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Bezig met laden... Under The Iron Heeldoor Lars Moen
Geen Bezig met laden...
 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  rocketjk | Oct 4, 2009 |  geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
UNDER THE IRON HEEL GERMAN SOLDIERS CHANGING STREET SIGNS IN A CONQUERED CITY Photo from Dever - Black Star UNDER THE IRON HElL BY LARS MOEN WITH 18 ILLUSTRATIONS J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PHILADELPHIA NEW YORK Foreword ON OCTOBER 22, 1940, i LEFT BELGIUM, AFTER i HAD practically abandoned hope that the German military au thorities would permit my departure before the end of the war. When I was suddenly offered the alternative, on October 8, leave now or remain until the end of the war, I left. I had chosen to stay in the face of the German inva sion, but I had no wish to go on living under the occupation The invasion was quickly over but the pation bid fair to stretch out interminably, with life be coming more difficult each day as food grew less. It was only when the Germans realized the impossibility of finishing the war before winter that they consented to the departure of any foreigners. I am still astonished that permission was given, even then. We had sera too much, and it was presumably to prevent our talking about what we had seen that every obstacle was placed in the waf ol our return to our native countries an attitude which per sisted after official permission to leave had been granted. Fortunately, I believe, my passport gave no indication that I was a former newspaper man, and my treatment by the Germans was influenced by no desire to make a good impression. When the lightning invasion was followed by the gray, dreary days of the occupation, there were no re porters to tell the story of War and the Little People. This book is that story. o 5 FOREWORD l ou . will Jhrd iu h n startling expose of Belgian state secrets, r l ura gr dt deal of what the Belgian people think of King opold, of their former government and of the capitulatitfnY no sensational interview with Hitler or Goer ing, but a great deal of what the common soldier who does their fighting thinks of them and of the war no exclusive economic statistics about conditions in the occupied coun ties, but a great deal about what that situation means in terms of the daily life of the Little People. For this is their war. They did not want it, and had little to do with starting it, but they may have a great deal to do with finishing it the outcome is largely dependent on their morale and staying power. Twice within a quarter of a century their little world has been turned upside down, and they are ready for any effort, any concession, any experiment that may offer even a slight hope of putting an end to a situation grown intolerable. The Little Man, be he soldier or civilian, no longer be lieves in the old illusions, and this droll war, as the French once called it, is only understandable if that is borne in mind. I have no wish to assume the role of a prophet, but it is already abundantly clear that this war will bring widespread social and economic change, what ever its outcome the old geographic boundaries are no longer the primary issue. Since such changes must, in their very nature, affect great masses of people, I have tried as far as humanly possible to keep my own opinions out of this and sim ply to report in a straightforward way what I have seen. When the war came to Europe, on September 3, 1939, I was doing a job of scientific research in Belgium. I was anxious to complete that job, and despite warnings from FOREWORD 7 the American consulate I stayed on, hoping to finish at the beginning of June, 1940, and to return to America I hoped that Belgiums neutrality would be respected, or that if she were attacked there would be ample time to leave. When the war came to Belgium, I was living in Antwerp in a small hotel called In the Shadow of the Cathedral... Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)940.53493History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- World War II EuropeLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.5)
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Perhaps the most fascinating component of the book is that Moen wrote it immediately upon finally getting out of Belgium and returning to the U.S. It was published in early 1941, before the U.S. was brought into the war by Pearl Harbor. So this book is a look back at the early days of the war, and a look forward, conjecturing on things Moen could not know but we now do.
Moen wrote (he died in 1951) with a down-to-earth style, refreshingly devoid of dramatics. He begins by describing such mundane factors as the rationing system the Germans soon put into effect, but flavors this with descriptions of how Germany quickly began plundering Belgium's storehouses of food and goods, and the effects this was having both on Belgian life and on the attitudes of the Belgians toward the Germans.
Because Moen spoke French, Flemish and German fluently, he was able to speak with Belgians, refugees from around Europe, and German soldiers. His descriptions of the morale of the German soldiers, and his conjectures on how they might be affected by a long war, are particularly interesting, especially given that at the time he was in Belgium, the German soldiers were still expecting a quick invasion of England and a quick end to the war, something few Belgians considered likely. The chapter "What a German Soldier Thinks About" is one of the centerpieces of the book. (Can something have more than one centerpiece?) Moen's description therein of the total acceptance by these soldiers of Nazi propaganda was quite surprising to me, actually.
The other is Moen's description of what it was like living under constant night bombings (as the RAF soon began trying to destroy the shipyards and factories of Antwerp). Made particularly harrowing by Moen's levelness of tone, the chapters describing the bombing and the effects it was having on Belgians and Germans alike are compelling, to put it mildly.
Perhaps the most curious note of the book is the fact that Moen makes scant mention of the Nazi's policy towards the Jews of Europe. He says that he saw no evidence of anti-Semitism in occupied Belgium, going as far as to note that as soon as the Germans showed up, antisemitic Belgians posted Jewish stars on the windows of stores with Jewish owners, but that the Germans ordered the stars taken down. Moen says something along the lines of, "I can't explain this. I only report what I saw."
And that's the one and only reference he makes to Jews throughout the book, other than one or two passing references to Antwerp's "Jewish Quarter." Towards the end of the book, there is a long discussion of the observations and beliefs of the many refugees he's spoken with from all corners of Europe, about all sorts of topics, from conditions under German rule to their expectations and conjectures about the future, but nowhere is the Nazis' attitudes and actions toward Jews brought up here.
I'm not quite sure what to make of this, other than to guess that Moen just didn't find the topic worth mentioning or worrying about. Either that or it was too early in the war for the Nazi's Europe-wide policies to have become apparent. Somehow, though, I feel that the former is probably the case.
As I've said elsewhere, I have no idea where I found this book. It's been on my shelf for a while. No doubt I picked it up at an estate sale, flea market or thrift shop someplace. Only six LTers, including me, list it in their libraries. Amazing the education you can get from a book like this, grown underservedly obscure, which you pick up by chance somewhere on your travels.
For folks who like to read history written as events unfold, rather than in retrospect, and who have an interest in World War Two, I'd rate this book a treasure. (