Agent Most Wanted: The Never-Before-Told Story of the Most Dangerous Spy of World War II by Sonia Purnell

Virginia Hall may have been born into a family that believed they were obligated "to restore the family to the heights of Baltimore society" but she had no intention of obliging her mother's wish of marrying into money. Virginia was too free spirited to settle down into a society marriage. She loved excitement and living in NY while attending to Barnard College provided her with plenty of that. Virginia was also able to go to Paris when she  was 20, enjoying the art, literature, and meeting all kinds of interesting people, and travelling around Europe for several years. 

When Virginia returned home in 1929, she immediately applied for at job at the State Department, hoping for a diplomat position. Despite stellar qualifications, the State Department rejected her application, but she did get a not-terribly-interesting post, first in Warsaw, Poland and later in Smyrna, Turkey, both at the U.S. Embassies. While in Turkey, she had a shooting accident and lost her left leg below the knee as a result. 

Undeterred, and despite an uncomfortable prosthetic leg, Virginia was determined to return to Europe, and got another posting with the US Consulate in Venice, Italy. But with fascism on the rise in Europe, in 1936, Virginia again applied for a position as a diplomat. This time, with the help of President Roosevelt, she finally found herself as part of the US legation in Tallinn, Estonia in 1938. But after a year of secretarial work, Virginia resigned. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, she planned on going to London, but instead ended up in Paris, where she signed up as an ambulance driver with the French Ninth Artillery Regiment. 

A chance meeting with someone who was impressed with her courage and who had connections, led Virginia to Nicolas Bodington, senior office in the French section of Britain' s newly formed Special Operations Executive. After some hesitation, Virginia was off to learn the basics she would need to become an effective intelligence agent for the British in France. When she arrived in southern  France, she registered at an American correspondent with the Vichy government. 

Despite the pain caused by her artificial leg, the danger of being a spy, and being isolated in a hostile environment, Virginia Hall managed to accomplish amazing things for the duration of the war. Once she arrived in Vichy, France, Purnell meticulously documents Virginia's resistance work, both her successes and her failures, answering the question: How did Virginia Hall became the agent most wanted and why the German Gestapo considered her to be the most dangerous woman in Europe during WWII?

Though nonfiction, the history of Virginia Hall's life during WWII reads like a thrilling novel, full of dangerous adventures and frustrations befitting the life of a spy. Virginia's is a story that has been relatively untold up to now. Purnell, in this biographical work, shows how Virginia was continuously belittled, often rejected, and discriminated against because of her disability, yet she never gave up pursuing her dreams, and how, despite everything, she may have been one of the best spies in WWII.

This is a book that will appeal to young readers who are history and WWII buffs. Back matter includes Chapter Notes and a select Bibliography. Agent Most Wanted is a young readers adaptation of Purnell's original book A Woman of No Importance

Ensnared in the Wolf's Lair: Inside the 1944 Plot to Kill Hitler and the Ghost Children of His Revenge by Ann Bausum

One of the things I've learned after reading a number of books by Ann Bausum is that you can always count on her to write a compelling, well-researched book. She really knows how to present the participants, lay out the timeline, and contextualize the meaning of each historical event she tackles. And she has done it again in this book about the  Valkyrie plot to kill Adolf Hitler, in what could otherwise be a confusing event in the history of Nazi Germany. But then, Bausum takes the story further and tells the reader what happened later to the children of the people involved in the plot.

Bausum begins her account with a detailed account of Adolf Hitler's rise in popularity and his seizure of power after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in 1934. From the beginning, Hitler used fear and brutality to maintain control over the German people, and his predilection for retaliation meant little dissent among the people. But by 1943, some prominent Germans, among the *Count Claus von Stauffenberg, Cäsar von Hofacker and Friedrich-Wilhelm von Hase, began to realize that Hitler had to be stopped. 

A plot to kill Hitler and overthrow his regime was planned, adapting the name Valkyrie. The plan was simple enough - von Stauffenberg would carry a briefcase with a bomb in it to a July 20, 1944 meeting at Hitler's Wolf's Lair retreat. He would excuse himself, but leave the briefcase behind. Unfortunately, the planned assassination  failed and the conspirators were quickly captured, put to death and cremated.  

But what about the families of the dead conspirators? Here is where Bausum shines a light on what is probably an almost unknown part of this story. The deadly fate of the conspirators wasn't enough for Hitler, who insisted on broadly applying a policy of Sippenhaft or family arrest to their "families, including spouses, children, siblings, parents and other relatives" (pg. 70) and put SS leader Heinrich Himmler in charge if it.

