Alone in Berlin - Hans Fallada

Alone in Berlin
Hans Fallada
Penguin
Otto and Anna Quangle, law abiding, simple working class couple living in a Berlin, have always done their very best to stay out of trouble. When they receive a letter informing them that their only son is killed in the war, something breaks in them and they turn their anger and grief into an extraordinary act of defiance against the Nazis. Ignoring the dangers, the Quangles drop anonymous postcards denouncing Hitler in busy buildings throughout the city.
The postcards soon reach the attention of the Gestapo and the ambitious inspector Escherich who makes it his personal endeavor to catch their author.
Based on real life characters, Hans Fallada weaves an intriguing and vivid portrait of life under Nazi Germany. The totalitarian system that spread paranoia, fear and torture moved to crush any opposition to it with swift, brutal violence. Most of the previous literature I’ve come across about this period tend to concentrate on persecution of Jews by the Nazis or the war itself. Alone in Berlin, is the first book I’ve read that gives an insight into the scale of fear spread by the Nazis throughout Germany and the treatment of those who dared to defy them.
For me the great importance of this story is in the characters’ moral integrity. Despite the great danger to their lives and those around them, they remain loyal to their values, refusing to bow down to the threats of an unjust regime. It mattered little to them how effective their campaign was because in Otto’s words ‘The main thing was you fought back.’ 4 stars