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Eva's Cousin

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Eva's Cousin" is a work of fiction. Sibylle Knauss had always been interested in matters of German history and how they could be transformed into literature. Before beginning her novel, the author, had the opportunity to interview Gertrude Weisker, Eva Braun's real cousin and the model for her central character, Marlene. Eva Braun had indeed invited Ms. Weisker, 20 years-old at the time, to stay with her at Berchtesgaden in the spring of 1944, a year before WWII would end with Germany's unconditional surrender to Allied Forces, her cities, country and people laid waste. Hitler was away in east Prussia, waging war, and Eva was lonely - she needed to be amused. Although based on fact, many of the folks who people these pages are fictional, as are their stories. Essentially, however, Ms. Knauss captures the true characters of Eva, her cousin, and those who surrounded them, as well as the very ambiance of the Berghof itself, and the period, which represent, as Hannah Arendt worded it, "the banality of evil."

This is beautifully written, nuanced fiction, not an action-packed thriller, but I was riveted to the page even so. More dramatic and disturbing than the image of Nero fiddling while Rome burned, is one of the New Year Eve Ball, (1944-45), at the Platerhof Hotel in Obersalzberg, near Adolph Hitler's Bavarian mountain retreat. It was not a party for ascetics. Featured on the menu were: goose liver pate, larded saddle of venison, eels in aspic, Parma ham and overflowing bottles of champagne - all one could drink, and more. However, the hungry were not to be fed at this feast. The hungry and starving were in Auschwitz and Dachau. They were slave laborers in German factories. They were women and children throughout Europe. They were soldiers at the front. On this same New Year's Eve, the nearby Bavarian capital of Munich was in ruins. The revelers partied as if there were no tomorrow, and for many of them the tomorrows would be few. They welcomed in the new year, "the year of their downfall, rejoicing." Throughout the novel the luxurious lives of the politically and "genetically privileged" are juxtaposed with the unspoken - with those of the people of Europe, the rest of the world, in fact, the German citizens who were being bombed to smithereens 24/7. Were these human beings? Very much so, our author tells us.

This is the story of two young women who were fortunate enough to spend almost a year together at one of the world's most beautiful places, the Bavarian Alps. Yes, they were seemingly fortunate until one realizes that their host was Adolph Hitler. Evil rubs off, if in no other way than by selective blindness to the horrors which the man and his machine perpetrated on a daily basis. These women listened to the BBC. They were not ignorant. They lived right above a slave labor camp. They saw. Evil is being a sycophant to evil doers. Evil is luxuriating in the spoils of a heinous war. Evil is accepting the dehumanization of human beings, and ignoring the merciless slaughter of same.

Marlene, just twenty, was naive and worshipped her older, more glamorous cousin Eva, Hitler's long time mistress. Eva, a superficial woman, not overly bright, was addicted to shopping, pretty clothes and jewelry. She was, herself, an ornament. One of the few instructions she left before she committed suicide was that her papers, the ones with shopping lists, unpaid bills, and receipts, be burned. She did not want to go down in history as a shopaholic - "the only sin she was aware of committing." Ms. Braun was virtually unknown to Germans outside Hitler's inner circle, and had little personal worth other than that of being linked to the Fuhrer. Mistresses did not command much respect in this male dominated, macho society. Still the two played, girl-like, giggling, at sports, skinny dipping in a gorgeous mountain lake, riding, and hiking. Outside the world had become Hell incarnate - "inside frocks were being made amongst the ruins." There is even a love story here, of sorts. A powerful SS officer, much older than Marlene, fell in love with her. For a moment, one could almost forget the "SS" part, when he whispered tender words of love to her. However, when she asked her romantic knight about the terrible conditions of the starving laborers, he tells her abruptly that the slaves are not human beings like the German people. They do not feel and suffer as Germans do, and they are lazy and must be dealt with harshly. Forget? How can one forget?

Ms. Knauss said in an interview about the four women, both her fictional protagonists and the real-life Eva and Gertrude, "They are examples of people who were very close to the center of Nazism, but somehow they were also very far from it. They didn't think about anything political, about political crimes or war, they just lived their little everyday lives at the Berghof." She also makes the point that when she wrote the novel, Gertrude Weisker's story was not the point. She wanted to write about what it felt like to be a young woman at that time, with such close proximity to the Fuhrer and his private world. What would be the consequences, on one's character, on one's very soul, of this proximity? This is a most powerful novel - in its content, writing style and the excellent translation. "Eva's Cousin" is an eye-opener!
JANA

This book was a pleasure to read. The language was masterfully crafted, a real tribute to both the author and the translator. The seduction of power in its many forms is considered by the protagonist who recognizes how those around her come under its sway but who, only in retrospect, sees its impact directly on her. As she progresses through the novel, she causes the reader to consider the essence of guilt and of shame and how they are tied together. In today's political climate, it is interesting to reflect on what the German populace knew during the World War II era and Knauss makes us reflect on that society's and our own society's responsibility for allowing cruel, totalitarian leaders to continue in power.

Three months after completing this book in our bookclub, we still find ourselves returning to this book as a point of departure for discussing our other readings.

