Dialog International

McNamara's Other War

Robert McNamara died last week at the age of 93.  He will forever be remembered as the "architect" of the Vietnam War, in which more than a million non-combatant Vietnamese civilians died. But it is important to remember that McNamara got his first taste of war in World War II, where he first put his tremendous statistical skills to use to kill civilians.  As a young officer in the Department for Statistical Control, McNamara showed General Curtis LeMay efficient ways of delivering unprecedented quantities of incendiaries ("firebombs") to Hamburg, Dresden and other German cities and finally to all major Japanese cities. 

Later, McNamara admitted that he and LeMay were guilty of war crimes.  When recounting a bombing raid of Tokyo that killed more than 100,000 Japanese civilians in one night, McNamara said. "Well, I was part of the mechanism that recommended it (the bombing raid). I analyzed the bombing operations, and how to make them more efficient. .... LeMay said if we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals. And I think he's right. He, and I'd say I, were behaving as war criminals."

Historian Howard Zinn was a young bombardier aboard a B-17 with the 490th Bombardment Group and flew numerous bombing missions in Germany, delivering the incendiaries organized by McNamara.  But Zinn drew different lessons from his experiences and led the protests against "McNamara's War" in the late 1960's and early 1970s.

Listen to Howard Zinn's comments on the death of Robert McNamara.

Godwin's Law Gone Wild

Godwin's Law: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”

Godwins Gesetz: Mit zunehmender Länge einer Online-Diskussion nähert sich die Wahrscheinlichkeit für einen Vergleich mit Hitler oder den Nazis dem Wert Eins an.

Here is today's blog post from Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman: Hitler Heaven

"Sen. Jim DeMint says that America under Obama is like Germany before World War II. Republican women in Maryland say that Obama is like Hitler. Hitler comparisons are apparently rife at tea parties. What’s gotten into the GOP?

Nothing. This has been going on all along. Back in 2002 Sen. Charles Grassley — reputedly a moderate — compared the think tank Citizens for Tax Justice to Hitler, because it claimed that 40 percent of the first Bush tax cut would go to the richest 1 percent of the population. (The actual number, according to the authoritative Tax Policy Center: 42 percent.)

The point is that extremist rhetoric on the right — even the allegedly moderate right — has been the norm for many years. The only difference now is that news organizations aren’t as diffident about reporting it.

Update: And Bill O’Reilly compared Al Franken to Goebbels."

Senator DeMint's said the following:

"Part of what we’re trying to do in “Saving Freedom” is just show that where we are, we’re about where Germany was before World War II where they became a social democracy."

This statement displays an appalling ignorance of history.  The German social democrats were the most consistent opponents of National Socialism, and were outlawed in Germany after the Nazi seizure of power.  Many leading social democrats perished in Hitler's concentration camps. 

The right wing gained zero traction among American voters when they claimed that Barack Obama was a "socialist".  So what do they think can be gained by comparing him to Hitler?

Caritas in veritate - Charity in Truth

Pope Benedict has issued his third encyclical - Caritas in veritate (Charity in Truth) - which addresses the global economy and its inequalities.  It is a long, dense piece and can be downloaded from the Vatican's Web site (English,Deutsch) . The encyclical is sure to generate a great deal of controversy, since the pope is calling for nothing less than a new economic order based on economic justice and a more equitable distribution of wealth.

Its publication is obviously timed to coincide with the G8 and the summit’s focus on economic repair, aid to poor countries, food security and climate change.

Economics, Pope Benedict writes, is not just the pursuit of profits, but must be based on an ethical pursuit of the "common good".

Profit is useful if it serves as a means towards an end that provides a sense both of how to produce it and how to make good use of it. Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty.

He decries the "corruption" of the political class (not just in the wealthy countries) and the unethical behavior of financiers and their institutions as well as the exploitation of workers by multinational corporations.

Corruption and illegality are unfortunately evident in the conduct of the economic and political class in rich countries, both old and new, as well as in poor ones. Among those who sometimes fail to respect the human rights of workers are large multinational companies as well as local producers. International aid has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions both within the chain of donors and within that of the beneficiaries. Similarly, in the context of immaterial or cultural causes of development and underdevelopment, we find these same patterns of responsibility reproduced. On the part of rich countries there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care. At the same time, in some poor countries, cultural models and social norms of behaviour persist which hinder the process of development.

