Aliana Brodmann Celebrates Cross-Cultural Compassion in The Gift

In most books I’ve read that involve Hanukkah, the holiday itself is a central part of the story, but in The Gift, a semi-autobiographical picture book written by Aliana Brodmann and illustrated by Anthony Carnabuci, both Hanukkah and Christmas linger in the background of a beautiful tale about generosity and compassion.

The story takes place in Germany in the 1950s, where the narrator recalls her excitement at having received a five-mark piece as a Hanukkah gift from her father. She carries the coin with her all through school, clutching it in her fist, then spends the afternoon perusing every shop in town trying to decide what the best use of this splendid present might be.

One neat thing about this book is all of the details of the types of objects found in shops of the time. It’s fascinating to read her descriptions of the fancy fountain pens, the tiny mirrors, the elegant hats, the pull-string duck with the line of ducklings behind it. Almost every item she examines is within her price range; one can certainly understand how she becomes overwhelmed with all of the choices before her!

The oil paintings are soft and intricate. Each shop the girl visits has a distinct assortment of goods, and several of the shopkeepers stand out, treating the little girl in the bright red coat and hat and deep blue scarf with kindness as she tries to make her decision. The fact that it is Christmas means that the shops are full to bursting with tempting merchandise. It also means that it’s winter, and by the end of her excursion, gentle snowflakes will render her warm clothing absolutely essential.

This book offers an intriguing slice of life from 1950s Germany, and the youthful but artful narration draws readers in. What really leaves a lasting impression on me, though, is what the child ultimately decides to do with her money. It’s a conclusion that recalls the exquisite Kate DiCamillo book Great Joy as the narrator’s kind heart compels her to make a surprising choice that nonetheless causes her to bubble over with happiness.

The peaceful rapport between the narrator and the many Christians she meets adds to the serene feel of the book; Brodmann’s parents survived the Holocaust, so there’s something especially poignant about seeing this childhood memory that conveys such a sense of mutual respect. A lovely book alight with the glow of compassion, The Gift is aptly titled.

Tom Cruise Helps Introduce a German Hero to a Wider Audience in Valkyrie

A couple of weeks ago, I watched the Quentin Tarantino movie that I have come to refer to as Inglourious Fellows. That movie strays far from reality, turning World War II into the setting for a spaghetti western in which the heroes always have the upper hand on the villains - though some of their methods are just as despicable. I guess I hadn’t had quite enough of Nazis for one month because the other night, I watched Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie, a considerably more sedate film about a group working to bring down Hitler.

Valkyrie, which is based on a true story, stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus van Stauffenberg, a German war hero who is disgusted with Nazism and leads a plot to kill Hitler (David Bamber) and show the world that not all of Germany is in agreement with his policies. Kenneth Branagh portrays Major-General Henning von Tresckow, another important architect of the plan, though his chief concern seems to be making Germany look good, and actually succeeding in their mission seems like less of a likelihood to him, at least initially. Putting together an assassination attempt and subsequent government takeover is a complex task, but they manage to find allies in their quest, some more firm than others. One of the most wishy-washy is General Friedrich Fromm (Tom Wilkinson), who is terrified that the plot will fail and he will be found complicit.

Of course, because this is a movie based on actual events, we know that the plot will fail, which puts a bit of a damper on the whole thing. I had never heard of this event before, so I didn’t know exactly what would go wrong, but I knew something would, since clearly, this was not the way Hitler died. I figured the movie would be a downer, and it certainly is; the ending is especially bleak. What’s more, I found it a bit on the dull side, at least in the beginning; once the fateful day arrives, there was enough action and tension to keep me engaged, but prior to that, it’s mostly a lot of nervous strategizing.

There’s little humor to be found in the movie, though there is a dash of romance, thanks to Claus’s wife Nina (Carice van Houten), who remains deeply devoted and openly affectionate to her husband, unrattled by the war injury that leaves him missing an eye, a hand and several fingers. I like Claus, who comes across as a quiet, pensive family man as well as a determined soldier; he’s not as entertaining as Brad Pitt’s Nazi-killing vigilante in Tarantino’s movie, but he’s not as cruel either. He also feels much more realistic. On the other hand, I had an issue with Cruise’s enunciation throughout the movie. I was tempted to turn on the subtitles because it seemed to me like he was mumbling the whole time.

I know the problem wasn’t his accent because he didn’t have one, which I found a little hard to get used to; all of the characters in the movie are German, but Bamber is the only one who switches to a German accent, since the filmmakers felt an English Hitler would be too distracting. Everyone else uses their natural accents, so some sound German, but others sound American or British, and I had to keep reminding myself that they were all German.

Valkyrie is the kind of movie I can imagine being shown in history classes. It illuminates an interesting piece of German history with which I was unfamiliar, and it seems worthwhile to show that there were plenty of Germans who weren’t under Hitler’s spell. While it didn’t hold my attention as well as it might have, I would recommend it to anyone fascinated by World War II.