The Bohemians : the lovers who led Germany's resistance against the Nazis

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Title:

The Bohemians : the lovers who led Germany's resistance against the Nazis

Author:

Ohler, Norman, author.

Mohr, Tim, translator.

Yarbrough, Marshall, translator.

Summary:

Summertime, 1935. On a lake near Berlin, a young man is out sailing when he glimpses a woman reclining in the prow of a passing boat. Their eyes meet—and one of history’s greatest conspiracies is born. Harro Schulze-Boysen already had shed blood in the fight against Nazism by the time he and Libertas Haas-Heye began their whirlwind romance. She joined the cause, and soon the two lovers were leading a network of antifascist fighters that stretched across Berlin’s bohemian underworld. Harro himself infiltrated German intelligence and began funneling Nazi battle plans to the Allies, including the details of Hitler’s surprise attack on the Soviet Union. But nothing could prepare Harro and Libertas for the betrayals they would suffer in this war of secrets—a struggle in which friend could be indistinguishable from foe. Drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and Gestapo files, Norman Ohler spins an unforgettable tale of love, heroism, and sacrifice in The Bohemians.-- Amazon.com.

General Note:

Maps on endpapers.

Originally published in German as "Harro & Libertas."

Contents:

Prologue: The Thick of It -- Adversaries (1932-1933) -- Work & Marriage (1933-1939) -- Love & Resistance (1939-1942) -- The Black Curtain (Fall, 1942) -- Epilogue: Restitutio Memoriae.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 293 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Personal Subject:

Schulze-Boysen, Harro, 1909-1942.

Schulze-Boysen, Libertas, 1913-1942.

Subject Term:

Anti-Nazi movement -- Germany -- History.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- Soviet Union.

Military intelligence -- Soviet Union -- History -- 20th century.

Geographic Term:

Germany -- History -- 1933-1945.

Author(s):

Mohr, Tim,

Yarbrough, Marshall,

Publisher:

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

Publication Date:

2020

ISBN:

9781328566300

Publication Information:

Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.

Call Number:

940.53 OHLER

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003471664	Adult Nonfiction	940.53 OHLER	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

"A detailed and meticulously researched tale... that reads like a thriller."-- New York Times Book Review

From the New York Times best-selling author of Blitzed, the incredible true story of two idealistic young lovers who led the anti-Nazi resistance in the darkening heart of Berlin

Summertime, 1935. On a lake near Berlin, a young man is out sailing when he glimpses a woman reclining in the prow of a passing boat. Their eyes meet--and one of history's greatest conspiracies is born.

Harro Schulze-Boysen already had shed blood in the fight against Nazism by the time he and Libertas Haas-Heye began their whirlwind romance. She joined the cause, and soon the two lovers were leading a network of antifascist fighters that stretched across Berlin's bohemian underworld. Harro himself infiltrated German intelligence and began funneling Nazi battle plans to the Allies, including the details of Hitler's surprise attack on the Soviet Union. But nothing could prepare Harro and Libertas for the betrayals they would suffer in this war of secrets--a struggle in which friend could be indistinguishable from foe. Drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and Gestapo files, Norman Ohler spins an unforgettable tale of love, heroism, and sacrifice in The Bohemians .

Author Notes

Norman Ohler is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and journalist. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Blitzed and cowrote the script for Wim Wenders's film Palermo Shooting . He lives in Berlin.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Husband and wife resistance leaders Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen, who established a network of anti-Nazi spies in WWII-era Berlin, receive the full Bonnie-and-Clyde treatment in this colorful yet lopsided account from German novelist and historian Ohler (Blitzed). Though the "young and good-looking" couple both came from well-pedigreed family backgrounds, Ohler writes, their love-at-first-sight meeting, unconventional communal living arrangements, artistic pursuits, and open marriage marked them as bohemians in 1930s Germany. Arrested and brutally beaten by the SS in 1933, magazine editor Harro witnessed the murder of his Jewish friend and colleague. He went undercover as an office clerk in the Air Ministry ("a nerve center of the Nazi brain"), and shared military plans with the Soviets while secretly writing and publishing anti-Nazi propaganda and establishing links with other resistance groups. Meanwhile, poetry-loving, accordion-playing Libertas used her charm to help advance Harro's military career and talk her way out of an espionage charge for photographing Jewish refugees, though politics were not "her cup of tea." Unfortunately, Ohler glosses over potential reasons, including sexism, why Libertas's contributions to the resistance movement were perceived as more "superficial" than Harro's. Still, this deeply researched and stylishly written account unearths an appealing yet overlooked chapter in WWII history. Espionage enthusiasts will be riveted. Agent: Robin Straus, the Robin Straus Agency. (July)

Excerpts

From the New York Times bestselling author of Blitzed , the incredible true story of two idealistic young lovers who led the largest anti-Nazi spy ring--right in the darkening heart of Berlin. Excerpted from The Bohemians: The Lovers Who Led Germany's Resistance Against the Nazis by Norman Ohler All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.