This story skirts unusually close to both historical figures and Judaism. It seems appropriate to provide a little background to both, and some explanation of why they inspired a story of love, both altruistic and sexual.
A story written by a gentile.
For instance:
After Ben and Paul finally consummate their love, Ben thanks God and next day gives alms to a beggar, in celebration. This recognises the guidance given by Rabbi Simchah Roth in his responsum on homosexuality, Dear David. In it he examines a twentieth century view of homosexuality and how it relates to Torah-inspired prohibitions. Essentially he argues that God is a fair and just God. If He has made some men homosexual then it would be unfair of Him to punish them for it. Therefore, the sin is not homosexuality but homophobia. It is sinful to hate something that God has created. Perhaps I paraphrase too creatively.
Go and read Dear David for yourself.
He explores the thought that perhaps stoning is no longer an appropriate response to anal sex. Nor should lovers expect the soul’s extinction at death, as punishment for mishkav zakhur (anal sex), even as a sin which the Torah definitely does forbid. His enlightened and gentle response is to accept that it is a sin, but a sin that reflects the deep love between two men. In a carefully argued addendum he concludes that if they fall from grace occasionally, then they should thank God for the deep love that prompted the act and for the deep emotional sense of togetherness and the ecstatic union of souls that in its turn the act generated. Go out of your way to relate to others with a shadow of that outpouring of love that you have been privileged to experience. Go and give charity to the needy or to a worthy cause as an expression of a deep gratitude to Heaven and a desire that others share a modicum of the happiness you have been vouchsafed.
That is why Ben thanked God and gave alms.
If you are Jewish and feel that your urges come between you and God, then I exhort you to go read Dear David or at least the Dear David addendum.
There were a lot of historical characters… where did fiction begin? All the truly historical characters, locations and events are as correct as I could make them. When Heydrich arrested Kersten in Bad Godesberg, Himmler received a phone call to rescue him. I just added a plausible explanation.
Hans and all the characters in Paul’s story are fictional. In particular I must stress that there was no Herr Rolfe, or a grocer in that street in Hamburg. The street exists, but only as a location, all else is fiction. The various archives and their responses are fictional but I hope plausible.
The idea for this story began with the discovery of the memoirs of Dr Felix Kersten. Improbable as he may seem, he did actually exist. He was Himmler’s physician, a scientific masseur, a slightly peculiar medical specialisation, perhaps like our era’s osteopaths.
He was the only one who could ease Himmler’s crippling stomach cramps and is credited with using the influence that gave him to achieve a series of remarkable interventions. His role as a humanitarian seems to have been overshadowed by the alternative view of him as the man who kept Himmler going.
He is known to have intervened on a number of occasions, to save individuals and groups from execution. The Dutch credited him with major interventions on behalf of the Netherlands. He may well have, as he claimed, talked Himmler out of ordering the destruction of The Hague during the German retreat. The Dutch proposed him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, although later they, as did others, felt that his role had been exaggerated.
Himmler himself is quoted as saying of Kersten, “(he) massages a life out of me with every rub.” Dr Langbehn, an anti-Nazi predicted of seven Swedish men held as spies in Germany that, “Kersten would probably contrive to massage the men out”, as indeed he did.
Perhaps the problem is that his achievements were on such a huge scale. The Dutch intervention involved three million Dutchmen due to be shipped east, and the White Buses and camp interventions totalled about one hundred thousand prisoners saved. Such numbers simply seem incredible as the work of just one man.
But the white buses incident really did happen, and he was certainly present at the meeting near Ravensbruck, when Himmler was persuaded not to complete the slaughter of the last camp survivors of the Holocaust. He almost certainly initiated both events, and was instrumental in their successful outcome.
After the war, the Swedish government preferred to credit the white buses to their Count Bernadotte. A Swedish count versus Himmler’s masseur? Kersten didn’t stand a chance in that competition!
His attitude towards homosexuals was as given here. On at least one occasion he persuaded Himmler to overrule Heydrich’s wish to see a homosexual SS officer killed. He persuaded Himmler that, as the officer had already proved his courage and loyalty in battle, he should be posted to Norway instead.
So, did he have a nephew? I have no idea. I don’t even know if he had a brother. But, if he did, and if he had a chance to influence the boy and encourage an alternative acceptable behaviour in the face of Nazism, then maybe… hopefully, the boy would have turned out as I have described him—fiercely patriotic, protective of his brothers, affectionate and, when challenged, capable of altruism and courage.
So, take the time to do an internet search for Dr. Felix Kersten. You will see why I chose to weave a story about him. In doing so I have taken his story and the Kersten Memoirs at face value. There any number of revisionist historians out there, but Revisionist views of his achievements are of no interest to me. My story is simply a work of fiction that uses his memoirs as a starting point.
I would prefer the Kersten myth even if it were only a myth. It would still be uplifting. I suspect Kersten basically told the truth; he just didn’t understate his role.
In his place, which of us would?
The Kersten Memoirs, 1940-45
Felix Kersten
Foreword by Hugh Trevor Roper, historian and senior member of MI6
Macmillan, New York 1957
Library of Congress card number 57-7888
There are many histories of the period. The most relevant proved to be:
Witnesses of War: Children’s Lives Under the
Nazis
Nicholas Stargardt
Jonathan Cape, London 2005
ISBN-10: 0-224-06479-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-224-06479-8
Hitler’s Hangman: The Life of Heydrich
Robert Gerwarth
Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut 2011
ISBN-10: 0-300-11575-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-300-11575-8
Berlin: The Downfall 1945
Antony Beevor
Penguin Books, London 2003
ISBN-10: 0-141-01344-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-141-01344-2
The internet proved a good source for detail and for chronology of events, such as SS ranks and the bombing of Hamburg. Ultimately though, this is a work of fiction. I have attempted to weave a story around fictional characters set among real events.