hitler. The Red Orchestra group plastered a few walls with anti-Nazi slogans.
Early in the book, the author compared the fame of the July 20th plot involving Claus von Stauffenberg with the relative obscurity of the Red Orchestra group. It makes sense to me. Both groups were caught and killed for their beliefs, but Stauffenberg almost killed Hitler. The Red Orchestra group plastered a few walls with anti-Nazi slogans.
March 7, 2013
A wonderfully researched book that brings to life on its pages the people that resisted the Nazi's from the inside. These people risked everything to expose the evils of the Nazi party; the moral and ethical dilemmas they faced are laid bare on the pages. It gives a view of life in Berlin and the paranoiac and fear that ruled it. A book full of political intrigue and chances lost it draws you in to the story and does not let you go until the end. A fascinating book on a little told part of history.
October 19, 2011
RED ORCHESTRA, by Anne Nelson
Anne Nelson, who wrote the play I did last spring, THE GUYS, has revealed in this book a facet of her wide-ranging persona I was not initially aware of when I worked with her in April. I knew she was a renowned war correspondent, playwright, human-rights reporter, and professor, but I hadn't known she was also a historian. I've just finished her book RED ORCHESTRA and am thrilled (particularly thrilled, as one is when one finds something a friend has done has been done extremely well) to recommend it.
Red Orchestra (or Die Rote Kapelle) is the name given to Germans who formed the underground resistance to Hitler and the Nazis inside Germany. Some were members of the military or elite society, some were artists and intellectuals, some were simple working people, but all were devoted to bringing about the collapse of the Nazi regime and an end to its horrific abuses. The book is a sad chronicle of the times, particularly sad because so much of the bravery and effort exhibited by these women and men went for naught. Case after case is illustrated wherein Herculean attempts were made to assassinate Hitler or to convey to the countries allied against the Nazis the scope of the holocaust under way in Germany and to provide help in defeating Germany's war-and-murder machine, only to see chance or stupidity or arrogance defeat the effort. In the end, thousands of Germans loyal to the idea of a humane and free Germany paid with their lives for their refusal to bow down before dictatorship, and even then many of their stories were distorted and radicalized for political purposes by the victorious Anglo-American and Soviet governments. What is left is a dramatic and powerful story of human bravery in the face of near-certain death, and an understanding of how easily nations can be corrupted.
Additionally, RED ORCHESTRA provides a concise and extremely clear picture of what life in Germany was like between the World Wars and exactly how events progressed as a defeated and dispirited nation turned itself into a juggernaut of hate under the leadership of evil, spiteful, remorseless men. I've never understood so clearly before the sense of progression as the Nazis arose from the ashes of World War I on their road to destiny and infamy.
This is a terrific book, full of intimate detail and insight. I swear I'd think so even if the author weren't a friend of mine. But if she weren't, I'd probably never have known about this book, nor about the men and women of the so-called Red Orchestra, who stood up against evil when doing so was at the cost of life itself.
Anne Nelson, who wrote the play I did last spring, THE GUYS, has revealed in this book a facet of her wide-ranging persona I was not initially aware of when I worked with her in April. I knew she was a renowned war correspondent, playwright, human-rights reporter, and professor, but I hadn't known she was also a historian. I've just finished her book RED ORCHESTRA and am thrilled (particularly thrilled, as one is when one finds something a friend has done has been done extremely well) to recommend it.
Red Orchestra (or Die Rote Kapelle) is the name given to Germans who formed the underground resistance to Hitler and the Nazis inside Germany. Some were members of the military or elite society, some were artists and intellectuals, some were simple working people, but all were devoted to bringing about the collapse of the Nazi regime and an end to its horrific abuses. The book is a sad chronicle of the times, particularly sad because so much of the bravery and effort exhibited by these women and men went for naught. Case after case is illustrated wherein Herculean attempts were made to assassinate Hitler or to convey to the countries allied against the Nazis the scope of the holocaust under way in Germany and to provide help in defeating Germany's war-and-murder machine, only to see chance or stupidity or arrogance defeat the effort. In the end, thousands of Germans loyal to the idea of a humane and free Germany paid with their lives for their refusal to bow down before dictatorship, and even then many of their stories were distorted and radicalized for political purposes by the victorious Anglo-American and Soviet governments. What is left is a dramatic and powerful story of human bravery in the face of near-certain death, and an understanding of how easily nations can be corrupted.
Additionally, RED ORCHESTRA provides a concise and extremely clear picture of what life in Germany was like between the World Wars and exactly how events progressed as a defeated and dispirited nation turned itself into a juggernaut of hate under the leadership of evil, spiteful, remorseless men. I've never understood so clearly before the sense of progression as the Nazis arose from the ashes of World War I on their road to destiny and infamy.
This is a terrific book, full of intimate detail and insight. I swear I'd think so even if the author weren't a friend of mine. But if she weren't, I'd probably never have known about this book, nor about the men and women of the so-called Red Orchestra, who stood up against evil when doing so was at the cost of life itself.
February 24, 2014
When we think of Germany under Hitler, we often think of Germans as being either enthusiastic supporters of Nazism, or passive bystanders who did nothing to stop him. This fascinating non-fiction account of the Berlin Underground shows that there were, in fact, many Germans who risked everything to fight against the Nazi regime.
The Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra) was the Gestapo’s name for a group of German artists, actors, filmmakers, writers, journalists and intellectuals who worked indefatigably to undermine the Nazis in Berlin, the heart of Hitler’s war machine. Almost half of them were women.
Based on years of research, including exclusive interviews with the few that survived the war, Red Orchestra brings to life the different characters of the key people involved in the resistance ring.
These include Adam Kuckhoff, a playwright who found employment in Goebbels’s propaganda unit in order to undermine the regime, and his wife, Greta, who risked her own family to help smuggle Jews and homosexuals out from Berlin; Arvid Harnack, who collected anti-Nazi intelligence while working for the Economic Ministry, and his wife, Mildred, the only American woman executed by Hitler; Harro Schulze-Boysen, the glamorous Luftwaffe intelligence officer who leaked anti-Nazi information to allies abroad, and his wife, Libertas, a social butterfly who coaxed favours from an unsuspecting Göring; and many more.
The Berlin Underground was betrayed in 1942, and many of its members were tortured and executed, including young women in their teens. I ended the book with tears in my eyes – it is impossible not to imagine yourself living under such terrifying circumstances and wondering what choices you would make.
The Rote Kapelle (Red Orchestra) was the Gestapo’s name for a group of German artists, actors, filmmakers, writers, journalists and intellectuals who worked indefatigably to undermine the Nazis in Berlin, the heart of Hitler’s war machine. Almost half of them were women.
Based on years of research, including exclusive interviews with the few that survived the war, Red Orchestra brings to life the different characters of the key people involved in the resistance ring.
