Obsolete Honor: A Story of the German Resistance to Hitler by Helena P. Schrader Search Amazon for other books by or about Helena P. Schrader. Rating: Reviewed by: Maurice Williams

Obsolete Honor is a historical fiction novel about German resistance against the Nazis and the attempt to assassinate Hitler to end Nazi rule. Helena Schrader, an expert on the Nazi era, researched her subject for thirty years, interviewing many survivors of Nazi Germany. Her theme is an authentic story of Valkyrie, an operation approved by Hitler to quell any uprising against him, but used by military men opposed to Nazi rule to seize control of government at the most opportune moment.

Schrader fleshes out her book with fictional characters: Philip von Feldberg, a German General Staff Officer; Alexandra von Mollwitz, the woman he fell in love with; other members of his and her families; and two young French women in occupied France. For a historian, Schrader is a very accomplished novelist. Her expert characterization of the dozen or more characters makes her book a real page turner. Some of her characters are real historical persons. Most of the conversations about Nazism, even when attributed to fictional persons, are based on the interviews Schrader gathered from survivors during preparation of her book.

Intriguing to me is Schrader's account of how the Nazis systematically marginalized Christian influence in Germany, proscribing certain Churches, even suppressing their youth organizations, and fostering a German Church that favored the Nazi government. Her book is an interesting account of how ordinary people tried to cope with an impossible situation, and, perhaps, a warning how easily similar things could happen to any nation that rejects its spiritual roots.

Schrader begins her book listing the cast of characters, which was very helpful in remembering which character is which as one reads the book and how the characters relate to each other. The story starts on Christmas 1938 and ends when the assassination fails on July 20, 1944. The last chapter relates how Hitler punished every person the Nazis felt were even remotely involved in the plot. Then follows a listing of how the characters, both historical and fictional, fared after the war.

Helena Schrader's Obsolete Honor is a first class, very readable historical novel about a sad episode in Western History that needs to be viewed more analytically. Reading this book will not only inform you of things that really happened in Nazi Germany, you will become absorbed into the very-well-written lives of the fictionalized characters.