Had you heard of Mildred Fish Harnack or the Red Orchestra before reading Resistance Women? What role do novels have in our understanding of history? Did Resistance Women change your perceptions?

Had you heard of Mildred Fish Harnack or the Red Orchestra before reading Resistance Women? What role do novels have in our understanding of history? Did Resistance Women change your perception of World War II or Nazi Germany?

I had not heard of Mildred Fish Harnack or Red Orchestra. I am from the midwest so this added to my interest in the book. Knowing the story was about a real person, always adds to the story for me.

I had not heard of Mildred Fish Harnack or the Red Orchestra before reading this book. I like reading historical novels as I learn a lot about history that I did not know before. I have read a lot of historical fiction about WW2. I learned new information about the war and especially about the Germans who were resisting t he Nazi’s.

I had not heard of Mildred or the Red Orchestra prior to reading the novel. For me, novels play a huge part in understanding history, especially when the author provides information about their research, and especially so when they are based on real people. The novel didn't change my perceptions of WWII and the Nazis as much as expand my understanding. I have read many WWII novels and never gotten this level of background. With the background provided, I became frustrated at how long the US and other countries turned a blind eye.

I had never heard of Mildred or The Red Orchestra but, since finishing this book I have done quite a bit of research into Mildred's life. Historical novels are a great tool for enlarging our understanding of historical events and giving us an appreciation of the commitment and bravery of those who have been developmental in our freedom. The reader can relate to the characters and, while the author may take some liberties in the storytelling, the core of the story is factual and may lead one to pursue further information. I am much more inclined to read a historical novel than to read a history textbook. I too became very frustrated at the length of time it took for America to get involved in the war

I had not heard of Mildred Fish Harnack or the Red Orchestra before reading this book. It added a whole new perspective about this period. I knew Stalin was a player in the war but usually regarding Poland not relative to the part communism was playing in Germany itself. Historical novels have a big influence in my understanding history, especially when the information presented is new to me.

Like the previous posts I had also not heard of the role of any of the women or of the Red Orchestra.
A few mentioned that they became frustrated as to how long it took the US to become involved in WWII. You have to remember that in the 1930s Congress passed The Neutrality Acts in response to the growing threats and wars that led to WWII. They were spurred by the growth in isolationism and non-interventionism in the US following the disillusionment after WWI, and sought to ensure that the US would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts. The only problem with the acts was that it made no distinction between aggressors and victims treating both equally as belligerents. They also limited the US government's ability to aide Britain and France against Nazis Germany. The acts were largely repealed in 1941 in the face of German submarine attacks on US vessels and the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor.

I have read a few of the many books about the contributions of woman to WW II, but not Mildred. This book will be a useful contribution to those other books. It is unfortunate that the cold war caused Mildred to be ignored by history. Glad those days are over...

I hadn't heard of Mildred despite having lived in both Madison and Milwaukee (which formed part of my interest in the book). Completely beyond that, though, this book was great at threading together many events in a way that I hadn't exactly seen before. In particular, I don't think I'd seen this kind of slow, linear buildup of events inside Germany preceding the war from the multiple perspectives of German and American characters, at least not where what was going on politically at the time was the main point of the story.

In spite of the fact that I have read many novels and historical fiction accounts of WorldWarII, I have never heard of Mildred Fish Harnack or the Red Orchestra. I commend Chiaverini for the excellent research she pursued in writing this historical novel--I found the book informative, thought provoking and a rewarding read.
The bravery and resolve of these women are unforgettable in the face of constant danger and revelation they faced.

I had not heard of Mildred or the Red Orchestra. I loved that this book brought them to my attention. These women were very brave heroines.

I had not heard of Mildred or the resistance movement in Germany, but I have read extensively the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I also was aware that he had been imprisoned, tried and executed similar to Mildred, Arvid and many members of the resistance. I was also aware of the leaflet campaign and that some Germans actively opposed Hitler.

I hadn’t heard about these women or this particular resistance effort. What upset me was that the leaders of the US and USSR did nothing with the amazing intelligence these people risked everything to obtain and sent until they themselves were attacked by the Japanese or Nazis. I was also heartbroken that a stupid mistake by a Soviet contact publicizing their names and addresses in a radio message led to the murder of these courageous men and women.

Like the other readers here, I had never heard of Mildred Harnack or the Red Orchestra before reading this book. Novels are a good way to show historical events. However, as a reader, one must be cautious about discerning between what is fact and what is fiction in historical fiction. That is not always easy! One thing presented in this novel that changed my idea about Germany and the Nazis was that I had assumed that non-Jews agreed with the Nazis and supported their regime. I didn't realize there were so many non-Jewish Germans that fought against them.

I had not heard of this specific group although I did know from readings and contacts that people did fight against Hitler’s ideas and actions in the way they could. This book brought the period of history more to the forefront especially expanding the topic by using real people with human wants and needs. Some things I questioned such as the vignette about introducing Martha to Hitler. As I think I said I found the book hard to read from a personal level, knowing what would happen to the group.

Interesting that none of the responders had heard of Mildred Fish Harnack or the Red Orchestra and I am no different. Historical fiction such as Resistance Women give us the opportunity to learn about events in a more interesting way than just small facts. The women in this book are all so interesting and different in many ways except for the goal of defeating Hitler's Germany. I've read many historical fiction books with WWII as a focus and learn something new from everyone.

If you want to read more about Mildred and the Red Orchestra then read "Red Orchestra" by Anne Nelson. It is based on interviews with Greta Kuckhoff and includes pictures of the resistance members we read about in Resistance Women.

I had not heard of Mildred or the Red Orchestra before reading this. No matter how much I read about WWII there is always something more to learn. I didn't even know that there was a German Resistance until I read this book. Like everyone else, I was upset about how long it took the US to intervene. I keep telling myself that it is retrospect and if we were living through it, it might appear differently.