Q4 Free Response 4

This week I read thirty more pages of Vienna Prelude by Bodie Thoene. In this section of the book Theo gets help from Murphy to escape Berlin. He goes to Murphy’s hotel room and gives him a letter to mail to Elisa and Anna. The Gestapo had followed him to the hotel and now are waiting outside to arrest Theo for leaving his home. Murphy comes up with the plan and sends decoys out dressed like Theo to fool the Gestapo. Eventually it’s safe to leave the building and Murphy drives Theo, also an air force hero, to an airport and sends him off safely in an old jet.
One quote that really stood out to me was, “‘Now help me push, or leave me to my own fate!’” (14, 122). I thought if was interesting because the Odyssey and Iliad, two books we just read, also deal a lot with fate. This quote is spoken my Theo when he is about to fly out of Germany in an old plane. He knows that this is his only chance to escape death. If he stays in the country he will be put to death and all his money taken from him. He can avoid his fate by flying out of Berlin while the Gestapo are chasing after his decoys.
Another thing that I thought was interesting was that pre-world war two, no one in any other country was concerned in preventing the holocaust. Few people thought it was a threat to Europe so powerful countries like Brittan or the United States did not step to stop Hitler. Millions of Jews lost their lives in concentration camps. Most of these deaths could have been prevented had we stopped the war before it started. When Brittan did finally send help, they sent a Jew hater, Nevile Henderson, to help. Neither country made wise decisions at the beginning of Hitler’s reign which sadly led to the demise of many Jews’ and other “impure” people.