Just the other day, I posed a question to an American colleague – as one does these days – regarding where he sees "it" progressing, referring to the political landscape. He hesitated. "In my opinion, America finds itself in a comparable situation to the German nation in the early 1930s," he remarked. "It's crucial to wonder, could 1936, 1937, 1938 been prevented? That's the point we are at. One might argue fascism couldn't take root in the United States. However, I believe it remains uncertain."
Unearthing an Overlooked Literary Work
These statements felt particularly meaningful in my view since I had just finished studying a significant work of fiction exactly about that exact period in Germany. Overlooked for generations, author Sally Carson's set in Bavaria Crooked Cross received new publication in April by a niche publishing house. After its release, it emerged as a surprise hit, a jaw-dropper passed from hand to hand.
The Plot Develops
Crooked Cross starts in December 1932 concluding by summer the next year. It takes place in the little, fictional Bavarian town named Kranach, a picture-postcard place situated in the lower regions of the Alps. The narrative follows the Kluger clan – a simple, respectable household of kindly, loving parents and their three adult children.
The scene is cozy and pleasant and optimistic: the decorated tree with its glass baubles, the tissue-wrapped presents, the carols, the festive meal.
All is exquisitely arranged, "even" – one reads with a shudder – "the portrait of the Führer that was placed on the piano."
The Novelist through Her Legacy
Carson wrote two sequels following Crooked Cross. The entire trilogy came out by 1938. Subsequently, during the war years, in her thirties, she died to cancer. This book received positive reviews in 1934, but didn't cause major impact and gradually disappeared without trace.
One remarkable aspect of this novel is its immediacy. It was composed as things unfolded, and published quickly. The half-year timeframe it portrays represented a time of significant political shifts.
The Times
- The Führer assumed power
- They obtained parliamentary control
- The concentration camp began operation
- Jews were barred from civil service roles
In the beginning, the family members greet each other with the customary Grüss Gott; by the end, the father is heil Hitler-ing fellow townspeople as the town bells were changed to play with the notes of the party's official song.
Contemporary Significance
Studying this work, equipped with historical knowledge the writer didn't have, feels incredible, at times painful. In our current era, each element she depicts moves inexorably toward one inexorable conclusion: the war, the Holocaust.
What is so impressive concerning the writer remains, even though she was unaware where Hitlerism would end, the book possesses an unshakeable moral core.
There is no equivocation. The actions taken across the nation against Jewish citizens, to leftists, is obviously awful, according to the novel's worldview.
Enduring Influence
The novel reveals how extremism, once established, offers these individuals with purpose, work, an explanation, optimism and distinct functions. It also provides them specific targets – political opponents and minorities – to resent, to blame, to penalize and, quite quickly, to assault and to eliminate.
The similarities with the present are unmistakable. How fortunate we'd be possessed her understanding and her moral clarity.
