War..Oh no you may be thinking...Another WWII novel? Aren't there enough? Yet, I am overjoyed that I refused to let those sentiments enter my brain as I would have missed out on reading this accomplished powerful book. Why should you read this? One, because it will give you a whole different perspective from the Germans' point of view. What about the Germans who abhorred the Reich but felt trapped into joining for fear of losing their families' and their own lives. What part does morality play here when thousands are being murdered? What principles go into making that decision? What was it like to have your children inoculated into Hitler's propaganda watching them spew hate while neighborhood watch dogs would report you if they felt that you were not being supportive.? What if you always had to sneak conversations under the covers for fear of listening bugs? I had often thought of the latter but not in reference to the Germans themselves. This book of historical fiction is gleaned from a true narrative about Operation Paperclip. "Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 Nazi German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World War II in Europe, between 1945 and 1959. Conducted by the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA), it was largely carried out by special agents of the U.S. Army's Counterintelligence Corps (CIC). Many of these personnel were former members, and some were former leaders, of the Nazi Party." In this dual-timeline narrative, Rimmer even-handedly presents events from two very diverse perspectives. Parallels between Sofie’s and Lizzie’s lives, while not necessarily obvious to them, become more apparent as the story progresses. Kelly Rimmer’s latest novel, The German Wife, is a story of morality, one that steers the reader into contemplation about the choices people make when forced into impossible circumstances.

On the other hand, Hans's wife, Annaliese, I can hardly say that I liked her, but I also cannot blame her. When it came to Lizzie and her brother Henry, they grew up in Texas and suffered greatly due to the Dust Bowl and the depression. Now in 1950s Alabama they are neighbors to Jürgen and Sofie. They hear the grumbling that goes on that Jürgen was possibly part of the Nazi regime. But hopefully they’ll lead separate lives and she will do her best to fight any prejudice where she might be naturally inclined. Her worries are for her brother Henry, as he is suffering from his time in the war, to the point that she learns that it might be combat fatigue and this is flavoring a lot of his actions. This in some ways affects how she views anyone that is in America that has come from Germany. This is a story of the horrors of the concentration camp Dachau, a forbidden romance, a marriage broken and three people changed forever because of the cruelty of the Nazi's. Operation Paperclip” was a secret United States intelligent program in which more than 1,600 Nazi German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken —from former Nazi Germany to the United States for government employment after the end of World War Two in Europe between 1945 and 1959. Many of these members were leaders of the Nazi Party.Annaliese is the young wife of a German doctor named Hans Vogel, who works as a medical researcher in the concentration camp at Dachau. While their marriage started off lovingly, her husband has become more secretive and distanced ever since his Dachau assignment. When he hires Alexander, a Russian prisoner of war, as a gardener for their house, Annaliese finds herself becoming increasingly drawn to the strong and intelligent man. It is Alexander who reveals to Annaliese the truth of what’s happening at Dachau. Torn between the two men in her life, Annaliese finds herself in a quandary as the war gets closer and closer to home in Munich. There’s a mixed welcome: her husband is ecstatic about their arrival, but she notices that not all the German wives are friendly, and wonders what they know about Jurgen’s role during the war. And while the manager of the program for which Jurgen works encourages the American wives to make their German counterparts welcome, many can’t reconcile themselves to being friendly with a race of people who may have been responsible for the atrocities they have all heard about. This is only a small snippet of this fascinating heartbreaking novel. If you enjoy historical fiction based on true events, this one will leave you breathless!

Bernstein, George, and Lottelore Bernstein. "Attitudes toward Women's Education in Germany, 1870-1914." International Journal of Women's Studies 2 (1979): 473–488. sooo ‘both’ parties — American and Russian officials began scheming—and the German scientists were put to work by our government… Summary: Adultery in Germany - impowr.org". www.impowr.org. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017 . Retrieved 17 April 2018.

What I loved most about this book was the different perspectives we got and how the war affected people differently. It was nice to see all the different points of view on this one to really get a feel for how people felt on different sides and in different countries. I wished that Lizzie had learned about Sofie and what they had to endure. You can see that Sofie lived in an impossible situation and Lizzie can be as self righteous as she likes not having been there, she was prejudiced to people with no idea what they went through. Everyone was tarnished with the same brush. It was a sad story to read, and I cried for Annaleise and her life for what it might have been, for what she had lost, for what it became, and later for her losses again as she fought to regain her life and make a new life for her son. I also felt sorry for Hans and his losses, his forced obedience to the Nazi party and finally is last selfless act for his family. Alexander was a different character and played a part, I felt this character was too damaged by the camps he had nothing left to give to anyone. I enjoyed the view of WWII from what was a very different perspective than I've read before. I thought the plot was intriguing and I got a real insight into Hans' (the doctor) character and thoughts, but I do wish Annaliese were more developed. Reagin, Nancy. “The Imagined Hausfrau: National Identity, Domesticity and Colonialism in Imperial Germany,” Journal of Modern History 73#1 (2001): 54–86.