In a passage sure to displease the editors of the Wall Street Journal, the Pope calls for an equitable distribution of wealth and protection of workers' rights in every nation:

Lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers, or abandoning mechanisms of wealth redistribution in order to increase the country's international competitiveness, hinder the achievement of lasting development.

It is important to emphasize that Pope Benedict is not calling for a wholesale socialization of the world economy: he recognizes the power of markets in wealth creation. But he is highly critical of the neo-liberal ideal of the unfettered markets. Markets must be regulated in a "God-centered" economy for the common good.  Benedict even goes so far as to advocate a new supranational governing body to oversee and enforce a more just global distribution of wealth and protect poorer nations.

This seems necessary in order to arrive at a political, juridical and economic order which can increase and give direction to international cooperation for the development of all peoples in solidarity. To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority

Pope Benedict has written a very provocative piece with his Third Encyclical.  I don't agree with everything here, but the central argument strikes me as correct and just - far more radical than any "solutions" put forward by US politicians - Republican OR Democrat (who would dare speak openly about wealth redistribution?).

Caritas in veritate lacks the passion and visionary power of Deus caritas est (God is Love - Benedict's first encyclical), and I miss the broad discussion of Western philosophy of the second encyclical (Spe Salvi - In hope we are saved).  But I disagree with the assessment of Matthias Drobinski in Sueddeutsche Zeitung - Der weltfremde Papst .  Dobrinski calls this encyclical a "disappointment" (Enttäuschung) and sees Benedict as being "out of touch" (weltfremd). On the contrary, Caritas in veritate displays an impressive grasp of complex economic issues - from hedge funds to globalization and business process outsourcing.

The American Who Saved German Literature

As a student of German Exile Literature, I am enjoying immensely reading Michael Lentz's novel Pazifik Exil (review to follow in due course).  Lentz takes the readers into the minds of Heinrich Mann, Brecht, Feuchtwanger and - most deliciously - Alma (Mahler Gropius) Werfel as they flee Europe and find refuge in America.  In the first chapter, Lentz introduces the American Varian Fry, who arranges a difficult passage by foot over the Pyrenees for Franz & Alma Werfel, Heinrich, Nelly and Golo Mann. One of Varian Fry's volunteers, Dick Ball, actually carries Werfel part of the way on his back.

I'm happy that Michael Lentz reminds us of this remarkable man; Varian Fry displayed the best of the American can-do attitude: he recognized an emergency situation to save the lives of writers, scientists, artists, musicians who faced certain imprisonment or death as Hitler's armies spread across Europe.  Varian Fry founded the Emergency Rescue Committee in Marseille in 1940 and helped more than 2,000 people escape across the border into neutral Portugal, where many found passage to the United States. Fry's effectiveness was due to his understanding of the bureaucratic mentality: he obtained the necessary documents, letters, stamps, etc for his clients, and when he couldn't get them legally he simply forged them.  The list of those he saved reads like a Who's Who of European arts and letters: Hannah Arendt, Ernst-Josef Aufricht, Georg Bernhard, André Breton, Marc Chagall, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Lion Feuchtwanger, Leonhard Frank, Konrad Heiden, Heinz Jolles, Wifredo Lam, Wanda Landowska, Jacques Lipchitz, Alma Mahler-Werfel, Heinrich Mann, André Masson, Walter Mehring, Otto Meyerhof, Soma Morgenstern, Hertha Pauli, Alfred Polgar, Hans Sahl und Franz Werfel. To be sure, he was not always successful: Walter Benjamin didn't make it across the mountain passage on his first attempt, and committed suicide out of despair. 

"If I have any regret at all about the work we did, it is that it was so slight.  In all we saved some two thousand human beings.  We ought to have saved many times that number.  But we did what we could.  And when we failed, it was all too often because of the incomprehension of the government of the United States.  It was not until 1944 that the President created the War Refugee Board, to do in a big way, and with official backing, what we had tried to do in our little way, against constant official opposition.  But then it was too late" - Varian Fry (quoted from Varian Fry in Marseille). 

