Pam Jenoff | Writing The War: What Keeps Me – and My Readers – Coming Back to This Troubled Era?
August 26, 2011
"So how is this different from all of those other Holocaust novels?" a literary
agent who was considering representing my first novel asked in an e-mail years
ago. I wasn’t offended by the question – I knew what he meant and so I
replied with a detailed and passionate answer about one young woman’s story of
survival against the odds and the true historical events that had inspired the
book. He liked my answer and took on representation THE KOMMANDANT’S GIRL.
Years later, as I’ve been promoting my latest novel, THE THINGS WE CHERISHED,
which is also set during the Second World War, I’ve had the chance to reflect
upon a similar question: what keeps bringing me – and my readers –
back to this troubled time period?
I was always captivated by stories set during World War II, even as a child. And
my love for the topic was solidified during my years living in Poland and
working on Holocaust issues for the State Department and becoming close to many
survivors. But I know I’m not alone in my passion as either a writer or reader
– the bestseller lists of recent years have been flush with wonderful
stories set during the war, THE POSTMISTRESS, SARAH’S KEY, and THOSE WHO SAVE US, to name
a few.
I think that there are a number of reasons the war fascinates us. It is a study
in contradictions – so recent in time that we know people who were alive,
yet so surreal that it seems another planet. People were placed in the harshest
of circumstances oftentimes with personal and moral stakes in grave tension with
one another. The war also forces us to look at the extreme circumstances in
which people were placed and ask: what would I have done? For these
reasons, it is such a fertile era for exploring human themes, such as guilt and
sacrifice, loyalty, betrayal and redemption.
I also think these books are important. It’s a unique time for studying the
Holocaust. The end of Communism opened up many avenues for new information
through dialogue and research. At the same time, the last generation of
survivors ks leaving us at an alarming rate. Capturing the history in fiction
and non-fiction matters not just to preserve the memories of this tragic era but
for its symbolic and moral value for the world today.
I’m not sure how many more books I’ll write set in Europe during the Second
World War. I’m working on one now involving some bones found in Poland dating
back to the war and the story behind them. Then after that I might turn to
World War I or perhaps the home front of World War II. But in some sense I’ll
always return to this era and my attempt to write love stories to the people and
places, with each story as unique as those who lived through it.
As the daughter of a recently deceased WWII vet, I think we - society as a whole - and I - personally - read books like yours to help try to explain to ourselves just how and why a person or group of people could do what they did to another person or group of people. I also think we read them to get a better sense of what actually happened, and to try to make sure it never happens again.
On a trip to France some years ago, I found a way that people have been involved in the healing process since soon after the end of the war. In the province of Normandy alone, there are five German cemeteries. They are tended by a joint French-German group of volunteers drawn from the children of the former enemies. I found that a very rewarding and humbling thought - that if these former enemies can come together to tend those who died while under orders to kill the others, then there is hope, somehow, some way, for the rest of us.
The war stories and Holocost can not be told too often. When we keep the stories alive and share our own history of how it affects us, it puts a human touch on terrible tragedies. Those on both sides of the aisles are affected whether they were the guards or the victims. Memory has a way of softening over time, but some of these details were full of hatred and anger. (Alyson Widen 5:44pm August 26, 2011)
You were so fortunate to be able to live in Poland for a while. Having Grandparents who were born there, and immigrated to this country in the 1800's when my Grandfather was in his early 20's, and my Grandmother was in her teens, means so much!! I heard that it's a beautiful country, although even today the people are still in need. This is the first time that I've heard of an author writing about this particular topic, although I haven't done much research on it. I have read some WWII books, but those were generalizations. My Father served in the war, which also has added meaning. I have to get my hands on your book to give me more understanding of my Grandparents lives, since they really didn't talk about it that much. My Grandfather couldn't speak much English, and my Grandmother spoke broken English, but at times it was hard to understand. I was in my early teens when she passed away, and what did I really know about preserving our heritage? Thank you for keeping the past alive, and I will also be reading your other books. I'm sure I'll keep them close to my heart. (Peggy Roberson 9:29pm August 26, 2011)
After reading why you write about WWII, I realized that I've rarely read much about that era. Maybe I felt that I had heard enough about that time from my parents, who both grew up in post WWI Berlin, and other family members. Since I was born about 3 months before D-Day, I also heard of the deprivations Germans in the Russian sector of post-war Germany, even in the American sector to which my mother and I fled just before the Russians closed the borders to the other sectors in late 1946. Fortunately, my mother was able to work for an American aid association while my father got his degree in architecture. And in 1951 the three of us with my 2-year-old brother emigrated to Canada. I heard my mother talk about her Jewish friend, the only friend of hers I remember. Before the Nazi regime, she often stayed with her friend when the parents went out in the evenings. The last time they saw each other, her friend asked my mother not to contact her anymore. She and her parents would suffer, as well as my mother's family. She was never able to find out what happened to her. I've watched many Holocaust documentaries and read 'The Diary of Anne Frank' as a teenager. I've rarely read any English books on WWII set on the European mainland, especially none that had any sympathetic view of Germans.
I still can't. The closest I've come are Rebecca Cantrell's Hanna Vogel novels. I'm looking forward to the 3rd installment about the 1936 Olympics, which my mother missed because she spent 6 months in Scotland.
Recently a novel by a friend of my grandfather's, Hans Fallada's 'Every Man Dies Alone' has become a well-selling book. I've never read any of his books--not that I didn't want to, just because there were more accessible books around.
Actually, my father was born in Poland. In July by younger brother and his wife, whose mother fled from Latvia during the war, went to where my father was born to find out more about him, but were unsuccessful. Fortunatel (Sigrun Schulz 12:08pm August 27, 2011)
What happened? The last sentence read, but was cut off: Fortunately, the relatives in Latvia were easier to find --through social media and English-speaking cousins. (Sigrun Schulz 12:23pm August 27, 2011)
My husband always says that history tends to repeat itself. We should never forget lest we relive it. I've always found the war and holocaust fascinating to read about and to watch programs about. I always like to hear about survivors! (Brenda Rupp 6:41pm August 28, 2011)
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