Like Letters from Iwo Jima, but in book form
December 2, 2011 5:07 PM Subscribe
Are there any books/movies/tales about heroism from the losing sides of WWII?
After reading about tales of American heroism in WWII I was struck by how many accounts breathlessly describe how many Japanese soldiers one man or unit killed in a battle, and couldn't imagine seeing the reverse. Am I wrong? Are there such tales out there, or do they just not make it to the American market?
After reading about tales of American heroism in WWII I was struck by how many accounts breathlessly describe how many Japanese soldiers one man or unit killed in a battle, and couldn't imagine seeing the reverse. Am I wrong? Are there such tales out there, or do they just not make it to the American market?
It could be viewed as either tenacity or stupidity but the story of Hiroo Onoda is fascinating. He got a hero's welcome when he made it back to Japan, if that counts.
posted by wackybrit at 5:25 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by wackybrit at 5:25 PM on December 2, 2011
Valkyrie? not sure if that's what you're after.
also, wasn't the film at the premiere in Inglorious Basterds based on an actual propaganda film/historical event? that sounds more like what you're after.
posted by mannequito at 5:25 PM on December 2, 2011
also, wasn't the film at the premiere in Inglorious Basterds based on an actual propaganda film/historical event? that sounds more like what you're after.
posted by mannequito at 5:25 PM on December 2, 2011
I haven't read the book, but Empire of the Sun somewhat sympathetically depicts Japanese kamikaze fighters during WWII, but it's from the perspective of a young British boy living in China.
posted by Diagonalize at 5:32 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by Diagonalize at 5:32 PM on December 2, 2011
Well, not about heroism in a boastful body count kind of way, but still about heroism - Das Boot comes to mind, either the book or the movie, and Letters From Iwo Jima. Also, The Forgotten Soldier.
posted by gudrun at 5:33 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by gudrun at 5:33 PM on December 2, 2011
There's some interesting stuff about the sinking of the Laconia. The BBC adaptation I watched certainly showed an heroic and sympathetic side to the German U-Boat sailors involved.
posted by merocet at 5:40 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by merocet at 5:40 PM on December 2, 2011
Ordinary Men tells of how draftees who were unfit to fight on the front lines carried out the holocaust. There is little in the way of heroism (though some is in there) but it is a chilling account of how any one of us could become a killer.
I Will Bear Witness is the diary of a Jewish man who was spared much of the Nazi persecution because he was married to a non-Jewish woman. In it are hundreds of little moments of heroism.
It is not the blood and glory stuff it sounds like you are looking for. It is far more mundane but I personally find it more powerful.
posted by munchingzombie at 5:42 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I Will Bear Witness is the diary of a Jewish man who was spared much of the Nazi persecution because he was married to a non-Jewish woman. In it are hundreds of little moments of heroism.
It is not the blood and glory stuff it sounds like you are looking for. It is far more mundane but I personally find it more powerful.
posted by munchingzombie at 5:42 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who helped thousands of Jews escape from Poland and Lithuania.
posted by brujita at 6:37 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by brujita at 6:37 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Triumph of the Will" was an award-winning documentary ... about the Nuremberg Rallies of Nazi Germany. Propaganda, though. Not heroism, per se.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:00 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:00 PM on December 2, 2011
Similar to merocet's story, I've always found this story about U-123 pretty fascinating. I hope it's true.
posted by hawkeye at 7:48 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by hawkeye at 7:48 PM on December 2, 2011
I'm not sure if brujita just meant to call attention to Chiune Sugihara's story or to a specific piece of media, but there's an Oscar-winning short film about him called Visas and Virtue. This is definitely more in line with the Schindler's List depiction of losing-side heroism than battlefield glory.
posted by Diagonalize at 8:04 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by Diagonalize at 8:04 PM on December 2, 2011
Die Brucke. (That's a link to the movie. It was a book first, though.)
It's not quite what you're looking for. The young German soldiers aren't treated as Nazi heroes, but as additional victims of the Nazi regime and war in general; they're cannon fodder, basically.
But there is a certain heroism in that. It's kind of how Vietnam vets came to be revered in the US, even among people who opposed the war with every ounce of their being.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:23 PM on December 2, 2011
It's not quite what you're looking for. The young German soldiers aren't treated as Nazi heroes, but as additional victims of the Nazi regime and war in general; they're cannon fodder, basically.