See also two related blog posts of mine: Dorothy Thompson: Fearless Friend of Free Germany and Salka Viertel's Kindess of Strangers.

Junge Freiheit: "East Coasters" Assassinated Jörg Haider

Jörg Haider died last October after driving his car at 90 mph into a concrete barrier. It later turned out that he had been drinking heavily in a gay bar just before the accident.  Now the neo-fascist weekly Junge Freiheit is reporting on the new "evidence" that Haider in fact had been assassinated by his enemies.  According to the conspiracy theorists in Germany and Austria, Haider had come into possession of "explosive" information concerning the global financial crisis:

Zudem habe Haider laut Petzner „als erster und einziger Politiker Österreichs schon im September detaillierte Informationen über das Ausmaß der Banken- und Finanzkrise gehabt“. Haider habe vor allen anderen gewußt, was passieren werde, und er habe gewußt, wie hochbrisant und explosiv diese Informationen seien. „Das sind Informationen, die im Zusammenhang mit riesigen international vernetzten Banken- und Finanzsystemen stehen. Da geht es um viele Milliarden und die wahren Mächtigen in der Welt, die an der Ostküste und sonstwo sitzen“, sagte Petzner. Hieraus ergäben sich durchaus Motive für ein Attentat auf Haider (In addition, according to Petzner, Haider was "the first and only politician in Austria who already in September had detailed information on the extent of the banking and financial crisis."  Haider knew before anybody else what would happen, and he knew this information was controversial as well as explosive. "This was information about the globally interconnected international banking and financial system. We are talking about the billions and the true global power brokers on the East Coast and elswhere," said Petzner. This was more than enough to want him assasinated.) 

"Ostküste" or "East Coast", has always been a code word among right-wing Germans/Austrians for American Jews and Jewish financiers.  Haider himself often complained about "die an der Ostküste / those on the East Coast". At his party's celebration of the New Year 2001, Haider attacked an agreement which the Austrian government had signed to pay compensation of 500 million dollars for Jewish property confiscated by the Nazis.  Haider said that Austria hoped in vain to receive "den ungeteilten Applaus der US-Ostküste" (the complete applause of the American East Coast).

Also, another piece on the Web site of Junge Freiheit expresses respect and admiration (Das blaue Wunder)  for the political strength in Austria of Haider's old anti-Semitic party (FPÖ).  The editors of JF complain bitterly that such a political force cannot take root in Germany due to "political correctness".  Thay can only look longingly across the border at Austria's example:

Der Erfolg einer politischen Kraft, auch das lehrt das Beispiel Österreich, beginnt an der Basis. (The successful achievement of political power - as we see from Austria's example - begins with the base.)

See also Politblogger.

UPDATE: Saint Jörg?  The Jörg Haider Prayer League urges the beatification of the Austrian fascist. As a bonus, check out the YouTube video of Haider singing a Kaertner folk song!

Niall Ferguson on "American Schadenfreude"

The other day Gabor Steingart in Der Spiegel was highly critical of US fiscal policy and President Obama's stimulus package for jump-starting the stalled US economy.  Steingart was echoing Germany's finance minister Peer Steinbrück, who has accused the US of recklessness.  Well, Harvard historian Niall Ferguson has a different point of view, and blasts Steinbrück in a commentary in Die Zeit (print edition only).  Ferguson is the anti-Steingart.  America, he states, will have the last laugh:

"Am besten hat Finanzminister Peer Steinbrück wohl die deutsche Haltung zusammengefasst, als er 2008 vorhersagte, die USA würden infolge der Krise' 'ihren Status als die Supermacht des globalen Finanzsystems verlieren. Doch bald werden die Amerikaner dran sein mit der Schadenfreude. Eine bedrückende Realität wird die Deutschen zwingen, ihre Verdrängungshaltung aufzugeben." (Finance minister Peer Steinbrück summed up the German position best when he predicted that the USA would lose its status as the the global superpower of the financial system because of the global economic crisis. But soon the Americans will have their Schadenfreude. The brutal reality will force the Germans to recognize the enormity of the situation.)

