Secret and Dangerous Lives in World War II Memoirs

I read memoirs because my life is so insulated

Memoirs can offer a window into different worlds and experiences, making them a powerful way to connect with lives and perspectives outside of my own. It's a great way to break out of an insulated environment and explore the complexities of other people's journeys.

Insulation makes me myopic and judgmental. Deeply immersed in my world, it’s easy to lose perspective and form narrow views. Reading memoirs, exploring diverse stories, and engaging with different experiences has greatly helped in challenging these tendencies and broadened my understanding.

Secret Fears Leads to the Current Staple Reading

My reading a memoir is further enriched by reading other books set in the same similar historical period. Lately, I read a biography entitled "Agent Josephine" while still finishing the memoir "When Time Stopped." Meanwhile, I am halfway through a newly acquired e-book, the historical novel by Claire Messaud, "This Strange Eventful History."

Reading a memoir, a novel, and a biography together has given me a multidimensional understanding of the time period that was World War II.  A blending of fictional narrative and factual history has enriched my appreciation of not just the 'big' heroes of WW2, but of the million other lives who suffered and sacrificed their lives in that unfortunate global disaster. These include spies, friends of holocaust survivors, mothers intent on the survival of their children, fathers on the battlefields missing their spouses, and underground rebels who refused to capitulate but exerted all creative faculties to source help for others to survive.

While the "big" heroes of World War II are often celebrated, countless individuals represented in these books truly represent the profound impact of the war. Everyday people who endured immense suffering, loss, and sacrifice are often overshadowed, yet their experiences are no less significant. As I read the memoir, the novel, and the biography, stories of often "less important" figures are brought to light, giving me a nuanced and broader understanding of the war's true human cost.

Some Figures from the Books I’ve been Reading

Hans Neuman and Josephine Baker were survivors who kept hoping for the correct world in the light of the global trauma that was World War II. Both adamantly clung to life, and persisted in survival to let the future know about this gruesome past. The world has to learn from the ravages of war after all, although future history has repeatedly missed the lessons.

Hans Neumann, as depicted in "When Time Stopped," managed to survive the horrors of the Holocaust and went on to rebuild his life, never losing hope for a world that could be more just and compassionate. It was as if time stopped during the war, when he had to assume another name and identity for the sake of survival. He triumphed in ‘tricking’ the fate of the ‘jews’ and got to live a new life in a new state. He refused to let that past haunt him by making that time of his life stop, both literally and metaphorically. The memoir takes on the theme of the unwinding of time pieces, which was Hans Neuman’s hobby.

Josephine Baker, often remembered for her glamorous life as an entertainer, was a courageous spy and resistance fighter. During World War II, her efforts in giving the Allies information about plans of the Axis expressed her desire for a better world. Despite her personal traumas, her actions and collaborations with other secret agents reflected a deep sense of hope and determination.

In the novel “This Strange, Eventful History”, Claire Messaud’s characters are as much a product of their time as of their family histories. Individual stories reminded me that even in their most clueless of times and seasons, people can find their ways to resistance, survival, and belief for better life, better coping, better indignance.

These characters in the novel, memoir, and biography will always remind me that nobody will ever be prepared for war, and yet, everybody has a nucleus of loved ones to always stand by and protect. Everybody will eventually find a worthy cause to not just survive, but also believe in survival. This is always for somebody other than themselves.

I’m hoping for no wars or rumors of war although this maybe an empty hope. Even the Bible says that wars are inevitable. But hopefully the younger generation will see inspiration and hope in the heroic tales of those who survived to tell their tales and lived to publish their stories for posterity. Stories of resilience, courage, and humanity—like those of Hans Neumann and Josephine Baker serve as powerful reminders of what individuals can achieve, even in the worst of times. 

Recommended novels, memoirs, biographies set in World War 2  

While watching the news about the China-Philippine wrangling in the contested territorial waters, I can’t help but think about World War II. Those decades weren’t too far from today. In these Asian shores, the same fires of conflict from ancient times simmer and are threatening to explode. 

My prayer is that the younger generation will know how to respond to any outbreak of war, but more than violence, I am hoping for an understanding that war is both mercy and judgment. In the light of the impending chaos, home, family, friends, and other loved ones will take priority over the more material concerns. And in all the commotion, one needs to have the basic and most necessary faith in the true God, either for life or for death.

Here’s a list of historical books, memoirs, novels, and biographies set in World War II that focus on less-known individuals. [This list does not yet include books about the war years in the Philippines, written by Filipinos. Here is that list.]

Memoirs:

1. "The Zookeeper's Wife" by Diane Ackerman - The true story of Antonina Żabińska, who, along with her husband, saved hundreds of Jews by hiding them in their Warsaw Zoo during the Holocaust.
2. "Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the African American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race" by Margot Lee Shetterly - Though not strictly about WWII, this memoir highlights the lesser-known contributions of African American women during the war era.
3. "We Band of Angels" by Elizabeth Norman - The story of the U.S. Army and Navy nurses who were captured by the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II and survived three years of imprisonment.

