The Odessa File
Background
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Martin Niemoller
“In Germany they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a
Communist. Then they came came for the
Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t
a Jew. Then they came for the trade
unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I
wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for
the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I
was a Protestant. Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak
up.”
Espionage- Spy Fiction
Spy/Espionage fiction has been and continues
to be one of the most popular forms of
fiction, especially for the last 100 years.
British spy novels emerged during the
international tensions preceding WWI.
Intelligence services, the naval race between
allies and Germans, and armament rivalries
led to espionage, intrigue, and violence.
“Secret agents”
heroes battling against evil
machinations of villainous spies.
The 20th and 21st centuries’ record of
war, subversion, genocide, weapons of
mass destruction, terrorism, and the
threat of nuclear war has sustained its
appeal.
Spy writers
deliberately blurred the lines between
fact and fiction, making claims of
authenticity and realism—sometimes
seen as propaganda.
The rise of Fascism
Following WWI and the Great
Depression
created a somber inter-war climate that
caused the new emergence of spy
writers who broke with patriotic
notions.
Ian Fleming
Dominant spy fiction writer of the times
James Bond
Bond adventures were designed for the
Cold War consumer—the enemy
became Moscow.
Frederick Forsythe
entered the scene with his thrill-packed
and highly successful books
adventure stories on a global scale, in
which tough male heroes save the
world from a variety of disasters
Forsythe cont.
The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File,
The Fourth Protocol, The Fist of God,
and the most recent, The Afghan
(2006).
Spy Novel
Hybrid: part detective, part crime, and part
romance
It was speculated at the end of the Cold War
that the spy novel may cease to be relevant
and popular
with the increased terrorist threats, national
security nightmares, weapons of mass
destruction, the unsettled state in the Middle
East, global threats, War on Terrorism, etc. it
is sure that spy fiction will continue to reflect
the results of our world fears and crises.
The Holocaust
Nazi Germany during WWII
The genocide of approximately 6 million
European Jews
Many thousands of political enemies of the
Nazi regime, along with homosexuals, people
with disabilities, and other religious minorities
were also killed
Death Camps like Auschwitz
A Moral Dilemma
The year is 1934, you are 15 years old, and you live in Munich,
Germany. Your neighbor and best friend since kindergarten,
Isaac, approaches you with a favor. His grandfather lives by
himself 10 miles outside of town and is unable to shop for his
own groceries due to injuries suffered as an officer in the
Kaiser’s army during the Great War (WWI). Isaac has always
done the shopping for his grandfather, but his bicycle has just
been confiscated by the Nazi authorities as a part of their anti-
Semitic policies implemented under the new chancellor, Adolf
Hitler. Isaac is Jewish and without his bicycle he has no way of
getting food to his grandfather, so he wants you to help him
take the groceries for him with your new bicycle.
What will you do?
Although he is your closest friend, you have been
hearing strange things about Isaac lately regarding
his religion. If you help him, you may get into trouble
with the Nazi party, but if you don’t help Isaac, his
grandfather will starve to death. There is no one else.
What are you going to do?
Assignment: Write a one page essay telling what you
will do, describing your plan of action, being certain
to address any concerns you have for yourself, Isaac,
and his grandfather.
Excerpt from Ellie Wiesel’s
NIGHT
“On the Turning Away”
Pink Floyd