Binging

As the rains fell ...

It all started with an after-dinner conversation among friends. A guest had read Blitzed, the impeccably researched account of how the German army in WWII was coked to the gills on methamphetamine and how Hitler was, for at least the last three years of his life, a stone cold junkie.

Disagreement arose when it came to the concentration camps. Could drug abuse account for all the atrocities or were the Nazis just bastards through and through?

We couldn't resolve that question that night. 

After reading Blitzed, I couldn't answer that question for myself, either. So I turned to KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolas Wachsmann.

Wachsmann's authoritative history persuaded me that while there was some substance abuse involved (alcohol as much as drugs), the camp SS guards and their commanders really were bastards through and through and strongly reminiscent of some of the types you see at Trump rallies.

I was still reading Wachmann's compellingly written account of unbearable cruelty and suffering, when, one night, I thought I'd check out Dear White People, currently playing on Netflix.

Three and a half hours later, I couldn't believe I had watched the whole thing: 10, 22-minute episodes.

The show is clever and appealing. Attractive performers and a light-hearted script sugar-coat some jarring questions about race in America. 

For example, I just about jumped out of my reclined position on the couch when, following a charged scene involving a white cop, a gun and a Black man, a character said that the Germans had dealt with their past - meaning the concentration camp atrocities - and America had to do the same thing with slavery. 

The joke was that people misunderstood him and thought he was suggesting that blacks be put in concentration camps. Of course that's not what he meant. 

But maybe the person writing the script did mean to draw attention to something along those lines.

Makes you think.

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen

P.S: you should read both the books mentioned in this blog, but if you have room in your schedule for only one, read Wachsmann.