These include Adam Kuckhoff, a playwright who found employment in Goebbels’s propaganda unit in order to undermine the regime, and his wife, Greta, who risked her own family to help smuggle Jews and homosexuals out from Berlin; Arvid Harnack, who collected anti-Nazi intelligence while working for the Economic Ministry, and his wife, Mildred, the only American woman executed by Hitler; Harro Schulze-Boysen, the glamorous Luftwaffe intelligence officer who leaked anti-Nazi information to allies abroad, and his wife, Libertas, a social butterfly who coaxed favours from an unsuspecting Göring; and many more.
The Berlin Underground was betrayed in 1942, and many of its members were tortured and executed, including young women in their teens. I ended the book with tears in my eyes – it is impossible not to imagine yourself living under such terrifying circumstances and wondering what choices you would make.
May 17, 2015
For many months I've thought the world is upside down with doublespeak, lies and propaganda. A friend assures me it has always been so... "Red Orchestra" is the story of the Berlin resistance, a politically diverse group of individuals who had the moral courage to oppose Hitler at grave peril.
What shocked me was not the monstrosities of the Nazis. I grew up in the 60s and 70s. The term Nazi was an euphemism for evil. I knew about that with the pride of an American -- "the good guys". No what shocked me was the indifference of the Americans and the politically expedient choices that were made. The British and especially Soviets and as well as the Americans made their work more complicated and more dangerous.
As late as 1939, Arvid Harnack offered his assistance to Americans the US rejected him and continued to sell weapons to Germany. After the war, CIC ( US intelligence) sent Roeder, the very men who had tortured them (literally), after the survivors in the name of anti-communism. The injustice of it turns my stomach.
3,000,000 Germans were in an out of concentration camps for resisting political reasons. After the war Eric Boehm tried to chronicle them. He specifically notes how propaganda prevented us from getting an accurate picture of what was happening.
Begs the question -- what will future generations say about us. Propaganda is convenient. We What will they say of our government refusing to officially acknowledge the Armenian holocaust. A friend advised me we needed Turkey politically. Have we learned nothing? I would say that comment could have been taken right out of this book, with just the names changing.
Where in the world, is propaganda skewing the facts? What excuses are we making?
What shocked me was not the monstrosities of the Nazis. I grew up in the 60s and 70s. The term Nazi was an euphemism for evil. I knew about that with the pride of an American -- "the good guys". No what shocked me was the indifference of the Americans and the politically expedient choices that were made. The British and especially Soviets and as well as the Americans made their work more complicated and more dangerous.
As late as 1939, Arvid Harnack offered his assistance to Americans the US rejected him and continued to sell weapons to Germany. After the war, CIC ( US intelligence) sent Roeder, the very men who had tortured them (literally), after the survivors in the name of anti-communism. The injustice of it turns my stomach.
3,000,000 Germans were in an out of concentration camps for resisting political reasons. After the war Eric Boehm tried to chronicle them. He specifically notes how propaganda prevented us from getting an accurate picture of what was happening.
Begs the question -- what will future generations say about us. Propaganda is convenient. We What will they say of our government refusing to officially acknowledge the Armenian holocaust. A friend advised me we needed Turkey politically. Have we learned nothing? I would say that comment could have been taken right out of this book, with just the names changing.
Where in the world, is propaganda skewing the facts? What excuses are we making?
February 23, 2011
Opportunity lost
I had mixed feelings about this book. On one level it was a fascinating account of a little-known chapter in World War II history. But on another, it was a missed opportunity to tell a story in a more coherent and memorable way.
For one thing, the author seemed to jump around a lot, one minute discussing a fortune teller, the next a high Nazi official. It made it hard to follow the central events. She cast a wide net, hauling in small fry along with big fish. Unfortunately, while dealing with the former, the latter seem to slip away.
She does make the point that the Red Orchestra (a name, by the way, given to them by the Nazis; the group itself never called itself anything) was not in any real cohesive sense a group with a central, organized mission. It was, rather, a loose confederation of diverse resisters, not united by any particular class, political affiliation, or background. Among its members were individuals working at fairly high levels within the government, a fact that came as a shock to Hitler when the group's workings came to light.
It was also interesting that the group, while it had socialist tendencies and some communist members, provided (or attempted to provide) information to the British and American intelligence services as well as the Russian. Alas, the British and Americans were suspicious of information coming from “red” sources while the Russians were equally disposed to discredit them as a source of information. Stalin completely disregarded their warnings of an impending German invasion, for example.
Since there were so many members of the group, I was somewhat baffled by the choice of Greta Kuckhoff as the central figure of the book. Perhaps this choice was made because Greta was the sole survivor among the major players in the book. However, she certainly wasn’t the most interesting in the group; furthermore, after she had a child, she was no longer made privy to much crucial information. A more understandable focus would have been Harro Schulze-Boysen, who not only was the group’s most charismatic but also perhaps its most effective member.
In general, I felt that book would have benefited from a narrower focus. There were too many players and too many separate and sometimes conflicting missions, not to mention that the author details efforts by groups outside the Red Orchestra, such as the plot against Hitler by Admiral Canaris and his circle. Perhaps if she had concentrated on Harro Schulze-Boysen’s circle alone, with him as central figure, the narrative would have had more momentum. As it is, the reader grows fatigued with what seems an endless parade of conspirators and Nazis, few of whom engage sustained interest. While The Red Orchestra is not a work of fiction, surely an author who is also a playwright could have foreseen the need for a clearer narrative thread.
Fortunately, the book improves in its second half, with more development detailing the group’s movements and actions. And just when the group is having more success in getting the Soviets, in particular, to utilize information they were passing on to them, they are betrayed. The Nazis are made aware of their activities by the blunders of Soviet spies, who carelessly transmit too much information, information that is picked up by the Gestapo, including the names and addresses of key Red Orchestra members. It is a bitter irony, for the same “professional” spies had previously discounted the information passed on to them by “amateurs,” overlooking the fact that the sources involved were extremely well placed within the bureaucracy of the Nazi organization.
The outcome is tragic: most of the groups’ members (seventy-nine in total) were arrested and tried, with forty-five members sentenced to death, twenty-nine sent to prison, and only two acquitted for lack of evidence. The description of the trial procedures is particularly gripping, and perhaps most ironically the prosecutor (or persecutor) of the group later evaded a trial himself at Nuremberg in turn for providing key information to the Allies.
At the end, the reader wonders just how effective the Red Orchestra was. Much of the information they passed on was disregarded, and their other resistance activities – such as printing pamphlets or helping various Jews escape or providing them with food and shelter – were not critical to the war's outcome. It was not in terms of effectiveness that the group stands out, but rather in terms of its very improbability. In the words of one member, Alexander Spoerl:
“We unfortunately underestimated the obedience of the soldiers and the capacity for suffering of the German people, and with the best will in the world it was impossible to predict what form the collapse would eventually take. The most important thing is that a group existed, without any help from the population and at a time when Germany was still at war, and took action simply as a result of the dictates of conscience.”
