Surviving Hitler: The Unlikely True Story of an SS Soldier and a Jewish Woman by O. Hakan Palm

Surviving Hitler: The Unlikely True Story of an SS Soldier and a Jewish Woman by O. Hakan Palm
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an astonishing story of two people who were both deeply impacted by Hitler's Third Reich but from very different perspectives written by one of the sons of the couple. The book begins at a church regional conference where Thomas S. Monson announces to the congregation two very important things about Gustav Palm, a humble, respected local leader. Gustav served in Hitler's army during WWII. Gustav was and is a good, moral man. Until that moment, Brother Gustav Palm had kept this part of his story a secret. With the blessing of President Monson, Brother Palm finally allowed the shame of his past to be known and embraced the truth. He is and was a good man.

Gustav joined the Nazi party at a young age, blinded by the hopeful future it promised. He was in a different country at the time but quickly conscripted for duty. He went through a brutal training that cured him of his ideologies regarding Nazism. Unfortunately, it was too late and he was pulled along in the wave of war, primarily on the Eastern Front.

Agnes was a baptized Roman Catholic young woman of Hungarian Jewish ancestry. Obviously, Agnes' experiences were that of a Jewish Hungarian even though she was Christian. She survived the cattle cars, the concentration camps, and woman without a home after the war. She is clearly the more outgoing of the two. She chooses optimism daily. She reports her experiences to her son but seems to want to celebrate more of the goodness of individuals rather than the horrific details.

Their love story is a sweet one that overcomes all biases and prejudice. Their children include some of their observations how the war impacted their parents. It is an intriguing and uplifting book.