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Just the other day, I inquired to a friend from the US – as one does these days – about where he sees "it" heading, referring to the political situation. He hesitated. "From my perspective, America finds itself in a comparable situation to Weimar Germany in 1933-4," he stated. "And we must ask, could what followed have been avoided? That's the juncture we currently stand. One might argue fascism couldn't happen in the United States. Yet in my view it remains uncertain."

Reviving an Overlooked Novel

This perspective felt particularly meaningful for me as I had just finished reading a significant work of fiction specifically concerning that exact period in Germany. Overlooked for generations, writer Sally Carson's set in Bavaria Crooked Cross received new publication recently through a specialty publisher. From that point, it became an unexpected success, a jaw-dropper circulated widely.

The Narrative Progresses

Crooked Cross starts in December 1932 and ends at midsummer the following year. It takes place in the small, imagined Alpine community of Kranach, a charming setting situated in the lower regions of the Alps. Its focus is the Kluger family – a modest, middle-class family with affectionate guardians with three mature offspring.

The scene is comfortable and enjoyable and full of promise: the tree with ornaments, the gift-wrapped packages, the Christmas songs, the traditional dinner.

The entire scene is beautifully adorned, "even" – it's chilling to read – "the photograph of Hitler that was placed on the piano."

The Author and Her Contribution

The author created two follow-up books to Crooked Cross. The entire trilogy was published in the late 1930s. Subsequently, during the war years, still young, she passed away to cancer. This book was critically acclaimed when first released, but remained relatively unknown and soon sank from public consciousness.

One remarkable aspect about this book is its real-time quality. It was composed in the moment, and printed rapidly. The brief duration it portrays coincided with dramatic political transformations.

The Times

• Hitler became chancellor
• The Nazis gained parliamentary control
• Dachau was opened
• Jewish citizens were prohibited from public-service jobs

Initially, the characters welcome one another with the customary Grüss Gott; toward the conclusion, the family patriarch is using the Nazi salute fellow townspeople as the town bells have been altered to play using the melody of the Nazi anthem.

Modern Relevance

Reading this novel, equipped with historical knowledge that Carson herself lacked, is a remarkable experience, at times painful. In our current era, all that she portrays is rushing towards one inexorable conclusion: the war, the Holocaust.

What stands out concerning the writer is, despite the fact she couldn't know where Hitlerism would end, the book possesses a firm ethical foundation.

There is no equivocation. The actions taken across the nation against Jewish citizens, to communists, is plainly horrific, following the book's perspective.

Lasting Impact

The novel reveals how radical ideologies, when it takes hold, provides these young men with meaning, occupation, a story, hope and clearly defined roles. Additionally, it offers them identifiable enemies – different groups and communities – to despise, to accuse, to discipline and soon enough, to beat and to kill.

The similarities with today cannot be ignored. If only everyone shared her perception and her principled vision.