The book is, then, a testimony to these “dictates of conscience,” closing with a touching scene in which the sole member of the group alive today, a young woman who had been on the periphery of group, recalls meeting Harro Schulze-Boysen, who stirred her to join and take action. But there, once again, I wish the author had made a more obvious choice, focusing on Schulze-Boysen and narrowing her focus to craft a more cohesive account.
I had mixed feelings about this book. On one level it was a fascinating account of a little-known chapter in World War II history. But on another, it was a missed opportunity to tell a story in a more coherent and memorable way.
For one thing, the author seemed to jump around a lot, one minute discussing a fortune teller, the next a high Nazi official. It made it hard to follow the central events. She cast a wide net, hauling in small fry along with big fish. Unfortunately, while dealing with the former, the latter seem to slip away.
She does make the point that the Red Orchestra (a name, by the way, given to them by the Nazis; the group itself never called itself anything) was not in any real cohesive sense a group with a central, organized mission. It was, rather, a loose confederation of diverse resisters, not united by any particular class, political affiliation, or background. Among its members were individuals working at fairly high levels within the government, a fact that came as a shock to Hitler when the group's workings came to light.
It was also interesting that the group, while it had socialist tendencies and some communist members, provided (or attempted to provide) information to the British and American intelligence services as well as the Russian. Alas, the British and Americans were suspicious of information coming from “red” sources while the Russians were equally disposed to discredit them as a source of information. Stalin completely disregarded their warnings of an impending German invasion, for example.
Since there were so many members of the group, I was somewhat baffled by the choice of Greta Kuckhoff as the central figure of the book. Perhaps this choice was made because Greta was the sole survivor among the major players in the book. However, she certainly wasn’t the most interesting in the group; furthermore, after she had a child, she was no longer made privy to much crucial information. A more understandable focus would have been Harro Schulze-Boysen, who not only was the group’s most charismatic but also perhaps its most effective member.
In general, I felt that book would have benefited from a narrower focus. There were too many players and too many separate and sometimes conflicting missions, not to mention that the author details efforts by groups outside the Red Orchestra, such as the plot against Hitler by Admiral Canaris and his circle. Perhaps if she had concentrated on Harro Schulze-Boysen’s circle alone, with him as central figure, the narrative would have had more momentum. As it is, the reader grows fatigued with what seems an endless parade of conspirators and Nazis, few of whom engage sustained interest. While The Red Orchestra is not a work of fiction, surely an author who is also a playwright could have foreseen the need for a clearer narrative thread.
Fortunately, the book improves in its second half, with more development detailing the group’s movements and actions. And just when the group is having more success in getting the Soviets, in particular, to utilize information they were passing on to them, they are betrayed. The Nazis are made aware of their activities by the blunders of Soviet spies, who carelessly transmit too much information, information that is picked up by the Gestapo, including the names and addresses of key Red Orchestra members. It is a bitter irony, for the same “professional” spies had previously discounted the information passed on to them by “amateurs,” overlooking the fact that the sources involved were extremely well placed within the bureaucracy of the Nazi organization.
The outcome is tragic: most of the groups’ members (seventy-nine in total) were arrested and tried, with forty-five members sentenced to death, twenty-nine sent to prison, and only two acquitted for lack of evidence. The description of the trial procedures is particularly gripping, and perhaps most ironically the prosecutor (or persecutor) of the group later evaded a trial himself at Nuremberg in turn for providing key information to the Allies.
At the end, the reader wonders just how effective the Red Orchestra was. Much of the information they passed on was disregarded, and their other resistance activities – such as printing pamphlets or helping various Jews escape or providing them with food and shelter – were not critical to the war's outcome. It was not in terms of effectiveness that the group stands out, but rather in terms of its very improbability. In the words of one member, Alexander Spoerl:
“We unfortunately underestimated the obedience of the soldiers and the capacity for suffering of the German people, and with the best will in the world it was impossible to predict what form the collapse would eventually take. The most important thing is that a group existed, without any help from the population and at a time when Germany was still at war, and took action simply as a result of the dictates of conscience.”
The book is, then, a testimony to these “dictates of conscience,” closing with a touching scene in which the sole member of the group alive today, a young woman who had been on the periphery of group, recalls meeting Harro Schulze-Boysen, who stirred her to join and take action. But there, once again, I wish the author had made a more obvious choice, focusing on Schulze-Boysen and narrowing her focus to craft a more cohesive account.
July 1, 2012
For me, this was a profoundly important book. Because it reverses the common lessons about human nature taken from Germany - that governments are saviours, and people are weak brutes who secretly revel in the persecution of their neighbours. This is about those who walk into almost certain torture and death, simply because they couldn't imagine not.
I have little knowledge of WW2 history - the one modern history unit I studied chose to focus exclusively on the psychology of Hitler in covering the topic - and what I gleaned from this book was a story very different from the casual impression of Germany infatuated with Hitler, and a brave Allied army who conquered it.
Instead, Nelson unfurls a tale of a Germany racked by terror and political assassination; of a Nazi party riding to dominance on a potent mix of smart parliamentary alliances; total media control and a willingness to use mass executions to eliminate opposition. Nelson cites a figure towards the end of the book - that 3 million Germans were punished for opposing the Nazis, and 500,000 of those executed - that give some idea of both the existence and the repression of the opposition. Earlier in the book, she details the annihilation of any organised alternative to the Nazis - the Communists; the Social Democrats; the trade unions and churches who maintained independence. The swift nature of this repression led to survivors fleeing the country on masse, to "organise from exile". The organised opposition within the country by the mid-30s is shattered.
And into it's place, Nelson explains, rolls individuals like the book's protagonists. Young, idealistic couples and singles, some blue-collar workers, some intelligensia (these are the focus of the book), with no previous experience, just convinced one had to do something.
And in place of the images of the brave Allied forces, Nelson paints a compelling portrait of criminally indifferent Soviet and American spies and officials, solely concerned with their game of espionage and political alliance, with no regard at all to the fates of Germany's people, including Jews. The Soviets refusing to believe the intelligence - which included the exact dates of the invasion and the names of the towns Hitler hit - the Americans simply indifferent. Both sides urging the Resistance to cease any activity which might endanger their intelligence work - such as organising others to fight the regime, or helping Jewish residents. While Nelson never gets opinionated, this is a tale of heroes and villains, and it is the brutality of governments more concerned with playing games than saving lives that is most challenging. (A British official, asked to assist in protecting one of the activists, declines simply noting that he would make a more useful martyr than an assett).