Ferguson was a bit more expansive in an interview with Die Welt:

Offenbar wissen die Deutschen nicht genau, wie schwer diese Krise ist. Gegenwärtig stöhnen sie über die Liste der Firmen, die Kredite vom deutschen Staat fordern. Dabei könnte sich diese Zahl innerhalb weniger Monate vervielfachen. Die Deutschen sind in einer viel schlimmeren ökonomischen Lage, als sie glauben. Sie werden viel langsamerer aus der Krise kommen als die Amerikaner. (Evidently the Germans do not understand the severity of the crisis. At the moment, they groan about the number of companies that are looking for subsidies from the German government.  But this number could very well multipy in just a few months. The Germans are in a much worse economic situation than they are willing to admit. They will come out of this crisis much more slowly than the Americans.)

 

Review: Ilse Aichinger's Die größere Hoffnung

Ilse Aichinger's Die größere Hoffnung is included in Sueddeutsche Zeitung's series of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th century.  The book (the title in English is literally "The Greater Hope") was published in Vienna in 1948.  An English translation - Herod's Children - was released in 1963 to mixed reviews.  Like all great Austrian writers, Aichinger plays with language - in a sense, the novel is about the language of tyranny and horror- so it is nearly impossible to translate.

Aichinger somehow managed to survive in Vienna during the war as a Mischling - or half-Jew.  So Die größere Hoffnung is in part her attempt to come to terms with that terrible personal experience.  What distinguishes this novel from other works of fiction on the Holocaust is the narrative perspective - the point of view is that of a child - and the poetic style.  Aichinger uses expressionistic techniques, fairy tales, Kafka-like parables, and myths to tell the story.  In fact, I did keep thinking of Kafka while reading Die größere Hoffnung. In a sense, Aichinger writes about the world that Kafka anticipated in his work; her novel is a completion (Vollendung) of his vision.

The main character is 11-year old Ellen who in the first chaper is visiting the consulate in the middle of the night to obtain a visa to join her mother in America.  But Ellen has no sponsor and the consul tricks her into believing that only she can grant herself a visa. For the most part, the adults in Die größere Hoffnung only wish to bring harm to or trick the children at the center of the story.  The first chapter bears the title Die grosse Hoffnung / The Great Hope, and the novel shows how time and again Ellen's hopes - and those of the other children - are dashed: there is no escape from their fate. And yet, the children never lose hope. They make plans and envision happier futures for themselves to the end. 

Rejected by the other (Aryan) children because of her Mischling status, Ellen joins a group of Jewish children who have been driven from from every public playground and park and are forced to play in a graveyard. Aichinger doesn't use the word Jew; instead these are the children "with the wrong grandparents".  Because they have four "wrong grandparents", they are forced to wear the star.  The other children view Ellen with suspicion since she does not have a star, having only two "wrong grandparents".  But Ellen longs to wear the star as well so she can be accepted by the others. Much of the novel is about how the children seek to understand the meaning of the star. They reenact the Nativity over and over, believing that the Star of Bethlehem represents the true meaning of the star. Adults are drawn into the Nativity play, but they are only there to keep the children preoccupied until they can be rounded up by "die geheime Polizei" - the secret police.  And so the children learn the truth about the star, although Ellen, at the very end of Die größere Hoffnung as she is torn apart by a grenade, comes to find yet another, more hopeful meaning in the morning star she sees rising above the bridge of hope.

At the center of Die größere Hoffnung is the chapter entitled "Death of the Grandmother".  Ellen's mother has left for America, so she lives with her "wrong" - that is Jewish - grandmother.  The grandmother wishes to die rather than be arrested and deported and so enlists Ellen's aid in committing suicide.  In actual life, Ilse Aichinger's grandmother was arrested and deported to the death camp during the final days of the war. She watched from a bridge as her grandmother was transported away.

Aichinger wrote: "Man überlebt nicht alles, was man überlebt." (You don't survive everything that you survive) 

She was asked about this in a 1996 interview in Die Zeit: 

Zeit: Was haben Sie nicht überlebt? ILSE AICHINGER: Den Anblick meiner Großmutter im Viehwagen auf der Schwedenbrücke in Wien. Und die Leute um mich herum, die mit einem gewissen Vergnügen zugesehen haben. (Zeit: What didn't you survive? Ilse Aichinger: The sight of my grandmother in the cattle truck on the Sweden Bridge in Vienna. And the people standing around me who watched with a certain amount of satisfaction.)