Over 700 family members were arrested, and then,  children were separated from adults and taken to a former youth retreat called Borntal located in the secluded town of Bad Sachsa. There, they were traumatized even further. All family mementoes, including photographs and personal items, were removed from their suitcases, they were given new last names, and although they were marginally taken care of by staff, they were forbidden to speak to any outsiders. 

What happened to these children, nicknamed the Ghost Children by the community around them, is really the main focus of this book. Using the diary kept by one of the children, Christa von Hofsacker, interviews with a number of the detainees still living, and extensive research, Bausum gives readers a detailed window into just what these children suffered without even knowing why it was happening to them. 

As much as I know about Nazi Germany, the story of these Ghost Children was new to me. I did know about the Sippenhaft policy, but has just assumed it didn't involve children, who could have been re-educated the same way the Nazis re-educated Jewish children who looked Aryan from conquered countries. Instead, they followed a policy of erasure, isolation and harassment. 

To help readers, Bausum includes a map of Europe on July 20, 1944, copious photographs, including many of the families of the conspirators before the assassination attempt, and extensive back matter. There is a timeline of the rise and fall of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, a list of the Borntal's Sippenhaft Families, a Resource Guide,  A Note from the Author, and a detailed Bibliography, among other resources. Bausum also has a number of classroom suggestions to use in conjunction with this book, which you can find HERE.

Ensnared in the Wolf's Lair is a book for readers interested history, World War II, and/or Nazi Germany.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+

This book was an eARC gratefully received from Karen Wadsworth at Media Masters Publicity

*Here is an interesting fact I learned when I was writing about Fliegerinnen or women pilots in Nazi Germany. As part of the Sippenhaft policy, relatives of Count Claus von Stauffenberg were also arrested, including his older twin brothers Berthold and Alexander. Alexander, who was not part of the conspiracy, was married to Melitta Schiller, a half Jewish, half Aryan aviator. She had been awarded the Iron Cross in 1943, arrested in the 1944 Sippenhalf roundup, but later released. Melitta tested dive bombers for the Luftwaffe, and was shot down by an American fighter plane in 1945. 

History Smashers: Pearl Harbor by Kate Messner, illustrated by Dylan Meconis

Reading History Smashers: Pearl Harbor, made me realize that I've read and reviewed a lot of books about the events of December 7, 1941, but most of them were novels - good novels but fiction nevertheless. Amazingly, I've never read a nonfiction book about Pearl Harbor for this blog, so I was pleased to read this new book by Kate Messner from her series History Smashers. 

Messner takes a look not only at the facts surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, but also looks at some of the myths and legends that have circulated ever since. And she begins at the beginning, debunking the popular idea that the attack "happened completely out of the blue, with no warning and nothing to suggest there might be trouble." By carefully and succinctly looking at Japanese history from 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry led an expedition to try to open up isolationist Japan to trade with other countries, Messner shows how opening this small island country led to its desire for more land and more natural resources, eventually leading to the invasion of Manchuria and China in the 1930s.

 Following Germany's lead, Japan also set her sites on islands in the Pacific already colonized by other nations, including the US. After Japan signed a agreement with Germany and Italy in which they promised that if one were attacked, the others would help defend them. Feeling protected and now quite militarized, Japan invaded French Indochina.

Next, Messner looks at the errors in judgement made by the United States that led to such devastation when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. She goes back to 1924, when an army officer named William Mitchell was sent to evaluate the preparedness of US forces in the Pacific and Far East. He warned that Japan was thinking about expanding its empire, had its sites sent on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines and that that would eventually lead to war. But by 1939, Americans didn't want to go to war and so President Roosevelt tried negotiating with Japan to maintain peace. While Japan readied itself for the attack, by training pilots, redesigning torpedoes for the shallow waters where the American fleet had been moved to, mistakes, miscommunications, and incomplete intelligence gathering all led to what ultimately felt like a surprise attack to Americans, all of which Messner carefully looks at.   

History Smashers: Pearl Harbor is a short but very informative, well researched look at the attack on Pearl Harbor. Not only does Messner lay out her facts and debunk the myths surrounding the attack that led America into WWII, but she takes this very complicated event and makes it accessible to young readers. Plus, she takes the narrative beyond Pearl Harbor and looks at the racist treatment and incarceration of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the US. 

Messner includes lots of informative sidebars introducing readers to people, places, and histories, as well as lots of photographs and maps. There is extensive back matter that includes A World War II and Pearl Harbor Timeline, an Author's Note, Books, Websites and Museums to Visit for further exploration, and an excellent Bibliography.