This careless neglect results is a burying of the work of the German resistance after the war. Perhaps the most upsetting part of this book is when the Allied forces in West Berlin are so focused on defeating the Communists that they pardon Nazis, and bury the tales of the resisters they persecuted, many of whom were left-wingers. In turn, the Soviets are only interested in tales which portray Soviet sympathisers, and the German Communist Party are the sole heroes. Nelson keeps the tone factual and neutral, but her buried outrage comes through every clipped sentence.
The Red Orchestra are as much avatars for Germany as Hitler and Goring.Clearly written, methodically researched, and Nelson explains where evidence is unclear with appropriate humility and respect for the nature of reconstructing history.
I have little knowledge of WW2 history - the one modern history unit I studied chose to focus exclusively on the psychology of Hitler in covering the topic - and what I gleaned from this book was a story very different from the casual impression of Germany infatuated with Hitler, and a brave Allied army who conquered it.
Instead, Nelson unfurls a tale of a Germany racked by terror and political assassination; of a Nazi party riding to dominance on a potent mix of smart parliamentary alliances; total media control and a willingness to use mass executions to eliminate opposition. Nelson cites a figure towards the end of the book - that 3 million Germans were punished for opposing the Nazis, and 500,000 of those executed - that give some idea of both the existence and the repression of the opposition. Earlier in the book, she details the annihilation of any organised alternative to the Nazis - the Communists; the Social Democrats; the trade unions and churches who maintained independence. The swift nature of this repression led to survivors fleeing the country on masse, to "organise from exile". The organised opposition within the country by the mid-30s is shattered.
And into it's place, Nelson explains, rolls individuals like the book's protagonists. Young, idealistic couples and singles, some blue-collar workers, some intelligensia (these are the focus of the book), with no previous experience, just convinced one had to do something.
And in place of the images of the brave Allied forces, Nelson paints a compelling portrait of criminally indifferent Soviet and American spies and officials, solely concerned with their game of espionage and political alliance, with no regard at all to the fates of Germany's people, including Jews. The Soviets refusing to believe the intelligence - which included the exact dates of the invasion and the names of the towns Hitler hit - the Americans simply indifferent. Both sides urging the Resistance to cease any activity which might endanger their intelligence work - such as organising others to fight the regime, or helping Jewish residents. While Nelson never gets opinionated, this is a tale of heroes and villains, and it is the brutality of governments more concerned with playing games than saving lives that is most challenging. (A British official, asked to assist in protecting one of the activists, declines simply noting that he would make a more useful martyr than an assett).
This careless neglect results is a burying of the work of the German resistance after the war. Perhaps the most upsetting part of this book is when the Allied forces in West Berlin are so focused on defeating the Communists that they pardon Nazis, and bury the tales of the resisters they persecuted, many of whom were left-wingers. In turn, the Soviets are only interested in tales which portray Soviet sympathisers, and the German Communist Party are the sole heroes. Nelson keeps the tone factual and neutral, but her buried outrage comes through every clipped sentence.
The Red Orchestra are as much avatars for Germany as Hitler and Goring.Clearly written, methodically researched, and Nelson explains where evidence is unclear with appropriate humility and respect for the nature of reconstructing history.
February 21, 2016
Totally incredible. This is the story of the resistance in Berlin during WW2, called the Rote Kapelle by the Gestapo. It features the story of several resistance workers and especially Greta Kuckoff, a German working mother as well as several artists, intellectuals and high placed individuals within the Economic ministry who collected Nazi intelligence and passed it on to the Allies, a high placed Luftwaffe pilot, and an actor who was employed in Goebbels propaganda unit.
For years, they went unsung, if they were spoken of at all they were labelled Communists, but they were not Communists. They were people appalled by anti Semitism and atrocities committed by the Nazis and fought bravely against them. This is a fantastic historical account that I plan to re-read several more times in the future.
For years, they went unsung, if they were spoken of at all they were labelled Communists, but they were not Communists. They were people appalled by anti Semitism and atrocities committed by the Nazis and fought bravely against them. This is a fantastic historical account that I plan to re-read several more times in the future.
February 19, 2014
Fascinating. There was a lot going on in the resistance in Germany thruout the war that simply hasn't been big news to us. Mainly because the dreaded Communists were involved we've actively tried to hide that fact. An important and very interesting read.
August 4, 2024
On of the less known anti-Nazi resistance movements of WWII, the Rote Kapelle (= Red Orchestra) had a lot of misinformation spread about it after the war. Nelson has crafted a well researched and informative account of a piece of history that shouldn't be forgotten.
January 2, 2018
The received wisdom of the Holocaust is that all the Jews went passively to their deaths like so many sheep and all Germans either committed heinous war crimes or stood passively by and allowed them to happen. There is also the notion that only Jews died in concentration camps. Then, if you're like me and find history fascinating, you read more and learn about the Warsaw Ghetto and Sobibor and partisan groups of all kinds (even Jewish ones). You learn about the resistance movements in various places (and the very real consequences to taking part in them). The literature (both fictional and non-fictional) is rich and worthwhile. Yet this is the first time that I've really understood that there was an active resistance inside Germany. Yes, I knew that the communists and trade unionists and social democrats and lots of anything else that can be imagined were purged pretty much throughout the time leading up to the war and during the war itself. Yes, I knew that there were a number of different conspiracies to assassinate Hitler. What I didn't know about was the Rote Kapelle (the Red Orchestra) and the gripping story of their courageous resistance from within the highest echelons of German society and the horrible price they paid for it.
Nelson's book documents this group in intricate well-researched detail using as many primary sources as she could get her hands on. Often characterized as Soviet spies, the group was actually filled with artists and intellectuals who passed along information to the Soviets, but who also organized and participated in various resistance efforts in their community. The horror of it all is that it was the sheer ineptitude of the Soviets that ultimately got them caught and executed. The sheer enormity of the risks these people took for so very little gain was both inspiring and terribly tragic. The cast of characters is large, but Nelson does a great job of telling this story. I'd like to say that the aftermath of their sacrifice was justice for the people who perpetrated their deaths, but those individuals were protected by the US in a misguided attempt to fight the demons of communism.
Lastly, I was struck by the information that over a period of twelve years almost 3,000,000 Germans were in and out of concentration camps and penitentiaries for political reasons. About 800,000 were arrest for overt anti-Nazi acts; of these, only 300,000 were still alive after the war so about 500,000 died resisting the Nazi government.
The thirties and the run up to the War and the War itself are crucial to understanding the world today. So much of history repeats itself again and again - the more information we have, the more nuanced our view, the more prepared we will be to fight fascism wherever it occurs.
Nelson's book documents this group in intricate well-researched detail using as many primary sources as she could get her hands on. Often characterized as Soviet spies, the group was actually filled with artists and intellectuals who passed along information to the Soviets, but who also organized and participated in various resistance efforts in their community. The horror of it all is that it was the sheer ineptitude of the Soviets that ultimately got them caught and executed. The sheer enormity of the risks these people took for so very little gain was both inspiring and terribly tragic. The cast of characters is large, but Nelson does a great job of telling this story. I'd like to say that the aftermath of their sacrifice was justice for the people who perpetrated their deaths, but those individuals were protected by the US in a misguided attempt to fight the demons of communism.