Novels:

1. "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr - Follows the story of a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide during the war, highlighting the lesser-known struggles of civilians.
2. "The Night Watch" by Sarah Waters - Set in post-WWII London, it weaves together the lives of four people whose experiences during the war shaped their futures.
3. "The Women in the Castle" by Jessica Shattuck - Focuses on three German women and their survival after their husbands' failed plot to assassinate Hitler.
4. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak - A novel narrated by Death, centered around a young girl in Nazi Germany who steals books and shares them with others during the war.

Biographies:

1. "Code Name: Lise" by Larry Loftis - The biography of Odette Sansom, a British spy who operated in Nazi-occupied France and survived imprisonment in Ravensbrück concentration camp.
2. "A Woman of No Importance" by Sonia Purnell - The incredible story of Virginia Hall, an American spy who became one of the most successful Allied operatives in Nazi-occupied France.
3. "Resistance: A French Woman’s Journal of the War" by Agnes Humbert - A gripping first-hand account of a French woman’s involvement in the resistance and her capture by the Nazis.

Historical Non-Fiction:

1. "The Girls Who Went Away" by Ann Fessler - While not entirely set during WWII, this non-fiction book looks at the stories of women who gave up their children for adoption in the post-war era, offering a different perspective on the social aftermath of the war.
2. "The Bielski Brothers" by Peter Duffy - The true story of three brothers who saved over 1,200 Jews by building a secret village in the forests of Belarus during the Holocaust.
3. "The Spy Who Loved" by Clare Mulley - The story of Krystyna Skarbek, a Polish-born British special agent who became one of Churchill’s most daring spies.

From the sentence descriptions, I can deduce that most memoirs in this list are stories of figures who prioritized desires that served the greater cause of winning against barbaric war acts and decimations. As with the rest of the historical novels, even the intentional entertainment value zeroes in on the valued relationships prominent in the narrative [women who gave up their children, three brothers saving 1,200 Jews].

Among the list above, I have read only “All the Light We Cannot See,” and “The Book Thief”. I am happy to report that I truly enjoyed both and was much enlightened especially with the details of existence in the midst of fires and bombings, how people still kept a semblance of normal life, as they tried to meet the basic and most crucial needs of their loved ones.  [I have also seen the film adaptations of both books. I recommend reading the books first before you watch the films if you haven't done both yet.]

As books pass on these stories in the paged legacy of memoirs, biographies, and novels, here’s to the chance that future generations will read and remember the sacrifices, and become motivated to work toward a more peaceful world.

Welding With Children

On the way to my sister's condo, I get down the bus at the MRT station in Ayala and walk the three malls (SM, LANDMARK, Glorieta 1) then cross the road, turn left then right up to Radissons. The best part of this long walk aside from the shops and the air-condition is the book display at the walkway at SM. I have already bought three good books in my last three visits to my sister's place (99 each). I always carry a book on my bag and read it on my way to and from Manila. On the bus and while waiting on lines are some of my most concentrated reading times. Right this morning, as I waited for my call at the doctor's office at St Luke, I finished (yeah, that's how long I waited, talk about hospital insurance cards) the short story collection of Tim Gautreaux entitled WELDING WITH CHILDREN. The title did not catch my attention at first, 'coz the word welding sounded so manly. However, the words "with children" caught me. "Interesting," I thought and started flipping the pages. Good bargain because it turned out that this book is one short story collection I will put on my shelf, and possibly reread, both for study and for entertainment.

The blurb says that "Tim Gatreaux's work has appeared in Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Story, and the three most recent editions of Best American short stories. His novel, The Next Step in the Dance won the 1999 SEBA Book Award. He is a writer in residence at Southeastern Louisiana University and lives in Hammond, Louisiana." I don't recognize the magazines except Harper's coz I bought some old issues a long time ago (yes, because of the stories in them). But I wanted some short reads and this was one I could be comfortable with while "in transit."

There are eleven short stories in his collection and my favorites are the following: Welding with Children; Misuse of Light; Easy Pickings; The Piano Tuner; The Pine Oil Writer's Conference.

In the first story, Welding with Children, the character realizes that his grandchildren are growing up without any sense of right or wrong, and he's to blame. He thinks that he wasn't able to raise his daughters the way they should have been raised, that's why his grandchildren are being raised the way they are. It's like a vicious cycle to his mind. The grandchildren left with him to babysit as he proceeds with his tasks (including welding) in his house are the epitome of what can go wrong with the future generation. Their parents work so hard that they are left to fend for themselves, watching television and catching all the pop-innuendoes that cloud their minds with adult stuff too loaded for their young minds. Anyway, I thought the story is very real and compassionate, showing how the old people suddenly do an accounting of their mistakes once they are face to face with how the very young are forced to cope with issues that they should be facing only when they get to middle age. In Filipino context where children live with their parents for as long as they want, the story maybe alien since most children are mamas boys and girls. But at a very young age, if they are left on their own, to be independent and all that, they become dwarf adults, speaking the language of the not-so-very-young while their sponge-minds apply the jaded-meanings to their lives which have yet to evolve. Talking "sense" and "good manners" into them is like welding. The story is sad but it also makes me understand the old people more, when they shake their heads at the ways of youth and say "In our days we used to..."

