The fourth work of fiction set in the Second World War depicts life in Nazi Germany from 1935 on. It was inspired by the life of Solomon Perel, a Jewish-German boy who at age ten escaped Nazi persecution in 1935 with his family by fleeing to Lodz, Poland. When captured by the Germans, he managed to conceal his identity from the Nazis and become a member of the Hitler Youth in the process. It was adeptly depicted in ‘Europa, Europa,’ a movie based on the book ‘I Was Hitler Youth Salomon’ an autobiography Perel wrote in 1991.

It is, perhaps, the darkest of my works that address life for a character who is transgender. As with my other works, the issues and the manner with which the character dealt with the issue are all within the realm of possibility give the medical knowledge, technology and methods actually available at the time and in the country the story is set in. There are magical transformations, no ‘wouldn’t it be nice if…’ insertions that do not belong.

The story is your tradition transgender story, with the focus being on three major themes; the struggle of a child to belong, the seduction of youth by a corrupt system and an effort to atone for willful ignorance and the sins of the father.

Enjoy would probably be the wrong word to wish you, the reader. Experience is more like it.

As an aside, a copy of this book was deemed worthy enough to be included in the archives of the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. where I did much of the research for the book. It is the only work in the museum’s library that address transgender issues during the Nazi era.

Nancy Cole
a.k.a. HW Coyle

In 1935 many in Germany saw Hitler as the answer to their prayers. In their eyes he was a man of vision, courage and determination who was ready to lead them out of darkness and into the light, reclaiming Germany’s rightful place as a world power. Among them is Hans Koch, a boy of nine who longs to be part of this new world order. It is a dream, however, that is denied him, for Hans is a Jew.

When the opportunity to escape his heritage and join others his age in building a new and stronger Germany comes his way, Hans does not hesitate to seize it even though the cost is incredibly steep. The need to deny a religion that has brought him nothing but grief is of little consequence to Hans. Doing so by assuming the role of a girl on the other hand present him with a dilemma that cannot be easily ignored, for females in Hitler’s new Germany are discouraged from taking on any role other than that of mother and spouse. Still, in the eyes of a nine year old anything is better than the persecution he has to look forward if he does nothing.

Taken in by Lena Richter, the wife of a rising star in the SS and renamed Hanna, she, (Hanna), is determined to make the best of her new circumstances. Her blond hair, blue eyes and love of German history are all the proof Hauptsturmfá¼hrer Ernst Richter needs to convince him she is as Aryan as he. Along with her academic excellence and athletic aptitude, Hanna becomes a source of pride for the ambitious SS officer.

Hanna’s idyllic, if precarious existence begins to unravel in 1942 when Richter takes command of a concentration camp in Poland. It is there that Hanna is confronted with the terrible truth of what Richter and those responsible for carrying out the policies of the Third Reich are doing in the name of the German people, opening a rift between her and her adopted family. As the end of the war nears and Ernst Richter is ordered to destroy all evidence of war crimes, Hanna throws caution to the wind in an effort to save a single life in the hope that by doing so she can atone for the wrongs she believes she is guilty of.