Lastly, I was struck by the information that over a period of twelve years almost 3,000,000 Germans were in and out of concentration camps and penitentiaries for political reasons. About 800,000 were arrest for overt anti-Nazi acts; of these, only 300,000 were still alive after the war so about 500,000 died resisting the Nazi government.
The thirties and the run up to the War and the War itself are crucial to understanding the world today. So much of history repeats itself again and again - the more information we have, the more nuanced our view, the more prepared we will be to fight fascism wherever it occurs.
April 27, 2014
A good general history of the Red Orchestra.
This resistance group was far different from the well known July 20, 1944 Valkyrie assassination attempt on Hitler.
The Red Orchestra group was made up of a wide variety of individuals from intellectuals to artists, bureaucrats and some military officers, some with links to the German Communist party.
Sadly their attempts at sending out military information to the Allies' intelligence agencies was largely ignored.
There are a few mistakes in the text such as the commenting on Nazi Germany's toehold in Gibraltar?! News to me!
However I found some surprising information such as "Widows of officers and statesmen who gave their lives in the 20th July coup attempt were denied West German Government pensions until the 1960's." mainly due to "The history of the anti-nazi resistance was suppressed and the West German legal system upheld the convictions of Germans executed for resistance activities"
All in all worth a read especially if you are interested in espionage in World War 2 and German resistance activities.
This resistance group was far different from the well known July 20, 1944 Valkyrie assassination attempt on Hitler.
The Red Orchestra group was made up of a wide variety of individuals from intellectuals to artists, bureaucrats and some military officers, some with links to the German Communist party.
Sadly their attempts at sending out military information to the Allies' intelligence agencies was largely ignored.
There are a few mistakes in the text such as the commenting on Nazi Germany's toehold in Gibraltar?! News to me!
However I found some surprising information such as "Widows of officers and statesmen who gave their lives in the 20th July coup attempt were denied West German Government pensions until the 1960's." mainly due to "The history of the anti-nazi resistance was suppressed and the West German legal system upheld the convictions of Germans executed for resistance activities"
All in all worth a read especially if you are interested in espionage in World War 2 and German resistance activities.
November 30, 2018
I’d never heard much about Germans living in Germany during WWII who worked against the government. The story of these lives are sad because so many didn’t make it, but it’s encouraging to hear of people standing up to such brutality.
I listened to this book and found it hard to follow along and keep up with all the characters. I think the narrator didn’t help as her voice was slow and methodical. I enjoyed the history and the nuggets I picked up.
I listened to this book and found it hard to follow along and keep up with all the characters. I think the narrator didn’t help as her voice was slow and methodical. I enjoyed the history and the nuggets I picked up.
May 5, 2018
A very well written and researched book on a less than well known group of Hitler resistors. This book reads more like a novel than a history book keeping the reader very interested.. Whether you are well versed in WW2 history or not it is a great read for all.
I learned much in reading this and also learned of some other books i would like to read through the acknowledgments!
I learned much in reading this and also learned of some other books i would like to read through the acknowledgments!
June 25, 2020
This is a good nonfiction companion to Resistance Women by Jennifer Chaverini. It was a bit dry at first but got better as it progressed. It had a lot of names and maybe it was harder to keep straight since I did the audio. I am glad I read resistance women first. It was insightful to a resistance group of Germans.
August 7, 2012
Overall an average read. I'm sad to report that it wasn't one of those books that keep me glued to the pages obsessively until the finish, so the large cast of players, their relation to each other and the story as a whole tended to get confusing at times. Historically speaking, it is astounding to think of these brave souls who risked everything to maintain their ideals in a time when their entire culture succumbed to the insanity of the Third Reich. It is also interesting from a sociological viewpoint; in another time or place, such a disparate range of people representing castes, religions, education levels and ideologies that wouldn't usually mingle were able to work together towards a higher truth and goal. This detail, among many others, should have made this account a complex and layered study with implications and trails of thought even above and beyond the already fantastic reality of the tale. The book disappointed in this way repeatedly throughout.
The characters (real people) and their noble cause and deeds were indeed an anomaly of the times. I don't believe the author was able to present the events in a way that kept the reader absolutely riveted in the way that the true story actually deserves. My imagination had to work too hard, so to speak, doing the job that should have come naturally to the author--intrigue is inherent in such an extraordinary sequence of events and interplay of types. I love and admire the people and the history itself, but it is unfortunate that the book was written in a way that actually bored me a bit. Simply, the material could (and should) have been handled better.
But lest anyone think I'm simply bored or biased against the genre, let me quell any such notion. I've read riveting accounts, enormous tomes about topics in history that I didn't think would interest me at all before I began--the name escapes me now, but the huge and intricately detailed account of the expedition of Lewis and Clark comes to mind as an example. However, in this case, the author takes a complex story full of the best and worst extremes of humanity, set in my very favorite period of time for historical study, and somehow manages to make it almost a chore to get through. I suppose I can allow that it takes a special skill to dull the most exciting of subject matter, if I am pressed to say something positive about the telling, rather than the tale itself!
The characters (real people) and their noble cause and deeds were indeed an anomaly of the times. I don't believe the author was able to present the events in a way that kept the reader absolutely riveted in the way that the true story actually deserves. My imagination had to work too hard, so to speak, doing the job that should have come naturally to the author--intrigue is inherent in such an extraordinary sequence of events and interplay of types. I love and admire the people and the history itself, but it is unfortunate that the book was written in a way that actually bored me a bit. Simply, the material could (and should) have been handled better.
But lest anyone think I'm simply bored or biased against the genre, let me quell any such notion. I've read riveting accounts, enormous tomes about topics in history that I didn't think would interest me at all before I began--the name escapes me now, but the huge and intricately detailed account of the expedition of Lewis and Clark comes to mind as an example. However, in this case, the author takes a complex story full of the best and worst extremes of humanity, set in my very favorite period of time for historical study, and somehow manages to make it almost a chore to get through. I suppose I can allow that it takes a special skill to dull the most exciting of subject matter, if I am pressed to say something positive about the telling, rather than the tale itself!
February 12, 2012
This is the story of Rote Kapelle, Red Orchestra, the name the Gestapo gave a diverse group of anti-fascists in Berlin. It is an attempt to tell the whole story, from 1927 to well after the war. The struggle (for the survivors) didn't end with the war; they were caught between the Cold War powers who each wanted to twist the story to fit the propaganda needs of the post-war decades.