This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in WWII. How good is it? Well, I thought I knew a lot about Pearl Harbor, but even I learned a few new facts.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+

This book was an eARC gratefully received from NetGalley

Out of Hiding: A Holocaust Survivor's Journey to America by Ruth Gruener with Rachel Klein

Anyone who has already read Alan Gratz's Prisoner B-3087 , the fictionalized Holocaust account of Jack Gruener, who survived 1 ghetto, 10 concentration camps, and 2 death marches, will also want to read Ruth Gruener's Holocaust survival story. Ruth was Jack's wife, but that came years after the Holocaust. And though Ruth never found herself in a concentration camp, her story is definitely harrowing, considering she was only five-years-old when the Nazis marched into her life.  

Ruth was originally named Aurelia Gamzer and called Luncia for short. She was a happy chid living in Lvov, Poland with her parents, Barbara and Isaac Gamzer, who owned a chocolate shop. Restrictions on Jews were imposed, and soon Luncia couldn't go to school, Jewish people had to wear a white armband with a blue Star of David, former friends and neighbors turned their backs on Jews, and they were forced to turn over businesses, including the Gamzer's chocolate shop, and any personal property of value to the Nazis. Soon, Jews were put into a ghetto, followed by roundups and deportations and certain death.

When a former customer offered to hide Luncia. her parents decided to do that to save her life. After sneaking her out of the ghetto, Luncia found herself in a situation where she had to sit quietly without getting up or looking out the window, all day long. When a neighbor did see her through the window one day, the family first put Luncia in a burlap bag in the basement during the day to hide her, and late insisted she climb into a trunk and hide in there.

Eventually, it was discovered that her parents were in hiding with a former employee of their shop, and Luncia was reunited with them. But imagine what it must have been like to be a child and overhear your mother talking about ways to kill herself and her family. Fortunately, the person who was supposed to do this backed out at the last minute, saying he didn't have stomach for killing. Finally, in July 1944, Lvov was liberated by the Russians and the Gamzer family could come out of hiding.

But surviving the Holocaust and finally being able to come out of hiding and restart their lives presented a whole new set of problems. Since Gamzers had lost their extended family, their home, and their possessions, they decided to emigrate to America, where they did have some relatives. But the immigration process was slow and the Gamzers were displaced persons. Eventually, they made their way first to Krakow, and later to to the apartment of other Holocaust survivors in Munich. And it was there that Luncia first met Jack Gruener, who finally immigrated in 1947.

By 1948, the Gamzers were also still trying to immigrated and finally received their visas in 1948, sailing for America on January 7, 1949. Arriving in America, Luncia became Ruth. She begins attending high school in Brooklyn, NY and making new friends. But suddenly she is plagued with vivid memories of her life in hiding. But Ruth is determined not to let these memories control her life and reconnecting with with Jack Gruner helps. They eventually married and had two children.

Ruth Gruener's story about surviving the Holocaust, about spending her childhood living in a ghetto, than in hiding, living with constant starvation, even with a bout of severe frostbite, separated from her parents and knowing that the people she loved had been killed is one more story that helps us understand just what happened. She describes her experience in a very detailed, matter of fact manner, but underneath you can still feel the horror and pain she lived through. 

I found it interesting that her father had the idea of hiding family photos in a jar and burying it was brilliant. After the war, before they left Lvov, he dug them up, untouched by war and nature. Those family photos must have felt like such a great gift after losing everything else. And thankfully, Ruth shares them in her book.  

Pair this book with Prisoner-B3087 for two very different but connected Holocaust survival stories. 

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was an eARC gratefully received from Edelweiss+

Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy by Kenneth C. Davis

Germany's constitution, written at the end of WWI, was one of the most democratic charters ever produced. It isn't surprising, then, that Kenneth Davis begins his comprehensive history of five 20th century dictators with the story of how Adolf Hitler used Germany's new democratic constitution to become the absolute ruler one of the world's most repressive and destructive governments - and the way it was done was completely constitutionally correct.

Davis then devotes a chapter to the history of democracy from antiquity to the American Revolution, pointing out just how fragile the concept of democracy is, especially when its enemies seek to dismantle democratic governments and solidify power for themselves. What follows is a biography of five dictators, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Saddim Hussein, and their power grabs.

Davis shows that in their early lives, none of the Strongman - dictators who used any and every means possible to acquire power - showed any sign of what they were to become. Most had nondescript early beginnings, often with doting mothers and cruel fathers. Yet, all became charismatic figures, convincing people to support and follow them and to even commit atrocities in the name of their individual ideologies.

