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Tumblr Book Report: The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis

                                          Timelines

                                            Plot Timeline

                                       Historical Timeline

                                   4 Journal Entries

                                                Journal 1

I have noticed this very beautiful woman appear every once in awhile in and around the Kat Zet recently. She is quite tall for a woman, and has a very nice physique. The moment I saw her, I felt as though this was something inevitable, something that was supposed to occur all this time. Then I remembered that she is Mrs. Hannah Doll, the wife of Paul Doll, the Kommandant. I had to tell my longtime friend Boris Eltz about this; this was something that was very important and valuable to talk about. I told him that me seeing Hannah felt like love, and he immediately became interested. We began talking about her and making fun of the Old Boozer- the Kommandant, that is. We wondered how someone as old and bitter as him ever managed to marry a woman as good looking as Hannah, and failed to come up with any plausible explanation. Boris then warned me that there was almost no chance that my prospects for Hannah would ever lift off the ground, and that even though her husband is someone as strange and insecure as the Old Boozer, I had to remember that he’s my boss. Nonetheless, I still planned out how to give a shot at her. I used the pretext that I got urgent orders from Uncle Martin, the Reichsleiter-SS, that had to be executed, and that I was asking Hannah where her husband could be, although I certainly knew that he wasn’t around. This excuse that I made up to talk to her actually worked very well, and we began to chat for a small while about random topics, and I even managed to gain part of her trust. She told me how she was a smoker, which was something of an unorthodox thing for women to be. Needless to say, my first attempt at talking to her got me to a fairly good first impression toward her.

                                                Journal 2

Boris Eltz was preparing himself to receive a train full of new workers that we could use at Kat Zet and Buna-Werke in order to further advance the war effort. They were Frenchmen, and after making sure that they were taken to where they had to go in order to start their work, we began to talk about all the things we did to them. Well, not us, but Nazi Germany as a whole. We were both at least somewhat against the things we did against out Jewish workforce, and this caused us to delve into the realities a little further. We both thought about whether or not we could ever treat them even worse, and eventually decided that although they were already practically being killed off slowly because of the rapes and malnutrition they are exposed to, we supposed that at least we haven’t tried eating them yet. At that point, we would really be on the lowest point that modern humanity has ever been, we thought. We still thought that the current treatment of the Jews was absurd because we’re literally destroying our own labor force by purging them. Later that day, however, we both attended a meeting with all the officers at Kat Zet and their families, and it appeared as though the officers higher up in the command chain wholeheartedly disagreed with us. They simply believed that we were giving them a “taste of their own medicine” by racially purifying Germany, as they claimed the Jews have been doing the whole time in order to become all-powerful. They found nothing wrong with the conditions they subjected the Jews to, and refused to give them larger food rations in order to make them more efficient workers as I proposed. I found out at this point that some people just really don’t care about morals.

                                                Journal 3

Boris and I had a conversation about the war after a reunion with the Kat Zet officials where everyone was drunk out of their minds. He insisted that our cause for the war has been lost, and that there’s no escaping that fact anymore. Though it was quite sad and it hurt my pride for the Third Reich, I had to admit that Boris was right. We really stretched ourselves with trying to win a war on two fronts. He began criticizing our generals’ idea about invading Russia, and he spoke about how we thought it would be just as easy as France, but everyone was horribly wrong. It was wrong and even illegal for us to believe that the war was lost, but what else could we believe? The truth was just that, so we couldn’t force ourselves to think that some sort of miracle would come and win the war for us out of nowhere. I told Boris about how the war experts even told the Chief that  a war on two fronts was not winnable, but he still didn’t care. He proceeded to shake his head in disbelief, that our leader would really submit us to this. We thought about the war some more, and we saw that invading Russia was really always going to cost us the war, because they just have so many people that even if we destroyed the main cities. They would just keep coming, and the fact that their territory is absolutely massive only makes attacking Russia an even worse idea. Though we were able to successfully defeat Russia before in the first world war, it still wasn’t fair to believe we could do it again because their country was literally dying during that time with civil war. This nice talk we both had made me see that if you want to win a war, don’t attack Russia.