But there is a certain heroism in that. It's kind of how Vietnam vets came to be revered in the US, even among people who opposed the war with every ounce of their being.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:23 PM on December 2, 2011
My German friend's grandfather tells the story of a friend of his who he fought with in WWII, who crawled out into the line of fire to rescue two injured friends, and carried them both back to safety, getting wounded himself just as he made it back. He absolutely admits that the Nazis were wrong and the holocaust was a tragedy, and is ashamed of his role fighting in their army, but he still tells this story with a great deal of pride for his friend, because really, it is an act of heroism that has nothing to do with the ideology that they were fighting for.
posted by lollusc at 10:04 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by lollusc at 10:04 PM on December 2, 2011
There's also a film about Sugihara called Conspiracy of Kindness, which was shown on PBS at one point.
posted by wintersweet at 10:06 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by wintersweet at 10:06 PM on December 2, 2011
The filmmakers were at the screening of Conspiracy of Kindness I attended and
SPOILER
told me that the nursing scene at the end of Visas and Virtue was fictional and that Mrs. Sugihara was rather appalled to see it.
posted by brujita at 11:32 PM on December 2, 2011
SPOILER
told me that the nursing scene at the end of Visas and Virtue was fictional and that Mrs. Sugihara was rather appalled to see it.
posted by brujita at 11:32 PM on December 2, 2011
John Rabe was a German businessman in China and a naive Nazi party representative. He saved the lives of over 200,000 Chinese civilians during the Nanking Massacre.
He was ordered back to Germany, demoted and silenced by the Gestapo, then punished for being a Nazi by the post-war authorities, almost starving to death.
He wasn't a soldier, but he stood up to angry soldiers during a massacre.
posted by BinaryApe at 2:21 AM on December 3, 2011
He was ordered back to Germany, demoted and silenced by the Gestapo, then punished for being a Nazi by the post-war authorities, almost starving to death.
He wasn't a soldier, but he stood up to angry soldiers during a massacre.
posted by BinaryApe at 2:21 AM on December 3, 2011
(I should have said that there are quite a few books and films about John Rabe, but he's still not well known in English speaking countries)
posted by BinaryApe at 2:33 AM on December 3, 2011
posted by BinaryApe at 2:33 AM on December 3, 2011
The movie version of The Enemy Below, is about a duel between an American destroyer and a U-boat captain. The U-boat caption is treated sympathetically and portrayed as quite heroic (the movie has a bit of a "war is hell" anti-war theme going on.)
You also might check out the book Kamikaze Diaries, by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney.
posted by gudrun at 6:40 AM on December 3, 2011
You also might check out the book Kamikaze Diaries, by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney.
posted by gudrun at 6:40 AM on December 3, 2011
The German film Die Brucke is a tale of conscripted German schoolboys heroicially defending a bridge. It's a fine film, highly recommended. Apparently based on real events.
posted by Infinite Jest at 6:46 AM on December 3, 2011
posted by Infinite Jest at 6:46 AM on December 3, 2011
Eugenio Corti wrote from the Italian perspective in The Red Horse. It's a novel, but he was there, so, take it as you like.
ALso, previously, consider the life of Amadeo Guillet.
Simo Häyhä is a hero to the Finns, and rightly so.
posted by IndigoJones at 7:39 AM on December 3, 2011
ALso, previously, consider the life of Amadeo Guillet.
Simo Häyhä is a hero to the Finns, and rightly so.
posted by IndigoJones at 7:39 AM on December 3, 2011
Actually, just google novels ww2 german, novels ww2 italian, memoirs ww2 german, memoirs ww2 italian and you should come up with a good number of possibilities.
posted by IndigoJones at 7:46 AM on December 3, 2011
posted by IndigoJones at 7:46 AM on December 3, 2011
The author of All Quiet On the Western Front wrote a book about Germans in WW2 on their Eastern Front and at home called A Time to Love and a Time to Die.
Not as good as All Quiet, but incredibly underrated (I have no idea about the movie that you will find if you google the title).
posted by barnacles at 9:40 AM on December 3, 2011
Not as good as All Quiet, but incredibly underrated (I have no idea about the movie that you will find if you google the title).
posted by barnacles at 9:40 AM on December 3, 2011
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posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:25 PM on December 2, 2011