Following a short biography of their early lives, Davis traces the influences surrounding their rise to power, their seizure of power and their political philosophies for ruling their respective countries. Davis shows how each used propaganda to manipulate their citizens. For example, Mussolini recognized the need to control mass media and the beneficial use of fascist propaganda films shown in movie theaters, a lesson that the other four dictators learned all to well. And all found it important to mobilize young people with an eye to the future, such as the Mussolini's Vanguards, the Hitler Youth, Stalin's Young Pioneers, Mao's Red Guard, Hussein's Lion Cubs. 

Davis don't analyze these five dictatorships, nor does he compare them to each other. Rather, each is designed to serve as a warning - democracy can disappear so easily, all it takes is one antiestablishment populist leader claiming he speaks for the people and promising to return power to them. As Davis shows, they begin to dismantle democracy and move towards authoritarianism and he gives for warning signs:

1- Rejection of the democratic rules of the game;

2- Denial of the legitimacy of political opponents;

3- Toleration of encouragement of violence;

4- Readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including the media.

If these warning signs so familiar or recognizable, you can see why this is not just an important historical lesson, but a timely work of our own time.

But Davis doesn't leave the reader feeling helpless in the face of a potential charismatic dictator. Indeed he gives the reader a blueprint of the Strongman's playbook for getting power and what to expect once he is in power. Most importantly, Davis tells the reader not to fall into the trap of thinking it can't happen again - because it can.

At the beginning of each biography, readers will find a time line tracing each dictator's life in the context of the place and times in which he lived and his rise to power. There are also a wide range of photographs throughout the book. Back matter includes an extensive Bibliography, including general and dictator-specific reading for further investigation. 

Davis has written an very readable, very relevant work that easily serves as a jumping off point for anyone interested in government, politics and the rise and fall of political systems.    

This book is recommended for readers age 12+

This book was gratefully received from Casey Blackwell at Media Masters Publicity

The House by the Lake: The True Story of a House, Its History, and the Four Families Who Made It Home by Thomas Harding, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup

 

The House by the Lake: The True Story of a House and the Four Families Who Made it Home

written by Thomas Harding, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup

Candlewick Press, 2020, 48 pages

We don't often think about the history of a house, and yet a building can actually be a silent but important witness to history. At least that's what author Thomas Harding must have thought when he wrote his first book about the house by the lake. Curious about a slice of family history, he began researching the summer house that was built by his great-grandfather, Dr. Alfred Alexander, on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany. The result was the 464-page book The House by the Lake: A Story of Germany. Published in 2015, it is the story of the five unrelated families who lived in the house through 100 years of 20th century Germany history. Amazingly, this fascinating history has been adapted into a very accessible picture book for older readers that loses none of the history and poignancy of the adult book. 

In 1927, Harding's grandparents and their four children moved into the house, spending happy days there, swimming in the lake, raising chickens, growing asparagus and listening to stories at night. But when the Nazis came into power, a group of soldiers forced the Alexander family out of their summer home, leaving it empty.

A year later, a new family moved in - a father, mother and two little boys. As the little boys grow older, they joined Hitlerjunge. But when the father was order to fight in Hitler's war, the family decided to leave the house altogether and run away.

With the war still raging, a husband and wife sought refuge in the empty house. It was a cold, bitter winter, but they were able to safe and stay warm in the house. But they too fled the house as the war ended when the Soviet army arrived, shooting at the house from the tanks, chipping the fireplace and breaking the windows.

Next came "the man with the fluffy hat" who fixed the damage done to the house by war and who made the house feel alive again with his children and their activities. But then, the man heard the sound of Soviet soldiers building a wall through the backyard of the house by the lake. Life became gray as the children were made to work and the man began to spy on this neighbors. 

After many years, the wall came down, but the man in the fluffy hat had aged and found it harder to take care of the house. After he died, it was 15 years before the house was once again fixed up by another young man until it shone like new. A picture of the young man's great-grandparents was hung over the fireplace and "Once again the house by the lake was happy."

Readers are probably not used to a building being a protagonist, and feel the story should be told from the point of view of the families that lived in the house instead. But this is the house's story more than it is their story, and like its human occupants, the house's history is organic and changing. I actually like that Harding kept the focus on the house. 

House as protagonist allows for some interesting symbolism. The freedom to come and go symbolized by open door of the first family contrasted to the key to the house in the hands of the Nazi soldier getting reader to close the house up and the loss of freedom. The key motif returns toward the end of the book when the last occupant, Harding himself, returns to the house, opening the door again.You might also notice the black cat that roams freely in first pages, last seen walking out the door, and returns at the end. The changing condition of the house over time is also symbolic of war and peace.

