Address Unknown |
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27 December 2023
Katherine Kressman Taylor's Address Unknown is billed as a classic that clued in the American populace to the dangers of the Nazis in the 1930's. Kurt Vonnegut says it's to WWII what Uncle Tom's Cabin was to the Civil War. I found it to be a disturbing book not because of the Nazis, but because of the way the friends Max and Martin treat eachother. Maybe I'm desensitized to how awful the Nazis were, but they clearly succeeded in destroying the two mens' friendship. Max and Martin are Germans who built a successful business together in the US and then Martin returned to Germany to raise his children there. The book takes the form of a series of letters between them. Martin becomes enamoured with the success of the Germany under the Nazis and insulting to his friend, who happens to be Jewish. Max is confused by his behavior and asks for help protecting his sister, an actress who disappears when it's discovered she's Jewish. Martin ignores Max and then sends a letter telling Max that his sister was killed by stormtroopers on his front lawn when he refused to help her. Max then darkly seeks revenge by sending letters that look to be coded messages since he knows the Nazis are reading Martin's mail. Martin loses everything and we are left with a final returned letter from Max stamped "Adressat unbekannt", the assumption being he's probably been shipped off to a concentration camp. Martin's behavior is the sort of warped self-preservation that people are forced into in totalitarian societies, but Max's revenge is just reprehensible.