I had to laugh when I read a couple of the reviews for this book, especially the one from the "top reviewer," who announced that the book was written by Eva Braun's cousin. And the other reader who felt cheated, not knowing what was true and what wasn't. It's very clear that this book is a NOVEL that was written by a German novelist -- and a very good one -- who happened to have met a cousin of Braun who had some of the experiences fictionalized in this book. It's a novel, folks -- so why are you searching for what was true and what wasn't? And pardon me to the so-called "top reviewer," but I never got the sense that I was expected to feel sorry for Eva, when clearly her own cousin (in the novel) was so conflicted about her herself. From almost the first page the author expresses her contempt for Eva. Marlene is a fascinating character, and we see the banality of evil through her eyes.

What a wonderful translation by Anthea Bell. Too often I am oblivious to the "greatness" of European literature because the translations are stilted and self-conscious. Not so here -- the flow of the narrative is seamless.

I'm disappointed that none of this author's other novels have been translated into English. But we're lucky to have this one. Don't let the negative reviews from people who clearly can't figure out what they're reading when they're reading it stop you from picking it up.

"Eva's Cousin" was my first experience reading a fictionalized German account of the events of World War II. The story is heavily character-driven, with a limited storyline. What stood out, for me, were the scenes in which an adult Marlene copes with her own feelings of fear and culpability that seem to arise from innocuous things. Being caught in the fog in one instance brought back a torrent of feelings for the adult Marlene, taking her back over 50 years to the time she spent as Eva Braun's guest and her own feelings as she observed the Nazi elite ignore what was really happening with the war.

This work has inspired me to look into additional German literature of this genre. "Eva's Cousin" is an introspective work, and I found it very effective despite some of the more contrived aspects of the plot. (Did Marlene really hide an escaped prisoner in the tea house?)

Like many others, I've always been fascinated by the story of Eva Braun, but (maybe because I'm Jewish) was also afraid to really take a good look. It's part of a horrifying story for a Jew, but I was drawn to this book specifically because it purported to be a "fictionalized" version of a (probably mostly) true story. That kind of made it more neutral for me. What I didn't expect was to come away with some sympathy for Eva; the author revealed aspects of her life with Hitler that show her to be something of a victim and a prisoner herself. After all, once involved with this monster, she was not able to be free; she couldn't even leave her home alone, ever - she was always under guard. And the author also brings up the fact that Hitler wouldn't marry her publicly...she was always described as his "friend" or his "secretary." In that time, in Europe, it was something of a disgrace to be a mistress, with no hope of marrying the man who had ruined your reputation. So that Eva was placed in a humiliating position. In other words, this is as much a feminist novel as one about an evil society (which it also is; very, very subtly elaborated as the story unfolds). Another surprise was to find that I identified with Eva in some respects. For example, the author describes her as a "fashion addict," a shopaholic; all she ever thought about was what she would wear next. And Eva would often change her clothing several times a day. This vanity - this character defect of placing appearances above other values - is found among women everywhere, trained to use appearance to compete for men's attentions. Eva is depicted as shallow and uninterested in anything other than being Hitler's lap dog. This made her an object of scorn in the novel - but also a forgiveable, if weak, type of woman common to every culture. I found myself unable to put the book down, and I admired the writing, which was, as one reviewer said, perfectly "creepy" - as if the storyteller were whispering a horror tale. There are many insights about the times, the protagonists, including Hitler, Eva and Hitler's stooges. As another reviewer has mentioned, one thinks about this book long after putting it down.

I guess this is is proof that one can experience history without having an original though in one's head. Perhaps its the historical fiction aspect of this novel, but "Eva's Cousin" is so much an observer in her own life, I began not to care very much what happened to her and those around her. Perhaps if she had been closer to the center of power, the dispassionate nature would have worked in a fly on the wall sort of way, but given that she never met Hitler and was on the periphery, late in WWII, of the Nazi circle. I understand the account is fictionalized, though its hard to see what aspects of it were so exciting as to have to have been invented.

Unfortunately, this novel drags along in the opening chapters. The reader becomes as bored as Marlene, Eva Braun's cousin, who visits Eva in Hitler's mountain retreat. Though the title offers promise as a glimpse of Hitler through the eyes of his lover, the story focuses on the day-to-day life of his mistress and nothing more. While other Germans suffer miserably, it is hard to identify with the spoiled Eva and her small circle of companions.

However, the story finally becomes interesting when Marlene supposedly hides a young boy who has escaped from a work camp. She becomes involved with a German officer who complicates her life. Marlene begins to learn the truth about the war by listening to an illegal radio that is eventually seized. These are the only interesting events in the entire novel.

As a reader I resented not knowing what was true and what the author fabricated. I would have preferred the truth.

This book is a novel written by a cousin of Eva Braun, who never met Eva until 1944. She spent a few weeks at her side, but admits in interviews that she never met Adolf Hitler, nor did she ever speak to him. Even more insulting to the reader is that Eva never spoke about Hitler to her cousin. The reader is then forced to ask, "What is the point of this book?"

The answer is... nothing. Being a blood relative of Eva Braun doesn't entitle one to write a book which contains nothing whatsoever of interest, either historically or emotionally. The content is desultory and devoid any new nuggets on Hitler. Though it's written with reasonable skill, the end result is boredom for the reader. Had the author not been related to Eva Braun it would never have found a publisher, and that would have been the most pleasant outcome of all.