Ilse Aichinger has written stories, essays, plays and poetry.  Die größere Hoffnung remains her only novel.

German Left Embraces 9/11 Conspiracy Theories (and Amadinejad)

When he was in Europe this spring, President Obama made the following comment at a town hall-style meeting with German and French students in Strassbourg:

“In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive. But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual, but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what is bad. On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America.”

One blog I often read and learn from is NachDenkSeiten, which has been critical of Germany's participation in NATO's mission in Afghanistan.  Now, I am all for constructive criticism of NATO's and the US war in Afghanistan, but NachDenkSeiten links approvingly to a highly critical piece in a German/Swiss blog Alles Schall und Rauch (loosely translated as "It's All Smoke and Mirrors"). Here we find a number of arguments for why the Bundeswehr should withdraw from Afghanistan immediately, including:

Deshalb ist die Ausrede, "Wir müssen uns vor Terror hier bei uns schützen, indem wir ihn in Afghanistan bekämpfen" eine glatte Lüge. Die Taliban wehren sich nur gegen die Invasoren, zuerst gegen die sowjetischen Eroberer und jetzt gegen die westlichen NATO-Truppen. Dieser Abwehrkampf ist völlig verständlich und berechtigt, denn jedes Volk würde sich gegen fremde Besatzer wehren und hat das Recht dazu. (Thus the excuse "We have to prevent terrorist attacks here (in Germany), so we need to fight terror in Afghanistan" is a complete lie.  The Taliba are only defending themselves against invaders - at first against the Soviens and now against NATO troops.  This defensive war is understandable and just, since any people would defend themselves against foreign occupiers and has the right to do so.)

Der Hauptgrund den die Amerikaner für die Invasion und Krieg in Afghanistan angeben, die Taliban hätten Osam Bin Laden mit seiner Al-Kaida beherbergt, der angeblich die Anschläge vom 11. September 2001 geleitet und Amerika damit angegriffen hat, stimmt nicht und ist auch gelogen, denn die Amerikaner haben Bin Laden bis heute deswegen weder angeklagt, noch suchen sie ihn wegen 9/11. Warum? Weil sie zugeben müssen, dass sie keinen einzigen Beweise gegen ihn haben. Wenn sie keine Beweise für seine Führungsrolle und Tat haben, wie können sie dann einen Krieg damit begründen? (The principal reason cited by the Americans for the invasion and war in Afghanistan is that the Taliban had been harboring Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda; bin Laden allegedly organized and ordered the attacks of Sept. 11, 2oo1 and therefore had attacked America. But this is a complete lie, for the Americans have never charged bin Laden for these acts, nor is he even being sought in connection with 9/11. Why not? Because they (the Americans) have to admit that they don't have a single piece of evidence against him.  If they don't have any evidence of his leadership or actions, how can they use this argument to justify a war?)

It turns out that Alles Schall und Rauch is just one of many left-wing blogs dedicated to the "9/11 Truth Movement", that is, those who believe that 9/11 was the result of a conspiracy of the CIA and the Bush administration:

Die absurdeste 9/11 Verschwörungstheorie von allen, ist die offizielle Story der US-Regierung, dass ein kranker Bin Laden aus einer Höhle in Afghanistan mit seinen 19 Amateuren, die beste und teuerste Luftwaffe der Welt ausschaltete und Amerika angegriffen hat. (The most absurd 9/11 conspiracy theory of all is the official story of the US government, that a sick bin Laden from a cave in Afghanistan was able to circumvent the best and most expensive air force in the world and attack America.)

So great is the anti-American hate of these bloggers that they now side with Mullahs and Amadinejad against the protesters on the street in Iran seeking freer, more democratic society.  The protests, they write, are funded by the CIA.

This admiration for the repressive regime of the ayatollahs in Iran is widespread among German left-wing groups, according to Reinhard Mohr in Der Spiegel: Ein Slibowitz auf Ahmadinedschad.

