Book Review: “The End of Law,” by Therese Down

Genre: historical fiction

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Plot Summary: Three people living in Germany during the 1930-1940’s must make decisions that will affect the others’ lives forever.

My Book Review: Most books set during the Holocaust are from the “good guys’” points of views—the victims, the good Germans, Jews, resistance fighters, etc.  I wanted to read a book that was from an ordinary German citizen’s perspective.

It was clear from the first chapter that this book would not be drawing me in deeply emotionally.  The characters felt held at a distance, the main character Hedda does not fit your typical heroine mold, and large chunks of time was passed over fairly quickly.  However, I found it a quick read and my interest was held more on a need-to-know basis than on invested feelings.  This may have been a mercy because I’m not sure I could have handled the content otherwise.

I appreciated that this story focused on an aspect of the Nazi regime that is not told as often as others, and that is the euthanizing of precious lives of disabled and mentally ill citizens, many of whom were young children and infants.  As mad and deranged as you may know the Nazis to have been, there is probably much worse you didn’t know and this book tells of the sad history and fate of so many.

I’m always reading books (particularly fiction) to see how they parallel the world and situations I live in.  Many don’t believe anything like Nazi Germany could happen today.  Either that or they go to the other extreme to flippantly call anyone they dislike with a Nazi.  Let’s look at some of the things the Nazis did.  They determined some persons worth less than others because they lacked ‘the perfect body.’  If a person’s health was in a certain undesirable way to the State, they ordered that person done away with.  Hundreds of infants were killed (on the basis of race, health or disability).  Germany ignored their own laws in order to permit this treatment of people.  Therefore, the title: The End of Law.

This child was killed in the euthanasia program. His name was Richard Jenne.

Does any of this sound chillingly contemporary?  If it doesn’t, why not?  If it does, what will you and I do personally?  That is the biggest takeaway a person could glean from this book.  The characters Karl Mueller and Walter Gunther made a lot of terrible choices and contributed to feeding their country’s killing machine.  Yet one allowed God to penetrate his conscience and at a point in time decided enough was enough and started by saving one life.  The other continued to harden his soul until he could no longer feel anything and he became despicable even to his superiors who gave him his bloody orders.

In the midst of living in a brain-washed culture, some individuals dared to not believe in what was going on.  But I had never considered how lonely and agonizing this must have been for them.  You couldn’t trust anybody; how could you bounce ideas off of another rational person when you didn’t know who was rational and who wasn’t?  It was basically efficient crazy-making.  And if you could hold onto your beliefs, what could you do with them?  Can what may seem like a one-person army make any difference?  The real-life hero Albert Goering makes a fictional appearance in part of the story (see the documentary “Goering’s Last Secret”).  I marveled at how one person making a public stand against craziness and death could have such a huge impact.  You never know how one’s actions may inspire another to think and then also act, like a domino effect  I only pray I can be faithful in my world.

I left the book wishing I could have cared more about the characters but I was glad to have learned some history and I would like to learn more about some of the things presented.  I really encourage you not to pass over this book just because “you aren’t into Holocaust tales”.  The point is not entertainment, but to remember and learn and be wisely responsible in today’s world. I don’t ever want to be the type of person that passively let a Fourth Reich happen.