                                                Journal 4

After the war was over, I decided to task myself with finding Hannah again and trying to establish a larger bond with her, now that Paul Doll was gone. I drove southeast to Rosenheim, Germany because that’s where she met Paul, so I naturally assumed that she would be there. I wasn’t expecting much, however, because I could hardly even make out how she was because of this terribly negative energy that the Third Reich gave out. I stayed at a guest house for the night when I got there, and I went around looking for Hannah around town. The search was futile, as days have passed and there was no sign of her or her children. Then, right before I was about to give up, I saw them walking in the street. I went to them to reintroduce myself to Hannah. She turned around and just stared at me with a sort of surprised look. I tried arranging a chat with her, and she almost refused, but gave in after a bit of begging. She told me exactly where and that she only had an hour to spare, but I conformed to that limit anyway. We both went there with quite low expectations, because everything from the war era was just alien to us. We nonetheless talked about what was going on in our life, such as our jobs and things like that. Then, after a bit, we began talking more deeply, with her revealing to me that Paul Doll was actually planning to use Szmul to kill her because of his suspicions about us, but he instead tried killing himself. The Kommandant killed him before he could kill himself, Hannah told me. She found out at that moment how terrible of a person her husband was. She told me about how she indeed felt a romantic bond with me back then, but that times have changed, and she felt that having good come out of Kat Zet is unimaginable. She told me that it would be pointless to try to form a relationship, and with this, I resigned from trying to chase her anymore.

                   250 Word Personal Narrative

Hello everyone, I am Angelus Thomsen, and my story is being told by Martin Amis in the novel named The Zone of Interest. I was a former Obersturmführer, or a mid-ranking official in the Nazi party, and I am the nephew of Martin Bormann, the Reichsleiter of the Chief. I was also the manager, if you will, of the Buna-Werke factory, in charge of making production of goods continue smoothly for the war effort. I’m not so sure how exactly I would be doing in my former job in terms of happiness if I didn’t have my longtime friend Boris Eltz to talk to. He was who I trusted with just about everything, such as the talking we always did behind Paul Doll’s back, calling him “The Old Boozer” and all. He was also the first person I confessed my love for Hannah Doll to. She was Paul Doll’s wife, and this was a big problem since he was the Kommandant, the one who controlled everything that happened in and around Kat Zet If he caught me making moves at her, I would be in really big trouble. That didn’t stop me from trying, however, as I felt it in me that Hannah also felt an attraction to me. It turns out that I was true, as we did actually exchange a few private letters expressing our feelings toward each other. Everything was going great, but then Paul Doll became suspicious, as he saw that his wife was acting and dressing quite inordinately. He confronted her, but Hannah brushed it off, saying her relation with me was a purely formal one. He was still quite suspicious, but he brushed it off, or so I thought at the time. As we were fighting the Soviet Union in the east, we were all so sure of a quick and glorious German victory, but it didn’t end that way. General Georgy Zhukov managed to outsmart us in the long battle of Stalingrad, where we lost hundreds of thousands of men, and at that moment we all saw that the war was not for us to win. There was no way we could defend ourselves. Slowly but surely, people I knew were dying, with Boris Eltz having been killed fighting the USSR in the east, among others. When our war effort was lost, Paul Doll was sent to prison and was hanged for his crimes against humanity, along with many other high-ranking Nazis. This left my door open to finally be with Hannah peacefully. I went to Rosenhein to look for her where she met Paul Doll, and I found her there. We talked, but she flat-out told me that she no longer had any interest in me since I reminded her of the tragic events of the war and the terrible things that happened in Kat Zet. It wasn’t easy, but I understood her. We kept talking, however, and then she told me about how Paul Doll ordered Szmul, a Jewish prisoner/helper to kill her for being unfaithful. She said how instead of killing her, Szmul tried killing himself, but Paul Doll killed him before he could do so. All this time I thought she let go the notion of us doing anything unfaithful, but I was wrong. We probably won’t see each other anytime soon again.

                         4 Links to Historical Sites

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/auschwitz

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/fall_france_01.shtml

https://ww2db.com/facility/Reich_Chancellery/

                     4 Sites Relevant to the Novel

https://newrepublic.com/article/120029/zone-interest-review-it-ok-invent-holocaust-love-story

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/05/martin-amis-style-supremacist

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/07/the-zone-of-interest-review-martin-amis-impressive-holocaust

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/29/death-factory

                         4 Quotes From the Book

                                                 Quote 1

“The figures that held my attention, as always (I too had an office at Buna, and spent many hours in front of its window), the figures that held my attention were not the men in stripes… What held my eye were the figures in city business suits, designers, engineers, administrators… daintily picking their way past the bodies of the wounded, the unconscious, and the dead.”-Angelus Thomsen (3.1.219-220)

I chose this quote because it really highlights the absolute madness that meant to live in Nazi Germany, since this shows us that there were thousands of innocent people being killed or tortured every day, and people weren’t aware or probably didn’t even care. They were simply turning a blind eye to all the atrocities the Nazis were committing, which shows just how low the human race came to be during this time in Germany.

