The idealistic Anna tells her Warsaw University medical school friends during the 1939 German invasion they should meet the German soldiers with Tolstoyan passive resistance, not violence.They were all drinking beer in the cafe, except Anna who had classes."Yes, Comrade Anna. If a German fascist comes at me with his semi-automatic blazing away," said Victor, "I'll just show him your copy of Tolstoy, and say, 'Hey, please stop. There's a better way than violence. Let me show you this book I've been reading."All in the group - about ten people, most of them drunk - laughed uproariously."You know, you guys should fucking grow up!" Anna said. "And I wouldn't go off making fun of Tolstoy. If Germany attacks us, the Soviets may well help their good comrades in Poland. Just because the Russians exploited us in the past doesn't mean it'll happen again. They are our comrades now. We are all in this together as good communists. So, you know something, you can insult Tolstoy all you want but you get fucking stupid sometimes when you drink! I've got to get to class. Good-bye comrades.""The group roared again with laughter. Victor stood up and raised his glass prompting the rest of the group to stand and raise their glasses. "To Comrade Anna, Comrade Tolstoy and Comrade Stalin! May they save Europe and the world from Comrade Hitler!" The group roared again, and drank the full drought of beer left in their glasses "Drunken fools!" Anna shouted.An hour later, the bombs rained down on the cafe .Anna's ordeal had just begun.
About the Author: I live in Thailand with my wife, Uraiwan, and three dogs, in Rawai Beach where I am writing new books after a marathon 2017 when I completed my trilogy and other works. I retired from teaching in 2013 after 13 years in Manhattan high schools. In 2004, I took a year off, and wrote at Starbucks in Astor Place every day, substantially writing three books, although two -"The Jack Trilogy" and "Desperate Days" - took years to finish. Back then, I taught English, U.S. and Global History, and journalism to NYC students. I plan to develop units soon (free to teachers) for the trilogy and Desperate Days - each containing multiple lesson plans. Please contact me via the links in the books. Both works contain instances of profanity which should not be a problem for the upper high school age group. I can provide separate 'cleansed' editions to teachers if profanity is a problem. I set the age level for these books at 16 and the grade level at 11, but advanced 9th and 10th grade students would do well reading these books. Both novels would be exceptional cross-curricular choices - in the areas of literature, history and humanities. I want to add that both works also were written for an adult audience. Historical fiction has been my favorite genre since my elementary school years. I still recall being fascinated with the 'World History' text books as early as the 4th or 5th grade. By high school, I was independently reading the great Russian writers. I continued to independently pursue a classical education by reading dozens of the ancient works of Greece and Rome while reading the great classical philosophers up to the more modern ones. I studied English and journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where I received BA degrees, and received my Master of Science in Literacy at Touro College, Manhattan, and took night classes in European history and French Painting at Harvard. I spent ten years in Boston-area courts. Those years were a fantastic learning experience. I began in 1980 as the Lowell Sun's court reporter in Cambridge not long after John Kerry left his job there as First Assistant Middlesex District Attorney. There were nearly 100 prosecutors in the DA's office then. I later took over Middlesex News Service. Few people see a murder trial gavel to gavel during their lifetime. I saw about 500. Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Kafka's The Trial were the inspiration behind those ten years - amazing what books can do.