Gabor Steingart Stinks Up the Place Again

Millions of Germans get perspective on the United States from Der Spiegel's Washington correspondent Gabor Steingart.  Problem is, Steingart's analysis is usually distorted and wrong.  During the presidential campaign, Steingart told his readers that Barack Obama's candidacy was a "fairy tale" :he had no chance of capturing the Democratic nomination.  After candidate Obama was nominated, Steingart insisted that he had no chance of beating John McCain. Meanwhile, Steingart published op/ed pieces in Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal mocking Americans for wanting universal coverage for health care.  Now that the Obama administration is serious about health care reform in America, Steingart blasts Barack Obama for his serious economic mistakes. (Spiegel piece in English / German):

Just as the US public initially rallied behind the war President Bush -- even to the point of re-electing him -- Americans have now thrown their support behind the debt president Obama. The mistakes of the Bush administration are now widely accepted. The mistakes of the Obama administration are still not recognized as such. They are seen as the truth.

Make no mistake: the US is facing the worst economic crisis in half a century brought about by the era of deregulation and fiscal mismanagement of the Bush administration.  Steingart and his neo-liberal pals in Washington were champions of the unfettered free markets.  When President Bush pushed through the largest tax cut in history, leading to a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy, Steingart cheered, even though the end result was a gigantic budget deficit.  Now that tens of millions of Americans have lost their employment, their health insurance, their homes through foreclosure, Steingart says it is time for the US to balance the budget. 

American borrowing in 2009 comprises about half of Obama's budget. The country is living beyond its means -- and it still would have been even if it weren't for the economic crisis.

Presumably Steingart would be happier if President Obama would let the magic of the free markets get us out of our current crisis, even if it results in the dramatic increase of suffering beyond the Beltway of Washington DC, where Steingart lunches with the neocon elite.

Gabor Steingart knows nothing about Americans, and very little about America beyond Washington.  He has been proven wrong over and over again, and yet he remains the principal "America Expert" for Der Spiegel.  Why can't Spiegel replace him with someone who has a clue about the US, such as Alexander Osang?

Review: Julia Franck's Die Mittagsfrau

Stettin, 1945. In a bombed-out apartment, an eight-year old boy secretly watches as his mother is repeatedly raped by Russian soldiers.  She then takes the boy by the hand as they make their way onto a packed train headed in the direction of Berlin. When the train makes a stop, the mother hands the boy the suitcase and tells him to wait for her on the platform while she uses the restroom. The mother never returns.

This is how Julia Franck begins her terrific novel Die Mittagsfrau ("The Noonday Witch").

Why did the mother abandon her young son?  The rest of the novel takes us back to Helene's (the young mother) early childhood in Bautzen and follows her through a tragic love affair in Berlin and the unhappy marriage that brought her to Stettin.  The novel is a psychological portrait of a young woman, but at the same time psychogramm of German history.  Helene is a half-Jew, and her personal history is inextricably bound together with that of her country.  In the end, the reader achieves some measure of understanding for Helene's unforgivable act. 

I found the early childhood scenes in Bautzen - the period just before the Great War -  especially effective.  Helene's mother Selma grieved for her four stillborn sons; she was incapable of feeling love for her two daughters.  Helene and her older sister compensate for this absence of love through an incestous relationship with each other.  When in 1914  their beloved father leaves to fight in the war, Selma is driven over the edge into madness and the young girls are left to their own devices to survive. Selma's mental illness casts a shadow on both girls: Martha succumbs to addiction and Helene retreats into silence and passivity.

Die Mittagsfrau won the 2007 German Book Prize and the English translation (by Anthea Bell with the unfortunate Harlquin-romance-like title The Dark Side of the Heart) has been released in the UK (not yet in the US).

The Mittagsfrau is a figure from old east German folklore.  She appears during the midday heat to peasants at harvest and steals their children along with their sanity. 

Dann bist du verwunschen, du armer Schneck,
                Denk doch einmal!
Herz weg, Verstand weg, Erinnerung weg,
                Alles aufs mal.
(Carl Spitteler, Die Mittagsfrau)

(Then you are cursed, poor wretch. Just think! You'll lose your heart, your head, your memory. All at once.)

According to the legend, the witch-like powers of the Mittagsfrau diminish if you engage her in a short conversation.  Helene loses her ability to communicate and therefore falls victim to the darkness of the Noonday Witch.  Fortunately for us, the readers, Julia Franck is able to give voice to Helene and to a terrible epoch in history.  This novel has the ring of truth.