Jonathan Freedland is a successful journalist and writer of fiction and non-fiction. His excellent new book The Traitors Circle explores a little known group of opponents to the Nazi regime who were willing to sacrifice careers, social position, money, and ultimately for some, their lives.
The characters are unspooled before the reader in dynamic time; short chapters often ending in a cliffhanger. Very much like a detective novel, the reader is in hot in pursuit of ‘whodunit’; in this case, who is the Gestapo agent. Freedland manages to economically depict their unique personalities, achievements, fears and hopes. The bibliography runs to eleven pages and is worth reading in its own right. World War II is arguably the best documented conflict in history. We will never not need to study the second world war.
It is difficult to define the incalculable weight of anxiety and paranoia which handicapped all ordinary transactions in Nazi Germany. Going shopping for food, taking the dog for a walk, children to school, going to work; all every day tasks made difficult by mutual suspicion and fear. The ever present threat of informers behind every window and door; sitting at the next desk. Freedland captures this appalling mood extremely well. This suffocating and bleak world of cruelly enforced homogeneity is a contrast to the dynamism, bravery and strength of the “Rebels” who chose to go beyond self interest and preservation.
The bare facts of the story are dramatic. The Solf Circle was an informal group of friends and acquaintances comprising countesses, diplomats, high-ranking officials and former politicians. They represented the highest echelons of power, money and influence in Nazi Germany. The name comes from Hanna Solf, the widow of Wilhelm Solf, the last foreign minister of Imperial Germany. Herr Solf was an early critic of hitler and Nazi Germany’s policies and he was instrumental in saving the lives of many Jews by using his contacts in the worlds of politics, diplomacy, education and cultural affairs.
His wife Hanna and their daughter, Lagi Solf, would carry on his work of opposing the regime by inviting individuals with power and influence, who shared the Solf’s opposition to the Nazi regime, to their mansion for drinks, food, entertainment and an opportunity to criticise, debate and plan for the future in a safe environment. They were a loyal group of Germans but not a loyal group of Nazi Germans.
Elisabeth von Thadden, the conservative daughter of landed Protestant aristocrats, was never a rebel at heart and worked tirelessly as the headmistress of an exclusive boarding school. Her repugnance to Nazis’ antisemitism and their desire to control and mute German Christianity led her to introduce subtle acts of criticism of Nazi Socialism to her school’s life. As the war progressed, her acts became more audacious.
When Hitler came to power, Otto Kiep was the consul general of the German embassy in New York City. An early test of Kiep’s faith and of his commitment to the ideals of the Nazis government was an invitation to attend a dinner in honour of one of the world’s most famous men: Professor Albert Einstein.
Arthur Zarden, widower, former head man at the German Ministry of Finance and his daughter Irmgard were members of the Solf Circle. Arthur’s late wife, Edithe, was the daughter of Benno Orenstein, a Jewish man who had worked hard to create a fortune with his scrap-metal company. Irmgard was a former pupil of Thadden’s. Father and daughter were wealthy and extremely socially well connected. They could have coasted during the war years insulated by wealth and privilege but both were appalled at what was taking place in their beloved Germany and chose a rougher path to travel.
All the members of the Solf Circle were wealthy and well connected and some were even aristocrats raised in palaces and castles but nearly all of them had travelled overseas and some, like the Kieps and the Solfs, had lived in other countries. They knew what life could and should be like. What freedoms and responsibilities the Nazis had eradicated. They could not stand idle while evil was being done in the name of Germany.
SS officer Herbert Lange had been tasked with designing an efficient method of killing a large number of people quickly. This cruel and arrogant man is responsible for the creation of the gas chambers, having begun his experiments with mobile killing vans, he was promoted to commandant of Chełmno, the first extermination camp.
In the summer of 1943, Lange was the senior officer in a Gestapo unit tasked with identifying and terminating any links between German resistance members and their partners in neighbouring countries. To this end, Lange chooses and briefs a rather innocuous but malicious spy to penetrate the Solf Circle.
A heartbreaking chapter deals with the way in which Lange’s spy achieves his goal. It is not James Bond cunning that leads to the Solf Circle members being exposed. Rather a lapse in their hard won suspicions and reserve offers enough of an entry for the spy to succeed.
An experienced thriller writer, writing as Sam Bourne, Freedland imbues his protagonists with many character details and unique vitality. As a result of his clever style, we want them to succeed, we want them to survive. One can’t help but be affected by the extraordinary resilience and intelligence of Maria von Maltzan, born a countess of a wealthy and respected family who balances her veterinary science studies with risking her life on multiple occasions to save the lives of Jewish people and subvert the Nazi regime in any way she can.
The Traitors Circle is a very well researched and written book that makes excellent use of primary and secondary sources. Most Germans complied with the edicts of the Nazis. A very few did not and this is one such group’s story. Their defiance was not grand or showy, but extremely effective in saving lives. As is written in the Talmud: “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire,”. It’s more important than ever to study and understand these stories of opposition to a murderous and evil regime.
Barking Books 