LITERARY REVIEW

HETTY HEINRICH is the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer. Keen to play her part in what is dubbed as the glorious New Reich, she never imagines that her worldly beliefs and perceptions of the world will come into stark conflict when she encounters Walter, a friend from the past, who stirs dangerous feelings in her. Confused, Hetty doesn’t know who she can trust and to whom she may turn for help. This confusion is exasperated when she discovers that someone has been watching her.

Realising she is taking a huge risk – but unable to resist the intense attraction of Walter – she embarks on a secret love affair with him. They dream about when the war will be over and plan for their future. But, as the rising tide of anti-Semitism threatens to engulf them, Hetty and Walter will be forced to take extreme measures.

Daughter of the Reich is a mesmerising page-turner filled with vivid characters and a meticulously researched portrait of Nazi Germany. Inspired by the author’s own family history it is a propulsive and deeply affecting narrative. A riveting story of passion, courage and morality, Louise Fein introduces a bold young woman determined to tread the treacherous path of survival and freedom. Fein shows readers the strength in the power of love and reminds us that the past must never be forgotten.

 

LIKE all novels and historical accounts from this unsettling period in history the reader is likely to ask just how Hitler was able to lure the masses in following his extreme ideology.

After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles – the most important of the peace treaties which brought WW1 to an end – forced Germany to pay war reparations. These had a crushing effect on the economy and were seen by many Germans as being humiliating. Hitler, deemed by many as a mesmerising public orator, blamed all the ills of society on Jews and communist minorities, claiming they were trying to take over the world. With worldwide economic depression and high unemployment, he directly blamed the ineffectiveness of democratic government. Calling for a New Order, he promised the restoration of prosperity for all with no class divisions.

The bulk of the narrative is set within the two years preceding World War II, giving the reader a glimpse into how human beings caught in a dire situation can be manipulated and pushed into committing evil acts and atrocities.

Set in Leipzig the story begins with what life was like during the period between 1933-37. Hetty’s family had just moved to a new big house, where the previous occupants had left furniture and artwork. Hetty hadn’t yet turned twelve years of age, her father is a high-ranking SS officer, and she fails to properly understand what is happening. She becomes aware, though, that family attendance in church, for instance, is no longer permitted because of Himmler’s decree against it. And her dreams of being a doctor are no longer permissible because all women have been instructed to learn obedience and are required to concentrate on homely things. Yet, Hitler had promised “a brilliant future with no more poverty, no more class divisions. Just one, great, unified nation which will be the envy of all the world.”

For those who refuse to cooperate soon find they will lose their job, with the state declaring them unemployable with no prospect of any kind of future work. There are others who are charged with false crimes being convicted of things they didn’t do.

Within schools, debates about the population formed a central part of the curriculum. “A population of the best: the fittest, bravest, most beautiful, cleverest, and robust. The epitome of Darwin’s Theory. A people who will be superior in every way and who must spread their influence throughout the world.”

“A newspaper… is a powerful weapon. It is our duty to shape the opinion of the masses and ensure the Fatherland’s values and best interests are always in the forefront of people’s minds.”

At the age of sixteen, Hetty still struggled to make sense of it all. She falls for her brother’s best friend, Walter, a Jewish friend, who paints a touching picture for her what it means to be German. He tells her how Jews are being cornered and ill-treated and being left without provision for livelihood. He directly challenges her values and beliefs and encourages her to be whatever she wants to be. He tells her of other countries where she can study medicine as a woman and that her position in society should not be through the direction of a tyrannical system. Hetty’s struggles and states of confusion start to dissipate as she slowly starts to realise that there is another side to the world that has surrounded and enclosed her.

The story accurately depicts a distraction of lives, of hypocrisy and deception feeding lies and mistrust. This feeds hatred that pushes others to engage and commit in deplorable acts with a momentum that seems impossible to stop.

Fein invokes a heart-breaking story that is engagingly written with a very poignant message:

“How could a people, a deeply civilised, democratic nation, become so unbelievably cruel; to dehumanise one another, and commit (the most appalling) atrocities on such an unimaginable scale?”

– Daughter of the Reich by Louise Fein is published by Harper Collins