It is a fascinating story. These resistance fighters risked their lives every day for more than a decade, attempting to get intelligence to the Soviets, Americans, and British, only to have their hard won information ignored by all. On top of that, they were hampered by the incompetence of the professional spies of the Allies and Stalin's odd combination of paranoia and trust of Hitler prior to Barbarossa.
Repeatedly I found myself thinking of the incredible stress these people found themselves under. Many rose to positions of relative power in the Nazi regime while aiding Jews, gathering intelligence, publishing and distributing leaflets, and perpetrating minor sabotage. Some were Communist Party members, some were Social Democrats, some in theatre and film, some in the military. All were constantly at risk, and ultimately betrayed by the incredibly stupid actions of Soviet intelligence.
It is a fascinating story. These resistance fighters risked their lives every day for more than a decade, attempting to get intelligence to the Soviets, Americans, and British, only to have their hard won information ignored by all. On top of that, they were hampered by the incompetence of the professional spies of the Allies and Stalin's odd combination of paranoia and trust of Hitler prior to Barbarossa.
Repeatedly I found myself thinking of the incredible stress these people found themselves under. Many rose to positions of relative power in the Nazi regime while aiding Jews, gathering intelligence, publishing and distributing leaflets, and perpetrating minor sabotage. Some were Communist Party members, some were Social Democrats, some in theatre and film, some in the military. All were constantly at risk, and ultimately betrayed by the incredibly stupid actions of Soviet intelligence.
July 10, 2016
Fræðandi frásögn um andspyrnu Þjóðverja við ógnarstjórn nasista í síðari heimsstyrjöld. Þetta var fjölmennur hópur sem stundaði njósnir, hjálpaði gyðingum að flýja og dreifðu andófsfréttum á meðal Þjóðverja. Fólkið var af öllum stéttum og barðist af hugsjón fyrir málefnum sínum.
Gestapo, leyniþjónusta Þjóðverja, gaf þeim nafnið Rauða hljómsveitin vegna fjölda senditækjanna sem sendu leynilegar upplýsingar en sjálf höfðu þau ekki gefið sér neitt nafn.
Upp komst um þau fyrir heimskulegt klúður leyniþjónustu Sovétríkjanna en njósnarar hópsins höfðu gefið nákvæmar upplýsingar um hernað og fyrirætlanir Þjóðverja til Sovétríkjanna.
Frásagnir um andspyrnuhópinn hafa ekki farið hátt því að eftir stríð tókust stórveldin á um arfleifð hans. Bandaríkjamönnum var ekki um það gefið að margir einstaklinganna höfðu verið vinstri menn og Sovétmenn ritstýrðu sögum eftirlifenda sér til hróss. Hins vegar höfðu aðilar hópsins ítrekað leitað aðstoðar bæði Breta og Bandaríkjamanna fyrir og við upphaf stríðsins en verið hafnað af ýmsum ástæðum.
Gestapo, leyniþjónusta Þjóðverja, gaf þeim nafnið Rauða hljómsveitin vegna fjölda senditækjanna sem sendu leynilegar upplýsingar en sjálf höfðu þau ekki gefið sér neitt nafn.
Upp komst um þau fyrir heimskulegt klúður leyniþjónustu Sovétríkjanna en njósnarar hópsins höfðu gefið nákvæmar upplýsingar um hernað og fyrirætlanir Þjóðverja til Sovétríkjanna.
Frásagnir um andspyrnuhópinn hafa ekki farið hátt því að eftir stríð tókust stórveldin á um arfleifð hans. Bandaríkjamönnum var ekki um það gefið að margir einstaklinganna höfðu verið vinstri menn og Sovétmenn ritstýrðu sögum eftirlifenda sér til hróss. Hins vegar höfðu aðilar hópsins ítrekað leitað aðstoðar bæði Breta og Bandaríkjamanna fyrir og við upphaf stríðsins en verið hafnað af ýmsum ástæðum.
February 2, 2018
Eye opening and sensitive
This is a view of a Germany at war that was never known to me until now. Important read I think and casts more light on the Germany of today.
This is a view of a Germany at war that was never known to me until now. Important read I think and casts more light on the Germany of today.
November 4, 2019
Earlier this year, I had read a fictionalized account of this. After the first fifty pages, this was a much more revealing and fast paced read! It went into more places and details, and I was awed at both the numbers of Germans and courage they showed to stand against the Nazi regime. I thoroughly recommend this.
November 1, 2021
Excellent insight into this little known group that fervently resisted the Nazis during WWII. The group's outreach sadly fell onto indifferent ears of America and Great Britain. Not a quick read, but definitely worth the time.
October 29, 2019
I have read many books about World War II, but I never came across anything about this group of comparatively young people who sought to undermine the progress of the Nazis. The author must have spent many hours in research to get this story.
July 12, 2009
As a girl, when I heard fo the Holocaust, I received an image of Jewish people being loaded into trains to be sent to concentration camps, the German people standing by, pretending not to see, afraid to object. I tried to imagine myself standing up to the German soldiers and felt that I, too, would have stood by silently in fear and done nothing. I felt deeply guilty about this. I couldn't even bring myself to object if a group of kids ws making fun of someone.
In reading Red Orchestra, I learned that this image, this stereotype of silent assent of the German people is inaccurate--the stories of German resistance were suppressed as part of the immediate post-war fight against Communism. The Nazi's had labeled all the resisters as Communists.
Public acts of rebellion such as my imaginary confrontation of the soldiers at the train station would have been pointless and would have been punished by death. Many of those supposedly passive Germans were resisting the Nazis in every way in their power, often risking their lives on a daily basis. The people in the US and England who could have helped them did nothing.
This book contains stories of a diverse group of people: artists, factory workers, actors, housewives, academics, army officers. They were working class, middle class, upper class. They included leftists, communists, Christian Democrats, conservatives, religious. What they had in common was their commitment to humanity.
Some of these people were daring, inspiring leaders, yes. But some were ordinary, frightened, timid. There came a point for each where the cruelty and inhuanity of their society was so extreme that the choice was to resist or cease being human.
Reading this book, I went through my days accompanied by their courage. My own fears seemed much more faceable because of their example. Just as they buoy me up and give me courage, I imagine they must have buoyed each other up.
I realized reading this book that great courage doesn't always manifest itself in a dramatic, public gesture. It could be a quieter, more everyday act...dangerous, yes, but a calculated danger. Like the ceramicist, Cato Bontjes van Beek who found a fellow art student distraught because her fiance's mother and sister had just been deported to the camps. She told her she shouldn't be alone and brought her to a meeting of the Red Orchestra. At first the meeting consisted of a group of women sitting around the living room listening to Bach on the gramophone. Then a tall, young German army officer in full uniform came in and embraced her and said "This barbarity has to stop. We all have to work together to stop that devil." From that moment, she says, she was no longer a victim; she was a resister.
