Friday Feature Author Interview #1 with Elise Cooper: The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer

Book Description

Berlin, Germany, 1930—When the Nazis rise to power, Sofie von Meyer Rhodes and her academic husband benefit from the military ambitions of Germany’s newly elected chancellor when Jürgen is offered a high-level position in their burgeoning rocket program. Although they fiercely oppose Hitler’s radical views, and joining his ranks is unthinkable, it soon becomes clear that if Jürgen does not accept the job, their income will be taken away. Then their children. And then their lives.

Huntsville, Alabama, 1950—Twenty years later, Jürgen is one of many German scientists pardoned and granted a position in America’s space program. For Sofie, this is a chance to leave the horrors of her past behind. But when rumors about the Rhodes family’s affiliation with the Nazi party spread among her new American neighbors, idle gossip turns to bitter rage, and the act of violence that results tears apart a family and leaves the community wondering—is it an act of vengeance or justice?

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Elise’s Thoughts

The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer has a unique perspective.  It delves into forgiveness, family bonds, choices made, both good/evil, right/wrong, prejudice, and relationships during the 1930s and 1950s. The story shows the deep flaws and frailty of Germans living under Nazi rule.

The novel is inspired by the true story of Operation Paperclip: a controversial secret US intelligence program that employed former Nazi scientists after WWII and had them live together with their American counterparts.

There are alternating timelines, settings, and narrations.  The story begins in Berlin during the 1930s where Sofie von Meyer Rhodes and her academic husband benefit from the military ambitions of Germany’s newly elected chancellor, Hitler. Jürgen Rhodes is offered a high-level position in their burgeoning rocket program. Although they fiercely oppose Hitler’s radical views, it soon becomes clear that if Jürgen does not accept the job, their income, their children, and their lives will be taken away.

Sofie and Jurgen beloved Jewish friend, Mayim lives with them at the beginning of the Nazi regime. But as the years pass, they know that Mayim must leave because Jews are no longer accepted. Through Mayim’s eyes readers get a glimpse into the Nazi atrocities, how many Germans were sleeper Anti-Semites who came out of the woodwork after Hitlers’ rise to power, and how the Jews try to flee to different countries to escape the prejudice, threats, and killings.

The other setting in the 1930s is El Paso Texas where the Davies family is struggling to survive on their farm. Between the depression and the terrible drought Lizzie realizes her dream of staying and becoming a farmer is no longer a reality. Her brother Henry enlists to fight the Germans during WWII and she marries Calvin, her best friend. But theirs is a marriage of convenience with no intimacy whatsoever.

Twenty years later, during the 1950s in Huntsville Alabama Jürgen is brought from Germany to America along with other German scientists to help America start their space program.  This is where Operation Paperclip comes into play. Many of these scientists are Nazis, worked in the SS, and ran labor camps, yet, had their German past in Germany completely wiped and became thriving American citizens. He is eventually joined by Sophie and their two youngest children. But they must struggle with their past as many Germans are not always welcome in Huntsville. Lizzie and Sophie’s life interconnect when Calvin and Jürgen, both scientists, work together on the rocket program. Both Lizzie and her brother Henry, who suffers from PTSD after seeing the Nazi atrocities, are hostile to the Rhodes family. The story shows what happens when resentment, prejudice, rage, and acts of violence along with denial come together.

This is an emotionally complex plot that shows how hate can fester, grow, and destroy people’s lives. This thought-provoking novel delves into choices people make because of obligation, fear, force, or a willingness to turn a blind eye. It is a riveting tale of morality and how far someone will go to be able to live their lives, both figuratively and literally.

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Author’s Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Kelly Rimmer: I live in Australia, about an hour and a half from the Parks Radio and Telescope Observatory. They had a festival in 2019 to commemorate the role the Parks played with the moon landing. They relayed communication and telemetry signals to NASA, providing coverage for when the Apollo spaceship was on the Australian side of the Earth. While I was there, I visited an exhibit about the US space program.  I saw how there was a line that said how German and US scientists worked together starting in 1950 in Huntsville Alabama to help the space program. I was determined to learn how that could happen and wanted to know about Operation Paperclip.

EC: Can people learn from fiction?

KR: For me, that is fiction’s superpower.  People can learn about themselves.  Even though it is an escape people can learn about the world. The power is that people can learn facts and spur people’s reactions unlike other medias.

EC:  How would you describe Sophie?

KR:  Readers should be uncomfortable with all the choices she made. I don’t think she and her husband made good choices.  She has lived quite a privileged life.  She does not want to make waves even when she hears her friend Lydia speaking of her other friend Mayim in anti-Semitic terms. Over time, she does evolve.

EC:  How would you describe Jurgen?

KR:  He is deeply flawed. His career trajectory follows Wernher Von Braun exactly.  Although the character is from my imagination, not his career. He sees his role as protecting and sheltering his family.  He never resisted, sabotaged, or tried to help the laborers.  I do not intend for readers to like him. Realistically, people made the choices not to speak up.  He is even more extreme than Sophie in not helping others. He represented those scientists who knew that in the wrong hands, which is Hitler’s regime, that the rockets would not be used for space, but as weapons.

EC:  The plight of the Jews was mentioned in this book?

KR:  There was Kristallnacht, the Jews who had their whole lives destroyed, and were killed.  Sophie became a bystander to one of the most atrocious events in human history.  It does not start with Auschwitz, but the small acts of aggression and hatred. The Jews were blamed for WWI and the economic conditions of the times. Everything was the Jews fault long before the persecution started.

EC:  What was Mayim’s role?

KR:  I wanted the book to be about friendship.  Her and Sophie loved and accepted one another. They adore one another.  I wanted to so how ordinary citizens can become part of these acts of history by not speaking out. The bigger picture does really matter.

EC:  There were three couples that represented different views: Jurgen and Sophie, Claudia and Klaus, Lydia, and Karl.  Please explain.

KR: Lydia and Karl were not open about their Anti-Semitism in the early days of the Nazi regime. I put in this book quote, “The Nazis didn’t make people like Lydia and Karl anti-Semitic.  They only uncovered what already existed.” They very quickly got swept up in the Nazi party agenda. Jurgen and Sophie are reasonable people who do feel guilty because they are complicit.  Claudia and Klaus did take a stand refusing to join the Nazi Party. It cost them, but they had dignity. Lydia/Karl were pure Nazis, Jurgen/Sophie were reluctant Nazis, and Claudia /Karl were not Nazis.

EC:  What about the role of Lizzie and Henry?

KR:  I wanted to write about the intersection of a small town in America with the German families living in WWII.  2019 was the end of a three-year drought in Australia.  Everything was covered in dust, wary and draining.  It was hard on people mentally who feel completely powerless.  When I looked at the timing of when all would meet in Huntsville, I decided to have these characters living through the Texas dust bowl.  They are very devoted to their families.  Lizzie has seen the War through Henry’s eyes who was a veteran.

EC: What do you want readers to get out of the book?

KR:  I was told by a reviewer: “Hate is taught, and empathy is a skill.” This is exactly what the book is about. It could happen again. My characters lived day to day and did not try to see where things were headed. Small day to day choices does matter.  It matters to speak up when things were wrong. It troubles me that the US rocket program achieved something amazing, going to the moon.  But it was built on Jewish lives. The moon landing does not happen if there was not Mittelwerk, a German labor camp. I hope people delve into the history after reading this novel.

EC:  Next book?

KR:  It is about women in the British Special Operations Executive, a secretive organization. It is set in France and Britain in the early 1940s.  Hopefully, it will be out next year. They did so many heroic feats.

THANK YOU!!

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