The world is about to commemorate 80 years since the end of the Second World War. Many are asking, “Have we learned anything in 80 years?” But perhaps what we should be asking is, “How is our understanding still incomplete?”
As an author who writes primarily from the German perspective, I walk a precarious line as I research and write about things that often oppose the accepted WWII narrative. Most of us would agree that history has been written by the victors, but how many of us take that statement seriously? If we did, would we be so hesitant to look into differing accounts or interpretations of events?
The way WWII has been handled in the past 80 years bears heavily on what is going on in the world right now. Both authors and readers of historical fiction have a role to play in that. If we are concerned about accuracy in historical fiction, I submit that it is time for WWII authors to put the same effort into understanding the other side of the story as they put into everything else, including mundane things like the technology, cultural norms, fashions, language, etc. of the past. Readers, in turn, will need to allow authors to push past well-worn tropes and explore “new” territory in their writing.
When it comes to WWII, the assumption seems to be this: anything that doesn’t agree with the generally-accepted narrative must have been written by revisionists, holocaust deniers, or conspiracy theorists. It is therefore unreliable. We cherry-pick individual stories of good people among the German population and even the German military, but to go beyond that is treading into uncomfortable territory.
It also seems that there is little desire to consult primary sources from the other side—though all would agree that primary sources are the best way to understand history.
It would be impossible to discern every truth from every lie that has been told about history. What is more important is that we are open to considering what God might want to say to us 80 years on.
Has this well-loved genre truly handled “the other side of the story” with the mind of Christ? Or have we, in the case of our WWII villains, preferred tropes over truth, accepting and perpetuating a narrative we know has been tampered with?
Only God knows how events really played out, and what led up to those events in the first place. He knows what went on behind closed doors, who was a hero, and who was a villain. He knows where things have been framed in a certain way to make the audience believe the worst about people, when God does not see it that way.
In many cases, familiarizing ourselves with another interpretation or account of events could help us discern slander from ugly truth. (I do not deny there are ugly truths; war is never beautiful.)
Again, the WWII narrative is bound up with things that are going on in the world today. There is a growing sense of nationalism in places around the globe, including Germany. It is not hard to imagine that many Germans are tired of having their story told by people who don’t understand and often assume the worst. What the descendants of the Allies perceive as revisionism was in fact truth for many Germans, and it still is truth for their descendants. A few of them might be willing to tell a trusted associate what really happened, or recount whispers they heard from their grandparents, but they will usually add, “These are things no one is allowed to talk about.”
Even if we don’t assume the worst, our fiction and movies tend to err on the side of the aforementioned tropes. It is easier, and the audience loves them. There seems to be no need to look too deeply into the other side of the story, yet Christian authors have a responsibility to speak the truth, and Christian readers have a responsibility to receive it.
This is a bold challenge, but I am convinced that it is something that needs more consideration. This is how we begin to fill in the gaps where our understanding is still incomplete.
He was just a youth when he received his baptism of fire in June 1944. Eighty years after the defeat at Normandy, he is asked to share his story, dredging up the horrors of war and challenging his loved ones to discover the truth about the past. Could this be an opportunity to mend the wounds that have never been healed?
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As a child, Aubrey spent countless hours creating characters and writing stories. Thirty years later, she took up her pen again, uniting her fascination with history with her passion for redemption. The stories she creates are a unique brand of gritty, honest wartime sagas, written from the German perspective. She is the mother of three, and married to her best friend Brian. When she’s not writing or taking care of home and family, she can often be found making music, reading, or spending time with friends.