Booktime, featuring Dachau

half of Dachau, 1945

We visited Dachau, the concentration camp just outside Munich. The expanse of the place and its proximity to such a large city boggled my mind. About 3,000 prisoners occupied the camp at a time, crammed into 32 barracks with a large boulevard running between two rows. All but 2 of the barracks have been torn down but the 32 foundations remain.



I commented to Simon that I'd be curious to read some books about WWII or see a movie involving a concentration camp, now that I could better imagine the setting. Not knowing much about either book, I downloaded The Book Thief and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society onto the Kindle my friend Mollie so generously lent to me. I knew they were set in Europe, but I had no idea during which time period or in which country.


The Book Thief takes place in Nazi Germany and follows a young girl living with a foster family on a poor street in Munich. Her foster father teaches her to read, the mayor's wife allows her into her vast library, and a Jew the family is hiding in their basement writes two books for her. In contrast with Mollie's kindle and millions of books available on it, the young girl has a precious collection of 5 books stolen or bartered for her foster father's tobacco rations.

From her window on Himmel Street in Munich, she watches a parade of Jews brought through on their way to Dachau. Her foster father and the Jew they are hiding suffer terribly when the foster father impulsively shares a piece of bread with one of the prisoners.


The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society takes place on the British island of Guernsey during the WWII German occupation, and is comprised of letters written between the characters. Caught out after curfew, a few of the residents claim to have been at the local Literary society meeting to escape brutal punishment. The Germans check up on their alibi, so they have to make their literary society seem legit.

The format of the literary society was for one member to argue on behalf of his/her chosen novel, and once he/she managed to convince another member to read the selection, the pair would debate its merits at a subsequent meeting. Incredible relationships were forged as these previously unacquainted neighbors were forced to discuss and argue about the books they'd read, while the Nazi occupiers looked on skeptically.

Eventually, a sweet young member of the society is caught hiding a Jew and sent to Dachau, where she witnessed and experienced atrocities. The literary society members care for her daughter while she is missing.

I heartily recommend both novels; they are warm-hearted for the most part and involve Dachau only peripherally. They humanize the suffering and bravery of many ordinary people during WWII, including Germans. The power of literature to inspire, despite its scarcity, is a humbling reminder of the wealth available to me on the kindle, at the library, or at the bookstore. If anyone has similar books to recommend, I'm all ears.