                                                 Quote 2

“In 1939 Witold was twelve. Now he falls as if in a swoon. Krebbs steps back. It takes Witold less than a minute to die. About twenty seconds pass, and he is gone. There are fewer things to say goodbye to, there is less life, less love (perhaps), and less memory needing to be scattered.”-Szmul (5.3.579-580)

I chose this quote because it shows us the terrible truths about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, where even children would be killed for not reason, but that at least they haven’t really lived through much in life yet, so they’re isn’t much for them to let go of when they die compared to an adult. It is still, however, an absolutely horrid reality of this point in history.

                                                 Quote 3

“In the solitude of my cell I have come to the bitter realization that I have sinned gravely against humanity.”-Paul Doll (7.2.651)

I chose this quote because Paul Doll, the person who said this, was one of the most devoted Nazis to ever live. He was absolutely convinced during the war that Aryans were the supreme race, and that the Jews must submit to being used by them for for their benefit. After the war, however, even he realized that what he believed, and what he did as the person in charge of the Kat Zet slave labor camp was in fact something that could never be forgiven by anyone, which shows us that Nazism was never the way to go.

                                                 Quote 4

“Under National Socialism you looked in the mirror and saw your soul. You found yourself out…. We all discovered, or helplessly revealed, who we were. Who somebody really was. That was the Zone of Interest.”-Angelus Thomsen (7.3.678)

I chose this quote because it means that you can really define yourself as a person when you are exposed to the ideas of Nazism. You find out whether or not you’re a good person who is against these ideas, or you’re someone who is a devoted Nazi and an absolutely terrible person inside that finally has his or her oppressive voice become morally permissible. It all comes to light with National Socialism.

                                           4 Images

Auschwitz concentration camp, or “Kat Zet” as known in The Zone of Interest. The place where most of the book takes place, and is managed by Angelus Thomsen and Paul Doll.

Buna-Werke, the factory which was under construction during the events of The Zone of Interest, which would require more electricity than all of Berlin once it’s built according to an officer at Kat Zet. 

Rosenheim, Germany, the town where Hannah and Paul Doll met each other, and where Angelus went to find her after the war was over.

Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, known as “The Chief” in The Zone of Interest, with Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, Angelus’ uncle, behind him.             

           4 Responses to Discussion Questions

                                    Discussion Question 1

Are our lives controlled by fate or free will? In other words, do the choices we make determine our futures, or is our life destined to be what it is? How does this perspective affect the way you interact with the world? Cite specific experiences or influences that have led you to your position.

As far as I’m concerned, our lives are definitely not controlled by fate, but by free will instead. Our life is definitely not predetermined, as we can choose to do whatever we want, and even the smallest thing that occurs can completely alter the course of history for a long time. Knowing this, I definitely take into consideration what I will do before I do it, knowing that certain things will likely have a large effect later on. I know that I can completely change the fate of many people, including mine, especially with my role in the SS that can be very influential in how our Jewish prisoners live their lives. While they are all living terrible lives working for us with little food, I have proposed increasing the rood rations for the prisoners so that they can work better and be in a better state overall, which would be an absolutely huge change for them if it gets accepted by the Reichsfuhrer-SS. Also, in my personal life, I’ve been eyeing Hannah Doll, my Kommandant’s wife, and I feel like I could very well achieve something with her although she is married to him. This wouldn’t even be remotely a possibility to think about if it wasn’t for my military service, which has kept me in shape and has always impressed the ladies. If I chose not to join the SS, things would be very different when trying to get into a side relationship with someone, as I would have nothing of grace to show off, which proves nothing is fated from the beginning.

                                    Discussion Question 2

Do you believe human nature is essentially good or bad? What I mean is, are we born as inherently caring, nurturing, sharing members of a collective group, or are our most basic instincts self-serving, greedy, and focused on meeting our individual needs. What in your experience informs this belief? How does it manifest itself in your life. 

