Review: My Name Was Five: A Novel of the Second World War

My Name Was Five: A Novel of the Second World War by Heinz Kohler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read many fiction books set around World War II, and also a few non-fiction books (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer, Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer). ‘On Hitler’s Mountain’ by Irmgard Hunt was the first non-fiction book I read which provided a view from a regular family in Germany.

‘My Name was Five’ is an amazing book told from the perspective of a boy who grows up in the midst of intolerance, war and turmoil. While the book is marked as fiction, quite clearly the author borrows a lot from personal experience, as it has a stupendous amount of detail. This is a book where the author bares his soul, and reading it is certain to leave a lasting impact.

The book starts with an incident involving a private plane crash in Florida in 1991, and it seems clearly the result of bird hits. And yet, the pilot makes a strange reference to World War II. From this point onwards till near the end of the book, is the story of the pilot – Hans(el).

Hans grows up in Berlin, and as a school going kid watches as the country descends into prejudice, violence and subsequently war. His parents do not subscribe to Nazism though, and as a result his father Arthur is sent to a concentration camp. Their Jewish friends have to soon leave Berlin. Arthur returns after a few years, only to next receive a punitive posting in an army regiment. The indoctrination is everywhere (school, radio etc); at school for instance – his teacher tells the students about the Nazi philosophy and the resounding success of Germany worldwide. The teacher has as ranking system for the students and refers to them by how he has ranked them. Hans, a very curious and bright kid, is 5. The war brings many painful personal incidents – death of Hans dear friend Dieter, an army man dying in front of him, and at the peak of the bombing – dead bodies on the streets.

After their house is destroying in a bombing raid, Hans, his mother and younger brother Helmut move to Ziesar, where their aunt lives. This is not an easy move, and very soon the area is occupied by the Russians. The occupying force brings with it - violence against the locals, especially horrific incidents of rape against women, one such incident being in Hans’ presence with a gun held to his head. Hans with his open mindedness and inquisitive nature gets into trouble at school very often as well. There are several interesting incidents in the book around the questions he asks – probing philosophies he does not believe in (eg: interests levied being regarded as bad in communism).
Better times do come but the pain will not go away – with the trauma staying for years to come.

This is a very important book for everyone to read. The writing is excellent – providing an inner view of Hans experiences and feelings. Hitler’s regime exacted a staggering price from the world in the war, with Germans being victims as well. As the author says in his afterword, hopefully we as a people will learn our lessons from history, though as of yet does not look like we have fully done so.


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