The Reader

Courtney Allred, Ketaki Deo, Tarika Sivakumar, Vanessa Ma, Kristine Chen

70%

Post WWII

Soviet invasion of Germany left terrain

completely devastated

Germany was also economically

struggling

60 million casualties over the course of

the war (2/3rd of which were civilians,

including 6 million Jewish people)

Yalta Conference

GOALS:

a) destructure Germany

b) administer policy of denazification-

getting rid of Nazi culture

Initially, the Allied powers

played huge role in (West)

German internal affairs

RECOVERY

RECOVERY PT. 1

Administered Marshall Plan to help

struggling Germany

called Wirtschaftswunder, or “economic

miracle”)

Several 5 Year Plans in GDR

RECOVERY PT. 2Several trials against Nazis

Nuremburg Trials

Eventually, German became far more involved in the process of recovery

GERMAN INVOLVEMENT

Germans became more aware of horrors of past & established pacifist attitudeLarge protests in the 1950s-1990s when Germany/GDR began to build armies for NATO/Warsaw Pact

GERMAN INVOLVEMENT PT 1

Trials where German judges persecuted anyone with Nazi affiliation (~70% of population)

It was not uncommon to see a friend/relative at trial

GERMAN INVOLVEMENT PT 2

Recovery process also involved 2nd generation

Attempt to teach children about horrors of past (1946 documentary)

GERMAN INVOLVEMENT PT 3

How do you teach an entire generation about the war crimes that their parents, grandparents, etc. committed?

About 50% of German youth interviewed today had little understanding of what the Holocaust was, as the lesson plan focuses more on the Third Reich as a whole. Is this right? Is there any good way to teach a genocide?

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT...

Post WWII German Culture

● Denazification (Entnazifizierung): Allied initiative to rid Germany of any remnants of Nazi ideology from German society, culture, press, economy, and politics

Post WWII: Denazification

○ removed past Nazi party members from positions of power○ restricted past Nazis to manual labor○ removed physical symbols of Nazism

(swastika)○ millions of Germans questioned, tried,

and punished

Split into 5 categories■ V. Persons Exonerated-No sanctions.■ IV. Followers- Possible restrictions on travel,

employment, political rights, plus fines.■ III. Lesser Offenders- Placed on probation for 2–3

years with a list of restrictions. No internment.■ II. Offenders- Activists, Militants, Profiteers, or

Incriminated Persons- Immediate arrest and imprisonment up to ten years, plus reparations or reconstruction work

■ I. Major Offenders- Subject to immediate arrest, death, imprisonment with or without hard labour

Post WWII: Denazification○ US Army also used media to denazify ○ By July 1946- Information Control

Division of the US Army took control of German newspapers, radio stations, theaters, cinemas, magazines, book publishers, and book dealers and printers

○ art related/dedicated to Nazism also taken into custody

Post WWII: Collective Guilt

● Kollektivschuld- idea of “collective guilt” that was popular post-Holocaust period.○ later established, did not occur right

away○ increased sense of responsibility after

footage of concentration camps released

Case Study

The Case of Maria Kaufman

Born in a small town 50 miles north of Berlin on May 26th, 1921.

Loving parents and five sisters - Brother fought during World War I and died

Maria’s family experienced extreme poverty due to the German Great Depression post World War I.

Not able to receive an education due to low social standing - Maria tried to hide her illiteracy. Films of German Propaganda and Hitler’s speeches emerge and for once she feels more than adequate; she feels superior.

Recruited by Hitler’s Youth

Formerly a victim of insecurity, felt important being part of Hitler’s ‘superior race’

War CrimeHelped transport Jewish people in between concentration camps.

In one case, Maria transported women and children to a building that was gassed by other German officers while the prisoners were sleeping.

She claims not to have been involved in the initiation of the gassing.

ORDER IN THE COURT

Examine perspectives.

Post War German LiteratureDuring WWII, the Nazi party censored much of

German Literature and exiled many authors. Post WWII, many authors who experienced the nazification from both sides emerged.

Because Germany was split into the Western and Eastern sectors, literature advanced at different paces due to the divide.