In my opinion, I believe that human nature is essentially not very good, and more leaning toward the bad side, as usually the default instincts of humans are that of focusing change chiefly on oneself before the rest. Take, for example, the party that I am a part of. The National Socialist Workers Party. We are the Nazis, and our ideology was based around making our country the way it used to be: powerful and influential in the world, without this coming at the cost of the quality of life of the German people. It was the driving force behind our entire campaign to win the Chancellery in 1933. Our promises have been largely met, with Nazi Germany being decades ahead of every other country in technology, and our military strength is one that is unprecedented in the world. However, although our party may seem all nice and effective at making the world a better place, there are some very sinister truths behind it. The Chief, our leader of the Nazi party, just happens to believe that the Jews are the root cause of all evil in this world, claiming that they only leech off the hard work of others in order to live their lives, while they themselves are incredibly lazy. He wants to make them pay for this, and he is. This is why places like the Kat Zet exist: to take the Jews and make them suffer for their supposed wickedness. The Chief wants to eradicate them completely, even if others in the Nazi party, including me, don’t feel that way. I’ve proposed to others in the Party to convince the Reichsfuhrer to increase the rations of the Jews working at the camps to increase productivity, but he will likely refuse. Everyone higher up in the Nazi party believe that they should be punished in every way possible, even if it means that it will hurt the workforce of the Nazis. This is what leads me to believe that human nature is bad, because some people, like the Chief, will take every measure to hurt others just because they can, even if it ends up hurting them as well.

                                    Discussion Question 3

How do you define success? Do you believe you’ve achieved success? If so how do you know? If not, what has prevented you?

I define success as achieving everything you’ve ever wanted in life, and being able to juggle all of your responsibilities and your free time in a nice and efficient way. I personally don’t believe I’ve reached happiness yet, as I haven’t achieved everything I want in life yet. I still don’t have the love of my life that I’ve been fervently wanting my whole life. Sure, my military rank has definitely given me the perks of attracting a handful of women in the past, but none of them have really stuck. I can definitely see how I can achieve my personal success, as I already figured it out, but there is something that just blocks me from getting to it. That is my Kommandant, Paul Doll, as he is the husband of Hannah Doll, the woman I have decided to give a shot at winning over. This simple task of achieving happiness with a woman has been made infinitely harder by this fact, because so much could go wrong here. I just want to be with Hannah, and I even know that she has displayed an interest for me as well, but if Paul finds out about any hidden affair between us, then God have mercy on me. I could very easily lose my job, the SS may send me to prison, or, hell, perhaps I’ll even get executed for such an offense to my Kommandant. This is how I know that I haven’t yet achieved happiness, because Paul Doll is standing right between the last desire in life that I want to have fulfilled.

                                    Discussion Question 4

Who are the most important people in your life? Why are they so meaningful to you?

I don’t have many people in my life that I actively care about. I’m just a soldier in the SS with a lot of power, but not much love to give. I’m mostly alone in the world, but the few people that I do have in my life I have them very close to me in my heart. First of all, Boris Eltz. He is my only other colleague in the SS that I have a really close friendship with. I can trust him more than I can trust anyone else in the whole German military. We both exchange some happy banter between each other of what’s going on in the SS, and we can frequently talk smack about the Kommandant and the other in charge between us. He’s also the only person who knows of my difficult love for Hannah Doll. This brings me to the next person that is incredibly important to me. Hannah is very important to me, because although she’s married to my Kommandant, she is the only woman I can ever imagine myself being married to for the rest of my life. She is such a beautiful woman, vastly more impactful to my soul than any other woman I’ve dated before. There is just something that I can feel between us that makes us have a shot at having a nice relationship eventually, and that is more than enough for me to feel that she’s an important person in my life, just like Boris Eltz.

                                    Discussion Question 5

If you could change one thing in your life what would it be? How would this affect the circumstances of your story? 

There isn’t really all that much in my life that I would deem necessary of change, as though I haven’t had the chance to strike true happiness just yet, i do believe I have the path set up for me already, and that I just have to ride it out and wait for happiness to come to me without changing anything. With that having been said, however, I do feel like there is at least one thing that I’d like to change in my life. The thing that I’d like to change is that Hannah Doll wasn’t married to my Kommandant Paull Doll. The reason I would want to change this is so that we could have a much easier relationship between us without having to worry about the consequences that we would have to deal with because of our secret impending affair. This change would greatly affect the circumstances of my story, as there would be no reason to have a secret hate for my Kommandant for getting in the way of getting to be with the love of my life. I would be much happier with life in general, and in turn I could have a more productive relationship with my Kommandant in order for both of us to be more productive for the sacred German war effort, without either of us having personal doubts of each other. This change would be such a foundational one that I believe Paul Doll would probably be the one trying to get into in affair with Hannah while we’re in a relationship, but I wouldn’t have to worry, as I know Hannah would always prefer me.