Misuse of Light is simply beautiful. It's the story of a photographer who doesn't really do much photography on his own but he works in a kind of junk shop buying and selling all used stuff. He gets this walk-in client who sells him an old camera, and as he does with all old cameras, he checks if there's an old film stuck there and if there is, he develops the film himself. This is how he stumbles upon a love story, between two people, an artist photographer and her lover. The photographer died when the ship she and her lover were riding sank, and the story says that instead of saving her, the lover saved the camera. This story is revealed to the grand daughter who sold the camera. The discovery devastates her since she looked at her grandfather - the lover - as a kind of hero. The photographer's curiosity has led him to old newspaper articles which exploited the story. He casually shows the clips to his walk-in client without realizing how they will affect her. But he tries to remedy the situation by studying the picture and the surrounding stories. It turns out that the lover saved the camera because he so loved his photographer-artist friend. He caught the camera and in one instant, as he turned around, the girl he loved had drowned. I thought the title is the very metaphor of how reality is often clouded by perceptions. The camera freezes a story in time, and those who sees the picture looks only at one obvious aspect and completely miss the other details. The characters didn't get the story right the first time because there are details in the picture that they didn't pay particular attention to. It took the photographer's eyes to tell them that the eyes of the girl caught by the camera and her parted lips, plus the other details in the pictures tell no other story but that of true love, and the one who caught those pictures is the entire opposite of the selfish, indifferent creature that the newspaper pictured him to be.

Easy Pickings is kind of funny. A robber victimizes an old woman who lives alone in a house. But this old woman isn't ordinary. She is a survivor, and has experienced several deaths in the family in her lifetime. So, undaunted, she asks the robber as he threatens to cut her neck with a knife if she doesn't give him his money, "OK if you kill me, what will you do with me? You can't eat me afterwards." Well, she lures him with her boiling stuff on the stove, feeds him with chicken stew and dessert until he is dizzy with food. The Sheriff arrives, the robber takes the old woman with him as hostage. But the woman isn't at all fazed. She even tells the Sheriff as the robber drags her out to help himself with coffee. The sheriff allows this robber to take his gun and the old woman out the door and the robber uses the sheriff's vehicle as the escape car. The robber thinks that the Sheriff is kind of stupid. On their way the old woman feigns a heart attack. The robber is faced with police checks at the end of the road and his hostage's death, so he turns back and goes the way he went that led him to the woman's house. But unfortunately for him, her old neighbors who are the ones who alerted the Sherrif finds a gun in their house. The robber sees the four of them, and their house which is the old woman's only neighbor. One of them fires at one of his wheels and it flops. He finds out that the old woman isn't dead at all, and the gun he forced the Sheriff to give to him isn't loaded. These are old people he thought are old and naive and stupid to be living outside town. But he's handcuffed by his own assumptions.

The Piano Tuner is about a piano tuner who helps a hermit-like talented musician get out of her shell. At first, she seems weird, living alone in an old house, with an old piano, with nothing else to do but live on her inheritance. No social life, no boyfriend, not even a dog. But when her piano got tuned up, the tuner realizes how heart stopping her music is. He helps her find a job in a lounge frequented by miners. And then she plays music there which is incongruent with the surroundings and out of place with how the people thought music should be. But she goes on playing her own music, until the people got used to it, and in between playing the piano she inserts her own queer small talk which sounds heart-stopping even to the manager. The piano tuner realizes in the end how ordinary the other people are compared to this extraordinary character. I am impressed with this story since I know some quite "queer" people who do not blend with the crowd, and when they try, they look even more queer. But since they allow their uniqueness to stand out, they become the kind of person you realize are the real stuff, no masks, just different, vulnerable and brave.

The Pine Oil Writer's Conference is about a minister who would like to be a writer. He attends this workshop where famous writers comment on participant's work. But he realizes in the course of the seminar that he's probably the only one serious about serious writing. Most of the attenders have not even written a single decent manuscript but they "like" to be writers. Other motives don't even matter. His roommate is more interested in getting laid and with the help of a lady participant he flirts with hacks up a document that is filled with cliches. The minister stays in his room working hard on his manuscript, while his roommate had his time with his lady friend. During the presentation, his roommate comes out of the workshop panel shattered 'coz he heard all the bad things about his manuscript. Meanwhile, the best panelist-writer in the workshop tells the minister that he should stop being a pastor and continue what he began since she has never read anything that is so full of promise. So the minister goes home with a good feeling and somehow, he is affirmed that he has a gift and that he can use it. But after three long years, he isn't able to write anything. And then he reads about his roommate, who has published a book, and it is a bestseller!