Songs in the Night Trilogy - Jack Cavanaugh

While Mortals Sleep
 
This is the story of the Hadamar Six - Elyse, Tomcat, Hermann, Viktor, Marlene, and Annie - Six disabled children who would have been marked for death in the era of the Third Reich. Life unfit to live, it was called...much better just to kill them rather than let them suffer...much better than showing that the Aryan race had imperfections.

But it's not really their story. The story revolves around them and their lives, yes...but it's not their story. It's the story of Josef Shumacher, a young pastor in Berlin who was passionate and filled with the conviction to stand against the rising of the Third Reich. It was his passion that put into motion the sage set before us.

But then again....it's not entirely his story. Rather, at the heart of it all...It's my story. It's your story. It's the story of how one life can reach so far and impact so deep. It's the story that reminds us that one man can stand against evil.

Josef Schumaker is a young pastor in Berlin, recently out of seminary and pastoring the church his spiritual father and father-in-law, Wilhem Olbricht, had just retired from. The year is 1939 and Hitler is on the rise in Germany. Amid the increasing brutality, Josef is conflicted with how to respond. Most of all he is concerned about the youth in his church - Lisette, Ernst, Neff, Konrad, Gael and Willi - and how they are being affected by the Hitler Youth.

Time moves on. When Josef had dared speak against the Third Reich, a couple members of the SS had rather forcefully reminded him of why Hitler was in power. Thinking of his wife - and unborn child - he began to accept the Nazi rule. But this would all change. Spurred on after witnessing an act of Nazi brutality, Josef joins an underground movement dedicated to thwarting the Third Reich. Their current mission involves a mental facility known as Hadamar, where children deemed unfit to live are brought to die either by starvation or injection. Josef's job is to free the children.

But the spectre of Naziism rises and very few are on Josef's side. His father-in-law, wife, and the youth of his church have all embraced or retreated in fear against the Nazi authority. The children of Hadamar are crying for a savior...but can Josef save them? And can he bear the cost of salvation?

His Watchful Eye

It's been three years since the events of While Mortals Sleep. Josef Schumaker and the Hadamar Six are living with Josef's wife Mady, and Lisette, one of the youth from Josef's now former church. Konrad and Neff are now part of the Waffen SS, a feared elite group of the Nazi machine. Konrad is an expert sniper and Neff is his spotter and photographer. Gunter Krahl, their captain, likes photographic evidence of the kills. Konrad's loyalty to the Third Reich has been shaken. Reality does not compare to the grandeur of the Hitler Youth movement. And so he turns his back on it all, deserting his company, forming a dangerous plan.

With the help of Josef, he comes to peace with his past. But the past will not let go of him. A trained killer stalks Konrad and he will use anyone or anything - including the Hadamar Six - to get to him. Things get more complicated as it becomes obvious that the Schumaker's must flee or be captured by the invading Russians. But when all hope is gone, an ultimate sacrifice will bring salvation.

Above all Earthly Powers

Things have not gone well in post WWII Berlin. The swastika is replaced by the hammer and the sickle but fear and oppression remain. It's now 1961 and over a decade and a half has passed since the Schumaker's narrowly escaped Russian rule. But here they are back in Berlin under the Soviet regime. Josef is dead. Konrad is presumed dead. The Hadamar Six have been taken from them. Only Mady, Lisette, and Elyse - Mady and Josef's daughter. and one of the Six - remain together.

But all is not lost. The Six have been regathered in a facility called K7 and are watched over by a kindly caretaker. With the help of an American colonel, Mady and the rest attempt to complete Josef's vision, and save the Hadmar Six once and for all. But it will not be easy. The impenetrable force of the Berlin Wall stands in their way. And ghosts from the past arise to either haunt or help in the mission.

In an intricate tie-in, the prologue and epilogue of each book takes place in 1989 right after the fall of the Wall. Foes of the past make one last rise to crush them, but freedom will prevail. The legacy of Josef Schumaker lives on.

Jack Cavanaugh is the best historical fiction writer I have read. He weaves a powerful story through the years like no other, beginning with the rise of Naziism and ending with the fall of Communism. The story is tightly-paced, the characters are compelling and many. More could be said about how each of the children mentioned in the first book play in the course of the second and third, but not without ruining the surprises that make the story so compelling.

Songs in the Night Trilogy - Jack Cavanaugh