Mildred Fish Harnack, the only American woman to be executed at Hitler's order, a professor of English literature, spent the night before she was guillotined tranlatiing Goethe into English. These are the last lines she translated:
No being can to nothing fall
The everlasting lives in all
Sustain yourself in joy with life
Life is eternal; there are laws
To keep the living treasures cause
With which the worlds are rife
In reading Red Orchestra, I learned that this image, this stereotype of silent assent of the German people is inaccurate--the stories of German resistance were suppressed as part of the immediate post-war fight against Communism. The Nazi's had labeled all the resisters as Communists.
Public acts of rebellion such as my imaginary confrontation of the soldiers at the train station would have been pointless and would have been punished by death. Many of those supposedly passive Germans were resisting the Nazis in every way in their power, often risking their lives on a daily basis. The people in the US and England who could have helped them did nothing.
This book contains stories of a diverse group of people: artists, factory workers, actors, housewives, academics, army officers. They were working class, middle class, upper class. They included leftists, communists, Christian Democrats, conservatives, religious. What they had in common was their commitment to humanity.
Some of these people were daring, inspiring leaders, yes. But some were ordinary, frightened, timid. There came a point for each where the cruelty and inhuanity of their society was so extreme that the choice was to resist or cease being human.
Reading this book, I went through my days accompanied by their courage. My own fears seemed much more faceable because of their example. Just as they buoy me up and give me courage, I imagine they must have buoyed each other up.
I realized reading this book that great courage doesn't always manifest itself in a dramatic, public gesture. It could be a quieter, more everyday act...dangerous, yes, but a calculated danger. Like the ceramicist, Cato Bontjes van Beek who found a fellow art student distraught because her fiance's mother and sister had just been deported to the camps. She told her she shouldn't be alone and brought her to a meeting of the Red Orchestra. At first the meeting consisted of a group of women sitting around the living room listening to Bach on the gramophone. Then a tall, young German army officer in full uniform came in and embraced her and said "This barbarity has to stop. We all have to work together to stop that devil." From that moment, she says, she was no longer a victim; she was a resister.
Mildred Fish Harnack, the only American woman to be executed at Hitler's order, a professor of English literature, spent the night before she was guillotined tranlatiing Goethe into English. These are the last lines she translated:
No being can to nothing fall
The everlasting lives in all
Sustain yourself in joy with life
Life is eternal; there are laws
To keep the living treasures cause
With which the worlds are rife
December 6, 2011
What to say about this book? It seems well-documented, although a bit hard to follow at times, and I suspect it was a challenge to create a structure around this motley group. These Nazi dissenters were essentially individuals of principal, whether religious, political or humane, drawn together by a desire to make a change by informing their fellow citizens of the truth. It does not appear that they were able to do more, as their repeated overtures to the Americans, the British and the Soviets, were mostly ignored or badly managed.
The overall effectiveness of the group was miniscule. But, and this is where some real book-club discussion would be interesting, regardless of the general ineffectiveness of their actions, was their cause and their actions worth the stress and ultimate death for most of them? Is it better to die for your values and beliefs or live knowing you have betrayed everything you claimed to have believed in? That is really a question of conscience and, even as I winced at some of the ideas and actions that they attempted, what could they have done to have made a greater impact that would not have been swallowed up by the Nazi propaganda and information control machine?
Then again, I wonder, was there a German need for order that required diaries (like the July 20th conspirators who are referred to in the book) or a need to document so that when "someone" did something they had information and an organizational structure in place? Why did they (I mean the military men) wait so long to act I wonder, because they were winning at first (no matter how distasteful they found Hitler and his methods)or they hoped that they would lose faster and wouldn't have to betray their country? Or the Red Orchestra group itself, making copies of photos and documents for someday when they would be needed for justice. Good planners these people, but it is obvious none of them ever read a good spy thriller. Heroes in spy thrillers manage against all odds and governments and all manner of set backs to bring light to the dark conspiracies.
Given the quality of the information the Red Orchestra had access to, you have to wonder what difference it could have made to the war effort and its ending if the British hadn't been so snobbish and the Americans so determined to have no idea what was going on (and the Soviets too busy dying under Stalin) and everyone too self-satisfied in their narrow assumptions and preening ignorance to actually consider the information that they were begged to consider. Heroes in spy thrillers usually find someone who will listen and believe them, the best the Red Orchestra could do was some incompetent Soviets who effectively signed their death warrants and still couldn't use the info that they were provided.
The overall effectiveness of the group was miniscule. But, and this is where some real book-club discussion would be interesting, regardless of the general ineffectiveness of their actions, was their cause and their actions worth the stress and ultimate death for most of them? Is it better to die for your values and beliefs or live knowing you have betrayed everything you claimed to have believed in? That is really a question of conscience and, even as I winced at some of the ideas and actions that they attempted, what could they have done to have made a greater impact that would not have been swallowed up by the Nazi propaganda and information control machine?
Then again, I wonder, was there a German need for order that required diaries (like the July 20th conspirators who are referred to in the book) or a need to document so that when "someone" did something they had information and an organizational structure in place? Why did they (I mean the military men) wait so long to act I wonder, because they were winning at first (no matter how distasteful they found Hitler and his methods)or they hoped that they would lose faster and wouldn't have to betray their country? Or the Red Orchestra group itself, making copies of photos and documents for someday when they would be needed for justice. Good planners these people, but it is obvious none of them ever read a good spy thriller. Heroes in spy thrillers manage against all odds and governments and all manner of set backs to bring light to the dark conspiracies.
Given the quality of the information the Red Orchestra had access to, you have to wonder what difference it could have made to the war effort and its ending if the British hadn't been so snobbish and the Americans so determined to have no idea what was going on (and the Soviets too busy dying under Stalin) and everyone too self-satisfied in their narrow assumptions and preening ignorance to actually consider the information that they were begged to consider. Heroes in spy thrillers usually find someone who will listen and believe them, the best the Red Orchestra could do was some incompetent Soviets who effectively signed their death warrants and still couldn't use the info that they were provided.
November 8, 2009
This is the undertold story of a group of brave men and women who actively resisted Nazi Germany in the 1930's into World War II. One reason I liked the book so well was that the author spent time on each person's background and personality which made me feel like I knew them, and that made the later story all the more compelling.
I also liked the author addressing the ethical dilemnas faced by the resisters. One was the balance between helping Jewish friends and neighbors while infilitrating Nazi government to obtain information to help resistance. Of course active assistance for Jews in Nazi Germany called into question their"Nazi Loyalty" and risked discovery of their resistance efforts.(Most chose to help Jews, sometimes with touching success, sometimes with tragic failure.
Another ethical quandry was smuggling information to the Allies during World War II when that created risk of harm to their family and friends who were fighting for Germany. Of course, a third issue was the risk to their families which in the end resulted in Nazi murder of young children and teenagers who were innocent of any resistance.