The censorship apparent in the USSR after the Russian Revolution was apparent in East Germany, contrasting the freedoms the West Germans had.

West Germany● Heinrich Böll (West Germany) 1917-1985

○ Refused to join Hitler’s Youth○ Credited with helping revitalize German

Literature ● Günter Grass (West Germany) 1927-2015

○ Was a prisoner of war in America○ The Tin Drum; most popular work, explores

magical realism - “fables portray the forgotten face of history”

○ Awarded Nobel Prize in 1999● Holocaust Literature

○ Survivors of the Holocaust began publishing their works - narrations of the horrors

East Germany (GDR)○ Greatly influenced by socialist realism and the

communist party in the USSR○ East German literature less advanced than West

German literature○ Provides the most accurate insight into life in

East Germany○ Post- denazification - very anti-fascist. Written

by many authors exiled by the Nazis○ Reflects Socialist Realism (1949-1961) - culture,

art, educating the masses

Popular Terms and Themes● Aufbau - “building up” - elevates the status of an

ordinary working man to that of a hero● Vergangenheitsbewältigung - the process of

coming to terms with the past● Major Post WWII Themes -

○ characters with wavering identities○ recall of memories from during the war○ opinions on the reunification of Germany○ pride (or lack of it) within the German culture○ shame caused by the Holocaust

Questions to consider as you read...

How does Schlink incorporate some of these themes? (ie. pride and shame?)

How does Michael’s identity develop throughout the course of the novel? What role does Hanna play in these developments?

Bernhard Schlink

● July 6, 1944 in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

CareersAlso wrote many detective novels

main character’s name = Selb, play on German word for “self” (selbst)

first is titled Self’s Punishment, cowritten with Walter Popp in 2004 (British)

The Reader: 19951988 became judge at Constitutional Court of North

Rhine-WestphaliaProfessor of public law/philosophy of law at

Humboldt University (Berlin) since 2006

Self-Identification● German father, Swiss mother● Youngest of four ● Married Hadwig Arnold, had son (Jan), then

divorced● Sees himself as part of the “Second generation”,

post WWII● Father lost job as theology professor b/c of Nazis,

became pastor afterward● “I am now much more distanced than my

parents and some of my siblings from the church. But I still belong and I want to belong to the church”

More Identification

From a friend: “We never talked about girl or anything like that, our subject was how to live and other highbrow things, such as the meaning of life. On our first meeting I remember arguing with him [Schlink] all the way home about whether or not Germany was the guilty party at the start of the first world war”

Schlink: “I always hated, and still hate, mass events”

His perspective:

“It is definitely not a book about the Holocaust. It is a book about how the second generation attempted to come to terms with the Holocaust and the role in it played by their fathers’ generation.”

Main theme: Generational divide and accommodating for history

“A masterly work that [...] speaks straight to the heart.” George Steiner (US Critic)

“the vilest novel I have read [...] There is a lie in the marrow of the Reader.” Cynthia Ozick

"no-one could recommend The Reader without having a tin ear for fiction and a blind eye for evil". Frederick Raphael

Cultural Controversy and Reception of the Book

Case Study: Many German high schoolers read this book in their curriculum. How might their understanding and reception of this book be different than yours?

Why do you think their teachers choose this book? What is Schlink trying to teach?

Why does Schlink sexualize a generational divide?

Demonstrates the seductiveness of power

sexualized personal history

secret family heritage of Natzism

deformation of post WWII Germany and the burden of guilt the preceding generation deals with.

As you read ask yourself:How is my cultural lense effecting my perceptions?

What is the role of shame?

How is silence used? Does this supress the generation preceding Nazi Germany?

Are you responsible for the people you love? If so who?

How do each of these characters evolve?

What similarities and difference are there between Michael and his father? Does this change overtime?

Can you ever escape the past?

Is this a love story?Scale of 1-5 strongly disagree to strongly agree

What others think:

from student generated websites: “All saw the relationship… as a love story; some did not notice, others downplayed the age difference between the partners.”

Why is this important? (note all the graphic descriptions Schlink includes)