title: The collaborators by: Buruma, Ian published: 2023 read: 2023-04 preview

Buruma is not new to me, having read a fascinating novel, history rather, of Japan a year or so ago.  So I hesitated not to purchase this book.

The book describes three stories with quite some similarities: of Felix Kersten, the personal masseur of Himmler (and of a few other big names of those days); Kawashima Yoshiko, a Manchu princess of Chinese origin and Mata-Hari like spy; and Friedrich Weinreb, a jew living in Holland who took fellow jews’ money to give them passage on imaginary trains into safety.

All three benefited greatly by the war.  All three believed, or seemed to believe, that they were instrumental in helping war victims.  For instance Kersten, who kept telling the thousands or millions of people by convincing Himmler to ignore Hitler’s orders, during massages.  Or Weinreb, by the number of people he allegedly saved, from Westerbork and elsewhere.  

We follow these three characters from the beginning of WWII (which, I sometimes naively argue, started in 1931 in China by Japan), until their survival (Kersten, Weinreb) or execution (Kawashima) shortly after.  

I am not going to give a verdict on this one.  Buruma knows to tell a story.  Or three, as in this case.  If the topic resonates with you, why not check it out.