I also was intrigued by examples of Germans who were not actively involved in the resistance but who refused to participate in the Nazi persecution, especially those in the military, police, and judicial system. The author explains how these people were purged from government and that it was after such purges that the Nazis were able to dominate.
Even though the book focused on Nazi Germany, as a sidelight I ended up detesting Stalin just as bad. And while there were notable and brave exceptions, the Lutheran church and Catholic church as a whole comes off very poorly.
I could continue which is a result of how much I learned and how thought provoking this book was. All the more reason for me to highly recommend it
I also liked the author addressing the ethical dilemnas faced by the resisters. One was the balance between helping Jewish friends and neighbors while infilitrating Nazi government to obtain information to help resistance. Of course active assistance for Jews in Nazi Germany called into question their"Nazi Loyalty" and risked discovery of their resistance efforts.(Most chose to help Jews, sometimes with touching success, sometimes with tragic failure.
Another ethical quandry was smuggling information to the Allies during World War II when that created risk of harm to their family and friends who were fighting for Germany. Of course, a third issue was the risk to their families which in the end resulted in Nazi murder of young children and teenagers who were innocent of any resistance.
I also was intrigued by examples of Germans who were not actively involved in the resistance but who refused to participate in the Nazi persecution, especially those in the military, police, and judicial system. The author explains how these people were purged from government and that it was after such purges that the Nazis were able to dominate.
Even though the book focused on Nazi Germany, as a sidelight I ended up detesting Stalin just as bad. And while there were notable and brave exceptions, the Lutheran church and Catholic church as a whole comes off very poorly.
I could continue which is a result of how much I learned and how thought provoking this book was. All the more reason for me to highly recommend it
Read
July 25, 2009Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler, by Anne Nelson. A-minus. Narrated by the author. Produced by Tantor Media and downloaded from audible.com.
The Publisher’s note says it as well as I could:
This riveting account of German resistance is based on years of research by the distinguished journalist Anne Nelson. This is a beautiful and moving portrait
of ordinary but heroic figures - an untold story of a circle of Germans and German-Americans in Berlin who took a principled stand against Hitler and the
Holocaust. They expressed their opposition by infiltrating the Nazi ministries, distributing samizdat literature to break through the information blockade,
and trying to help the Allied forces achieve a military victory. The narrative is constructed around the life of Greta Kuckhoff, an "ordinary woman" educated
at the University of Wisconsin, who returned to Germany only to see it sink into a fascist nightmare. The book relates the history of her resistance circle
against an explanation of how Germany's civil society was systematically eroded. Greta and her friends grapple with questions of ongoing concern today.
How can a citizen balance the tensions between patriotism and ethics? How can civic duty be defined in a period when peaceful protest fails? How do government
restrictions and the concentration of media ownership compromise democratic expression?
The Publisher’s note says it as well as I could:
This riveting account of German resistance is based on years of research by the distinguished journalist Anne Nelson. This is a beautiful and moving portrait
of ordinary but heroic figures - an untold story of a circle of Germans and German-Americans in Berlin who took a principled stand against Hitler and the
Holocaust. They expressed their opposition by infiltrating the Nazi ministries, distributing samizdat literature to break through the information blockade,
and trying to help the Allied forces achieve a military victory. The narrative is constructed around the life of Greta Kuckhoff, an "ordinary woman" educated
at the University of Wisconsin, who returned to Germany only to see it sink into a fascist nightmare. The book relates the history of her resistance circle
against an explanation of how Germany's civil society was systematically eroded. Greta and her friends grapple with questions of ongoing concern today.
How can a citizen balance the tensions between patriotism and ethics? How can civic duty be defined in a period when peaceful protest fails? How do government
restrictions and the concentration of media ownership compromise democratic expression?
June 22, 2010
Anne Nelson has balanced the complexities of describing political and day to day trauma in this book. I learned so much: not just about the Red Orchestra (the Rote Kapelle) but about resistance in Nazi Germany and the blindingly arrogant refusal to listen to intelligence in Allied countries. Nazi atrocities are not surprising though still shocking. But the suppression of resistance stories in the West is jarring. I should have known that the Allies (and especially the US) who lessened denazification efforts in preparation for the cold war would have minimized efforts by resisters they considered communists, but I found myself shaking my head over and over again at these post-war priorities. Nelson is esspecially good at driving the narrative forward throughout the book; although detailed, the story never gets bogged down. I highly recommend this book.
August 22, 2009
I finished this book before vacation and passed it on to my Father inlaw a native of Germany who arrived in this country well before 1933.
I found this book very interesting. This was the first book on the German resistance that I read since I was a kid and read a book called Children of the Resistance.
The story of the American educated Germans who resisted Hitler in ways large and small is a small testament to an immigration policy that allows foreigners to learn our ways through living life over here and learning about us at our universities. This book is also testimony that there were "good Germans" who resisted and helped to the very end. As this book indicates much of that story was hidden when the iron curtain divided Germany. I felt angry that American intelligence prevented accused war criminals from justice. I am glad the story is finally being told.
I found this book very interesting. This was the first book on the German resistance that I read since I was a kid and read a book called Children of the Resistance.
The story of the American educated Germans who resisted Hitler in ways large and small is a small testament to an immigration policy that allows foreigners to learn our ways through living life over here and learning about us at our universities. This book is also testimony that there were "good Germans" who resisted and helped to the very end. As this book indicates much of that story was hidden when the iron curtain divided Germany. I felt angry that American intelligence prevented accused war criminals from justice. I am glad the story is finally being told.
October 1, 2009
This was a difficult book to read, in several ways. The prose did not flow, and there were so many characters, it was hard to follow them. Then the story is so difficult to read about. In defense of the author, she provided a cast of characters in the beginning of the book. This is a true story of clandestine operations, so there is little written documentation for her to work with. And the deprevation! I had always been told that the German people did nothing to stop the slaughter in their own country. Not true. But in a world where you can be killed for posting anti-Nazi stickers at a bus stop, you really have to ask yourself if the risk is worth the potential value. I recommend this book. If nothing else, it is a cautionary tale of what happens when too much power is concentrated in too few people.
July 31, 2017
It's amazing to me that we don't know more about this group. The Red Orchestra (named by the Nazis) was a coalition of friends and acquaintances in Germany who banned together to resist Hitler. Most of them lost their lives doing so. They were people from all walks of life: students, workers, artists, writers, and even highly placed members of the Nazi government. They collected intelligence that they tried to share with the Soviets, Americans and British to little avail. They were anti-fascists, communists, Social Democrats, Jews, etc. It was a broad coalition that came together to save Germany even though the Soviets and Americans took advantage of their story for Cold War purposes (painting them as a communist spy ring when they were not.) It's a varied cast of fascinating characters and it really should be made into a movie. Very well written too. Recommended.
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