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Historical Fiction
Date Published: February 11, 2020
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Perhaps no man on earth is more controversial, more hated, or more studied than Adolf Hitler. Yet many questions remain about his personal life and how he gained power. Based on extensive research, the extraordinary novel WOLF, by Herbert J. Stern and Alan A. Winter (Skyhorse Publishing; February 11, 2020), lifts the curtain so that the reader can observe through the eyes of a fictional character, how a seemingly unremarkable corporal who was denied a promotion for lack of "leadership ability" became dictator of Germany. The result is a gripping page-turner, a masterful historical novel.
The story begins in the mental ward of Pasewalk Hospital as World War I ends. A gravely ill soldier, who has lost his memory and is given the name Friedrich Richard, encounters a fellow patient: Adolf Hitler. Suffering from hysterical blindness, Hitler, also known as Wolf, becomes dependent on Friedrich for help with the simplest, day-to-day tasks. By the time Hitler’s sight returns, the two have forged an unbreakable bond.
Upon release from the hospital, Friedrich heads to Berlin to work as a nightclub bouncer, while Wolf moves to Munich where he focuses on turning a fledgling political club into what will soon become the Nazi party. After accidentally killing a man, Friedrich flees to Munich and reunites with his close friend.
Persuaded by Hitler's convictions about how to rebuild Germany in the wake of its defeat, Friedrich joins the Nazi’s inner circle. Hitler, who in real life often played one advisor against the other – and was not one to rely on any of them – trusts the fictional Friedrich so much so, that he calls upon him to help resolve both personal and national crises that are historically accurate. Throughout the sixteen years covered in WOLF, Friedrich interacts with dozens of people who largely lived the lives the authors depict – from Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels to Berlin brothel-owner Kitty Schmidt and film star Lilian Harvey.
While history has painted Hitler as a man unable to forge lasting relationships, the authors’ research has uncovered that, in fact, he built many lifelong friendships. Hitler was attractive to women and had multiple affairs with young women as well as with the wealthy society matrons who backed the party. These relationships, which are portrayed in WOLF, “have been documented in numerous interviews over the course of seventy years, yet they have rarely, if ever, been reported by historians,” Stern and Winter explain.
During the course of the novel, Friedrich struggles to reconcile his loyalty to Hitler with his own rejection of the party’s anti-Semitism. He never wavers in his friendships with Jews, such as nightclub owner Max Klinghofer and police chief Bernhard Weiss. It is Friedrich who saves Weiss, the highest-ranking Jew in the German police when Goebbels orders him arrested. After this incident, Friedrich promises Weiss to remain by Hitler's side in the hope that he can help lessen the severity of increasingly harsher laws meant to drive Jews from Germany.
WOLF is a historical novel that will satisfy history buffs and fiction fans alike. For those who want more, the authors’ meticulous research can be accessed at www.NotesOnWolf.com. In combination, the novel and the notes deftly answer the question: how did a nondescript man become the world’s greatest monster? This is truly a lesson that no one can afford to ignore.
Interview with Alan Winter, co-author of WOLF: A NOVEL
For those interested in exploring
the subject or theme of your book, where should they start?
WOLF: A NOVEL is
historical fiction based on fact. My co-author, Herb Stern, and I reveal many
secrets about Hitler’s life focusing on 1918 to 1934. We spent years researching this maniacal
dictator.
Readers can
visit www.notesonwolf.com where
we’ve posted original documents including letters and photographs that shed new
light on Hitler.
Readers will
also learn about the many real people with whom the main character of WOLF,
Friedrich Richard, interacts throughout the book. These historical notes
are a treasure trove of information and new insights.
How did you become involved with
the subject or theme of your book?
Herb Stern, a good friend for nearly
forty years, suggested that we write a novel together about Hitler. I was
skeptical at first, believing that there was little left that had not been said
about Hitler and the Nazis, but Herb proved me wrong. I soon learned that the
years immediately following WWI were glossed over by most historians and there
was much that we could add to the historiography of that period.
What were your goals and
intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved
them?
Our goal was to write a book the
likes of which has never been written before. We pulled back the curtain on
what historians were afraid to expose, and we got it right.
Anything you would like to say to your
readers and fans?
WOLF does what no other book has ever done:
it shows the personal side of Hitler. It does not glorify him, it does not give
him false attributes, but paints the picture of a man with worries, challenges,
fears, despair, hopes, loves, wants, and ambitions. In no way does this imply that
Hitler was normal. We know that he was mentally unbalanced. He took logical
problems to illogical conclusions. When reading WOLF, take your time . . .
because there is much to absorb.
What did you enjoy most about writing
this book?
The research. Herb and I dug deep into
memoirs, interviews, archives, and traced footnotes and references to their
original sources. What we discovered was that there were many inaccuracies in
history books and that, sadly, they cannot be taken literally until the
references are verified.
Can you tell us a little bit about your
next books or what you have planned for the future?
Herb and I will soon be working on the sequel
to WOLF. As of now, it will cover the years 1934-39. If all goes according to
plan, there will be a third volume that takes our fictional protagonist, Friedrich
Richard, to a stunning conclusion.
How long have you been writing?
My first attempt at writing was a movie
treatment. That was 37 years ago. While nothing came of it, I liked the writing
process. Since then, I have written a screenplay that I turned into one of the
four novels that I have already published. WOLF is my fifth.
Can you tell us a little bit
about the characters in WOLF?
What is essential to understand is
that most of the characters, events, and speeches in WOLF are real. Our main
character, Friedrich, was the device that allowed us to tell the story, by
having him befriend Hitler when they were in a hospital in adjacent beds at the
end of WWI.
If you could spend the day with one of
the characters from WOLF, who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this
particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
There is little doubt that I would spend it
with Friedrich Richard. He allows the reader, in real time, to witness how the
most evil dictator in history came to power. And if Friedrich were alive today,
I would want to be his friend because of his sensitivities and ability to see
the world through unprejudiced eyes.
About the Authors
Herbert J. Stern, formerly US attorney for the District of New Jersey, who prosecuted the mayors of Newark and Atlantic City, and served as judge of the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, is a trial lawyer. He also served as judge of the United States Court for Berlin where he presided over a hijacking trial in the occupied American Sector of West Berlin. His book about the case, Judgment in Berlin, won the 1974 Freedom Foundation Award and became a film starring Martin Sheen and Sean Penn. He also wrote Diary of a DA: The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Took on the Mob, Fought Corruption, and Won, as well as the multi-volume legal work Trying Cases to Win.
Alan A. Winter is the author of four novels, including Island Bluffs, Snowflakes in the Sahara, Someone Else’s Son, and Savior’s Day, which Kirkus selected as a Best Book of 2013. Winter graduated from Rutgers with a degree in history and has professional degrees from both New York University and Columbia, where he was an associate professor for many years. He edited an award-winning journal and has published more than twenty professional articles. Winter studied creative writing at Columbia’s Graduate School of General Studies. His screenplay, Polly, received honorable mention in the Austin Film Festival, and became the basis for Island Bluffs.
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