A bourgeois Rhineland family's story, in creative fiction, during the Great Depression, the spread of Nazism and re-armament to the beginning of World War Two
Book One, in Series of Two entitled Desecrated Mountain. Walter, born when the Great Depression begins. His father, pharmacist's son, loses inheritance in farm venture and further calamities. Tina, Walter's mother, moves with him to Marienhof, her parents' farm, ruled by strong willed mother Anna. Tina's only sibling Gertrude and opportunistic husband Heinz live on Marienhof, hoping to inherit it. Heinrich becomes manager of a forested estate; living in a castle reunited with his family. Hitler becomes dictator of Germany. Family members, monarchists at heart, question the Nazis' attitude toward religion; jet prefer them to godless Marxism. Nazi Blood and Soil policies designate Marienhof an Entailed Farm, making Nazi sympathizer Heinz sole heir; causing endless strife between families. Heinrich finds employment with Reich Nutrition Estate's Peasantry Office in a border town; becomes responsible for feeding workers building West Wall fortifications. Fate of Jews. Small town apartment living shocks Walter longing for life in the lonely castle. Local Nazis change name of Mount Calvary towering over the town. Walter, altar boy and Hitler Youth member, experiences his family's quandary, caught between Catholicism and Nazism. Nazi-Soviet Pact upsets bourgeoisie. All against background of high politics. Book Two narrates Decade of the 'Forties.