by Constance Savery
This is yet another book listed as possible further reading in the Level 4 history program at Mater Amabilis™. A twelve-year-old German boy, Max Eckermann, is trapped with a boat-load of escaping youth. Shockingly, one of the first men he meets after his capture is a soldier whose younger brother Tony was kidnapped and stolen away to Germany and who instantly recognizes him as the missing brother. British airman Dym Ingleford convinces the authorities to put Max under his protection while they investigate the case.
Max is determined to escape to Germany and makes repeated attempts, but through it all Dym remains a calm and assuring presence in his life, encouraging him, forgiving him, loving him. In the end, Max must decide: Will he embrace the life that could be his?
Dym is the brother I wish I had and certainly I wish I had his patience! Soon after Max comes to live in the family's home (with his other older brother, his wife, their children, and other refugees; it's a full household), Dym gathers the cousins in his room to talk with them about Max. He recalls for them a German legend of the sword Balmung.
"It was the sword of conquest and, wherever it went, it brought woe and destruction. That's the very sword Germany's using today. She's fighting with the sword Balmung. The United Nations are using another sword, Chrysaor, the golden sword of Justice."According to Dym, Max (Tony to the family) must choose for himself whether to wield Balmung or Chrysaor and he has to make that choice when all he remembers is Germany.
"What we need to remember every minute of the time is that Tony will judge England and her cause by what he sees in this house in the next few months. What he sees outside the house will influence him too, but not so much as what he sees inside it. As far as he is concerned, we are England. He isn't very old, and you can't expect him to read deep books or listen to broadcast speeches by way of finding out for himself whether England's cause is just. He has been told that the British are greedy and treacherous, soft, selfish, and arrogant. That means that if we in this house allow ourselves to be impatient, unkind, self-righteous, he won't choose Chrysaor. How could he? And what would be the use of keeping his body a prisoner on English soil when his soul belongs to Germany. None. If he chooses Balmung, we shall have failed, utterly failed. But we must not fail."He talks with them of the little ways they can be kind and understanding to Max. He also admits to one of the older girls that England has made awful mistakes in the past as well, but he's certain they are in the right in the war.
Max is devoted to Germany, but Dym's strength and patience slowly win him over. It it his love for Dym that draws him to England, that finally convinces him to recognize the evidence that he was kidnapped as a baby.
Dym takes time to talk with Max, to walk with him, to teach him. He values Max's questions and responds thoughtfully.
"The battle is always going on, though the foe takes different shapes at different times. England and her Allies aren't just fighting the Axis countries--they're fighting the evil spirits that have laid hold of Germany and Italy and Japan. It's a far bigger fight than most people realize. Those powers are responsible for what's happening today; a hundred years ago they were responsible for what happened in the dark Satanic mills, and two thousand years ago they crucified Christ."When Max asks why God doesn't stop the war, Dym says:
"Perhaps it's because He has made us men, Max, not dolls that can't lift a finger of their own accord. But I don't really know; I'm not in the Operations Room, you see. All I do know is that the world has a Chief who was victorious when the power of darkness struck at Him with everything they had. He has the plans today. The darkness won't last forever. There's a splendor beyond."Set in England, the book doesn't focus on the worst of the war, but it doesn't gloss over danger and death. Max fears for both Dym and his family in Germany. He mourns the crime and loss of his mother. Comforting him, Dym promises to take him to visit Mutti, his mother in Germany.
"There's hate enough in the world already. You're not to blame for loving the women who stole you from your father and mother. She wronged them cruelly--but we've got to forgive. No, go on loving her, Max."Reading this book, I felt instinctively this is a book I should offer First Son for his World War II study further reading.
