Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray(45)
But there’s someone he can ask.
He opens his school email.
Hi Ms. Diaz,
I have sort of a weird question related to a research project I’m doing. Do you know anything about a Nazi program during WW2 called Nacht und Nebel and whether there’s any relationship between that and a town called Kleinwald in northern Germany?
Thanks,
Miles
Hi Miles,
I’m happy to hear you are doing an independent research study that actually dovetails with our unit.
Nacht und Nebel was a terror program used by the SS to target resistance fighters and political activists, anyone considered to be “endangering German security.” Those who disappeared were called Vernebelt, which means “transformed into mist.” There are no records of the names of the disappeared, no record of their graves. It was heartbreaking. Their families would never know what happened to them. That was a huge part of the Nazis’ objective, because this uncertainty struck terror into anyone else who might rebel. These were absolutely war crimes.
As for Kleinwald, I honestly don’t know. It’s certainly possible. Have you reached out to KT or Daniel? The school’s library has excellent resources and they’d be more than happy to help you!
Can I ask what got you interested in this subject? Perhaps you’d be willing to share with the class at some point? It would be great to hear from you more.
Sincerely,
Diana Diaz
Miles would rather have a root canal than share any of this with the class. Just thinking about it makes his anxiety spike.
Thanks so much, Ms. Diaz. I’m looking into a missing persons mystery in Germany from WW2 with a friend. It might have nothing to do with this. But it came up during my search and I was curious about it, so I thought I’d ask. Also, I’m sorry if talking about this subject brings up hard stuff for you.
Thanks,
Miles
Hi Miles,
Curiosity for the win! As for things seeming unrelated, I wouldn’t be so sure. That’s how research works, you know. You discover that events in history are interconnected. For example, if you want to study the Berlin Wall, you have to understand the events that led up to its building, which means understanding postwar Germany and the Soviet Union, which means understanding what happened during WWII, which means understanding what led up to WWII, which means exploring the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 and the roots of empire and imperialism, etc. Nothing ever happens in a vacuum. No incident is isolated. The past is with us always. This is the lesson of history and why it is important not to forget. We are always in a conversation with history.
And you did not upset me but thank you for your thoughtfulness. Making sure that history like this is not lost is a way of honoring my uncle, I like to think. ?
Keep me posted on your progress! Don’t forget to consult multiple sources and to double-check where your information is coming from to be sure it’s a credible source. Remember your SHEG lateral reading practices. Trace the authors/topics to their sources and for verification, run it through fact-checking websites like Snopes.com and PolitiFact. Sources with .gov and .edu in the header are best. Good luck!
Regards,
Diana Diaz
The world might be falling apart but Ms. Diaz is still teaching history and that may be enough normalcy to get Miles through today.
* * *
Ms. Diaz is right about the interconnectedness of history. Miles starts with Nacht und Nebel. Before long, he’s reading about the incremental, desensitizing way the Third Reich made the unthinkable not just possible but acceptable to so many. How the Reichstag Fire in 1933 was used to justify seizing power. The inciting of fear. The Gestapo being given full rein to operate above the law. The creation of a national “enemy” by demonizing Jewish and Roma people, those with disabilities, and anyone queer. Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” which destroyed Jewish homes and businesses. The stripping of rights. The wearing of the yellow star. The deportations. The camps. All of it done so quickly and with such efficiency that it was numbing.
One link leads him to a Holocaust guide for teachers on the Einsatzgruppen, or “mobile killing squads” who followed the army into Poland and the Soviet Union. A photograph shows a Polish Jewish man sitting on the edge of a pit, a soldier standing behind him. The doomed man’s dark eyes haunt Miles; he knows his fate. But the blank stare of the soldier holding the gun also haunts Miles. What is he thinking in those moments before he fires? How can he simply carry out the execution as if it were nothing? Did not one of the soldiers watching this mass murder question the orders they were given? How did ordinary people allow these atrocities to happen? No. That isn’t the right question. How did ordinary people allow themselves to commit these atrocities?
A memory surfaces. January 2017. Miles was a freshman. Kids from various high schools organized a sit-in at the airports to protest the president’s travel ban. Chloe and Mormor were going. Chloe had asked Miles to go with her. “We can take the AirTrain to JFK. I made signs.” It was a Saturday night and bitterly cold. The trek to the airport would take a solid hour and a half each way. Miles had wanted to play a Borderlands DLC with Danny. “Sorry, I’m not feeling great,” he’d lied. He told himself that other people were taking care of it, people like Chloe and Mormor who were better at that sort of thing. The truth is, he’d had a choice and he’d chosen comfort.