The text has an almost fairytale quality to it, while the mixed-media illustrations show more than the words say, filling in a lot of the details. The illustrations are textured and layered, with small and large details, even while they have an almost unfocused, dream-like feel to them. Happy times are captured is bright, colorful hues, while war and occupation are done in a much darker palette. 

The House by the Lake is a fascinating look at history through the lens of a stationary object and a valuable classroom tool for studying history. 

FYI: Who are all the un-named people who occupied the house? Short biographies of the four different occupants are included in the back matter. 

You can find a very useful Teacher's Guide for this book courtesy of the publisher HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 7+

This book was gratefully received from the publisher, Candlewick Press

Standing Up Against Hate: How Black Women in the Army Helped Change the Course of WWII by Mary Cronk Farrell

I've just reread Mare's War by Tanita S. Davis, a novel about one woman who had enlisted in the Women's Army Corps during WWII and was part of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. I've always thought that the author had really captured the difficulties of being an African American woman in the armed services at that time. And now, Mary Cronk Farrell has written a book that explores these difficulties in depth and introduces readers to some of the courageous African American women who served their country with determination, dignity and patriotism.

Farrell begins with the creation of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps in May 1942. Though women in the WAAC were not considered to be military personnel and so they had no rank, no entitlements for dependents, and received less pay than men in the military, women signed up anyway, wanting to do their patriotic duty for their country. Thanks to the efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt and Civil Rights leader Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, black women were also allowed to join and train for positions of rank, and a number of women were recruited from different colleges around the country for officer training.

After training, African American women like Lieutenant Charity Adams were assigned a command of enlisted women of color ready to begin basic training. These were women who wanted to serve their country, but they also "saw the army as an opportunity to better their life, find adventure, or see the world." (pg. 49)

Major Charity Adams

What officers and enlisted black women hadn't really counted on was the army's policy of segregation. While discrimination wasn't tolerated, the army continued the practice of separating black and white soldiers under the idea of separate but equal. But, as Farrell shows, it was definitely separate, but it wasn't equal. For example, after basic training, black WAACs sent to southern bases were ordered to do menial tasks, such are cleaning toilets, scrubbing floors, and stacking beds. If they objected, they were given even more grunt work to do, such as washing the walls in the laundry, and doing the laundry - all jobs that had not been approved for WAACs to do. Sometimes, there was even talk of a court-martial for such insubordination. What is interesting is that Farrell looks at the responses of the African American women when they were faced with Jim Crow laws, prejudice, segregation, and ordered to do menial tasks, interviewing several of the women who served and were still living while she was writing this book.

A good potion of the book is devoted the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (aka the Six Triple Eight), the only female African American battalion to serve overseas and under the leadership of Major Charity Adams. In February 1945, more than 800 members in the 6888th were sent to Birmingham, England to sort through "six airplane hangars, piled to the ceiling with bags of mail," letters and packages that had been piling up for months (pg. 4) These WACs* knew it was important work, soldiers needed their mail from home and the women worked under the slogan "no mail, low morale." After their mission in England was finished, the 6888th moved on to Paris, France.

The 6888th arriving in England

Standing Up Against Hate is a book about service and honor that will draw in young readers and keep them. It is informative and reader accessible, with personal accounts that bring the history of African American women serving in the army vividly to life. Complimenting and supporting these accounts are copious archival photographs, many of which include the women interviewed.

If you've ever read a book by Mary Cronk Farrell, you know that she is a careful researcher, and talented craftswoman at telling a true story. Though much in this book is a positive look at the women and their accomplishments, it is also concerned with institutionalized racism and discrimination that faced both black men and women in the armed services during WWII. Nor, does Farrell does not shy away from describing some of the degrading treatment personally directed by individual women - not just by southern white male officers, but by fellow white WACS, and civilians, male and female, while riding buses and trains, called names and at times, badly beaten. Yet, they continued to serve with dignity.

Did the WAC provide the hoped for opportunity to better their life, find adventure, or see the world? You be the judge!

Farrell supplements her text with an abundance of photos and newspaper articles, many of which I had seen before. Back matter includes an Author's Note, a Glossary, a Time Line, Notes, and a Select Bibliography.

There is a teaching guide available on the author's website for this outstanding book.

Standing Up Against Hate is a book I couldn't put down and I can't recommend it highly enough for both middle and high school age readers. There is just so much to learn from it. Enhance your readers experience by pairing this with Mare's War.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was an ARC sent to me by the published, Abrams BFYR

*The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) became the Women's Army Corps (WAC) on July 1, 1943 when it was changed to active duty status.