Proclaimed by many readers as the most dramatic volume in this trilogy, Book III tells of how World War II was experienced - by Russian-Germans supporting the war, and by American Germans opposing the war.
Paperback. 576 pages.
"Lebensraum!" - Book III
(reviewed by the Reverend Mock)
Book III of the Lebensraum trilogy, "The Dream of Land and Peace", provides us at the onset with a testament to the fortitude and nobility of the Aryan soul. In the wake of the bloody Bolshevik Revolution, Russia is beset with chaos and violence, exacerbated by a state sponsored campaign of terror intended to enforce the collective agenda.
At Apanlee, on the Ukrainian steppes, fields once lush with grain now lay virtually barren. Hein's bastard son, Dominik, has been sent by the Communist Party to administer the estate as a state-run collective farm, as its rightful heirs are summarily dispossessed. Marleen and her remaining children - those who've survived the slaughter - are relegated to the hovels of the peasants. Still they do not, and will not, relinquish their dignity.
Dominik soon realizes the state-imposed quotas are impossible to meet by force, and begrudgingly takes steps toward establishing cooperation. The twins, Yuri an Sasha, could help: they know the land, the seasons, the community. But they will not. Marleen could help, certainly, and with little more than a nod. But when Dominik peers into the aging blue eyes of the now white-haired matriarch, he sees only her scorn. Hers is a defiance firmly grounded in the faith of her fathers.
As Russia under Joseph Stalin strives to implement and come to grips with collectivism, a far different and diametrically opposed phenomenon is occurring to the west in Europe. In 1933 Adolf Hitler takes control of the German Reich, and National Socialism offers the German people a new lease on life. Wrapped in rolling thunder and rich with the essence of the ages, the words of the Führer captivate the hearts and minds of the masses. National Socialism is the will of the racially aware Aryan in action; a quest for ethical excellence as a means of ensuring the ongoing advancement of the Folk. Germany begins to prosper - economically, militarily and, above all, morally. The red, white and black swastika banner becomes the rallying point for millions - among them, a young man from Apanlee.
After a time of surviving in the streets, the boy child, Jonathan - who had wandered away in shock on that bloody night when Apanlee fell to the defilers - eventually makes his way to Germany, where he is taken in by a kindly hausfrau. Heidi is a paragon of virtue - a staunch disciple of the Führer. With equal measures of discipline and lovingkindness, Jonathan is inspired to persevere. He attends school, applies himself, and excels with the Hitler Youth. In time, Jonathan will return to Apanlee, his ancestral home - this time not as a frightened child but as an avenging angel with SS epaulets.
In America the seeds of liberalism are steadily being sown, and the cousins in Kansas have their own perspective on events unfolding in Europe. The New York Times paints Hitler as a madman, and it has even become fashionable in some circles to speak glowingly of the Soviet experiment. The arguments are simple: Marxism promises the greatest happiness for the greatest number - from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. That a system of forced collectivism might actually tend to discourage personal productivity, devalue ambition and innovation, and debase traditional morality, is something that had apparently not occurred to the Communist ideologues.
In any event, with America once more poised for prosperity, most folks in Mennotown don't much care when the Second World War breaks out in Europe. Archibald, though incensed, continues to preach the gospel, while deftly dodging Little Melly's best efforts to marry him off. Throwing caution and, perhaps, good sense to the wind, Doctorjay marries a Donoghue, and Josie's cherished son, Rarey, becomes a man. The war is a long ways away and memories short. As the Jews diligently dispense to the Mennotown folks their opinions, the German-descendent farmers, bit by precious bit, relinquish the lion's share of their ethnic identity.
Francis Parker Yockey has written about what he calls the Relativity of History. Still others believe history to be little more than a myth, continually refined and perpetuated by those in power. There are questions that remain concerning America's entry into World War II, and absolutes become elusive in the struggle for the oft contested moral high ground. Nonetheless, of one thing we are sure: when the Führer's army arrived at the gates of Apanlee, they were met not as villains but welcomed as conquering heroes. Dominik and those of his ilk were nowhere to be found; they had fled for their lives before the Blitzkrieg. Swastika banner flew; solstice fires flared; and a young girl fell in love.
But alas, it was all to be short-lived. America's entry into the war turned the tides against Germany, and soon the Führer's troops were forced back toward the Fatherland. As they made their retreat, so too, there formed a seemingly endless caravan of civilian refugees, fleeing the Red Terror. They watched, day by day, as American aircraft passed overhead delivering death on behalf of the Beast.
This was truly a trek of tragedy; in untold numbers, both young and old trudged across the frozen land, mile after endless mile, battling hunger, sickness, and despair. Unable to continue, multitudes died as they fell.
Ingrid Rimland points out, quite appropriately, that there exists no memorial for these hapless victims of hatred - no museums or wailing walls, nothing. But in fact Lebensraum! in itself is a memorial; it is one part of a growing literary tribute to the unsung victims of the New World Order.
In the end, however, let us not forget that Lebensraum! is ultimately Erika's tale. In the vast scope of this epic historical novel we see the war from all angles; none perhaps more touching - or more relevant - than through the eyes of a young school girl seeking desperately to come to terms with her own cowardice and, most of all, to simply understand why. As she struggles within herself to make sense of the machinations of The Beast, she finds herself at a storm center of events, none of which are pleasant, and all of which will play a part in determining her own destiny.
Some stories should be told; some books really should be written, and some simply must. Lebensraum! is certainly among the latter. This ethnic saga is laced with delightfully bizarre and yet bitter ironies, strongly reminiscent of the greatest of the Greek tragedies: two brothers vying for the love of a freckle-faced girl, and a daring and desperate bid for freedom that goes drastically awry. Two young warriers wed, at opposite ends of the world, then march off to fight in the Bruderkrieg - brother killing brother, to the profit of another, both all the while knowing they're right. Rarey is destined to die, never knowing his only son; never knowing, too, the name of the frightened young girl in the Hitler uniform who, in an act of utter defiance, from a rooftop high above a burned-out Berlin, shoots him from the sky.
It is perplexing and troubling that, in an age and society so utterly obsessed with rehashing and coming to terms with our past, still so much remains hidden. In order to ever bring history into a proper perspective, we need more works of the caliber of Lebensraum! - and more authors with the talent of Ingrid Rimland.
