After a long time... A reading experience

Hello everyone, The last time I wrote in this blog was in September of 2020, hoping that I'd do it regularly.  However, a series of unexpected events (and a little bit of lack of discipline) meant that I did not accomplish this goal. If I don't lose against my "to-do" list once again, I'll tell you in the next post how my postdoc life is going (... It is the second time that I have promised this ...), but this time I want to share with you my recent reading experience.

I'm a self-controlled person, and I'm not going to buy more than two.

Almost three months ago, I found a second-hand foreign book store here in Warsaw, and after a quick search on its website, I discovered such excellent titles as A hundred years of solitude, Ulysses, and the first four volumes of In search of lost time. All of them for less than 30 PLN (about 8 USD). Once I convinced myself that I wouldn't buy more than two books in this store, I went to the store decided to buy only Ulysses. Here is a photo of my definition of "no more than two books."

I am a rational guy that only will buy a maximum of two books.

 

SA, SS, or SD???

Another fun fact about this story is that I still haven't read Ulysses  (so sad!). However, I have started reading a book called The kindly ones by Jonathan Littell. The book tells the story of an ex-member of the Hitler Protection Squadron, "Die Schutzstaffel" (SS), and the distinguishing factor about this book is that the story is described from the perspective of a Nazi member. Although the main character is fictional, he is constantly in contact with "big names" of the III Reich. It was the first time I felt sad reading a book, sometimes I left it for a week or two and read something else before coming back to it. The reasons are that the author is very explicit in describing how the SS acted during the second world war (WWII). When the author starts describing his memories (the book is narrated as memories from someone who survives WWII), he belongs to the "Einsatzgruppen," a division of the SS responsible for mass killing german-occupied Europe. When the story started in 1941, "the Final Solution" to the Jewish Question, the Holocaust, hadn't been proposed yet. Then, most of the murders were carried out by shooting, and everything is described very vividly.

This book was written originally in French, but I have a Spanish version with a commentary by Mario Vargas Llosa that has an accurate description of the book:

"Uno cree saberlo todo ya sobre el vertiginoso salvajismo con que los nazis se encarnizaron en su afán por liquidar judíos, Jonathan Littell nos revela que no, que todavía fue peor, que los crímenes, la inhumanidad de los verdugos, alcanzaron cimas más altas de monstruosidad de lo que creiamos. Son paginas que quitan el habla." 

Despite the cruelty described in this book, I strongly recommend reading it. Mainly, the intellectual Nazi officer's idea justifying his acts as a member of the SS, saying that he did what needed to be done and that anyone in his place would have done the same. In his own words: "I live, I do what can be done, it's the same for everyone, I am a man like other men, I am a man like you. I tell you I am just like you!"

One of the problems that I had at the beginning of my reading was my lack of knowledge of WWII and the III Reich. Since a member of the SS narrates the story, he and most of the characters described in the story know about the hierarchy of Nazi Germany. In some moments, they talk about the "Die Sturmabteilung" (SA), "Die Geheime Staatspolizei" (Gestapo), "Der Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers SS" (SD), the assassination of the "Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor" of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (occupied part of the Czech Republic) and other historical facts described in the book.

My current readings

Supporting material

To fill my lack of knowledge, I'm reading together with the kindly ones a book called Hitler downfall 1939-45 by Volker Ullrich, and I watched films and documentaries about the second world war. I want to share with you in case you're interested in learning a little bit more about WWII or you wish to read the kindly ones, and you have a similar lack of knowledge.

1. The video that motivates me to read the kindly ones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arLf7lXmzG4&ab_channel=tatianagfeltrin.  
2. One documentary and one film about The Nuremberg trials both available on youtube. Here the links:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxRb6kS4ZyU&t=3s&ab_channel=MARCOSEC, and   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s1Bo57qwLQ&ab_channel=sebastianmendez, respectively.  
3. Two films related with Reinhard Heydrich, "Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor" of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Here the trailers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ljif6pINdE&ab_channel=decine21, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blAKCJcXC5c&ab_channel=MovieclipsTrailers.
4. Two informative videos of Academia play about WWII. Here the links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiNJ35IjjrU&ab_channel=liliagracielatorresfern%C3%A1ndez, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcCOsEl0NPE&t=2068s&ab_channel=AcademiaPlay.
5. A Quebequer historian that describes year by year the facts of WWII, very recommended. Here the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpezz90m7gc&list=PLsLcaL1a5j-0VXP-CnDVc5P9J_f5n94l9&ab_channel=L%27Histoirenousledira.
6. One film about the Valkyrie operation. Here the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YppIQUiE9Y&ab_channel=MovieclipsClassicTrailers

I'm still reading the kindly ones and watching documentaries and films about WWII. When I finish the book, I'll probably tell you about my complete experience. However, now I'll finish my post here. Have a good week everyone, and see you in my next post (I hope it will be soon, hahahahahah).