The Twilight of Courage by Brock Thoene
**The Twilight of Courage** by Brock and Bodie Thoene is a historical fiction novel set against the backdrop of World War II, illuminating the personal and national moral crises that emerge as political events unfold in Europe. The story begins with Rabbi Lebowitz praying for his granddaughter Etta Lubetkin and her family, who are imprisoned by Nazis while attempting to escape Warsaw's Jewish ghetto. As the narrative unfolds, Etta’s infant son, Yacov, is hidden by a Polish woman just before the family is taken to concentration camps.
The novel features a diverse cast, including Josephine Marlow, an American correspondent caught in the turmoil of Warsaw, and Horst von Brockman, a conflicted German officer who witnesses the brutality of the Nazis. As nations grapple with the looming threat of war, characters face critical moral dilemmas reflecting the broader societal struggle against evil. The themes of courage, sacrifice, and the necessity of resisting oppression resonate throughout the narrative, highlighting the personal battles that parallel the historical events of the time. Ultimately, the novel explores the tension between the desire for peace and the imperative to confront evil, prompting readers to reflect on the moral choices faced by individuals and nations alike in the face of tyranny.
The Twilight of Courage by Brock Thoene
First published: Nashville, Tenn.: T. Nelson, 1994
Genre(s): Novel
Subgenre(s): Historical fiction (twentieth century)
Core issue(s): Compassion; constancy; courage; ethics; good vs. evil; Judaism; redemption; sacrifice; self-abandonment; suffering
Principal characters
Josephine Marlow , the protagonist, an American journalistMac McGrath , a cameraman with Movietone NewsAndré Chardon , a French army colonelHorst von Brockman , a major in the German armyKatrina von Brockman , Horst’s wifeRichard Lewinski , a Polish Jew and genius mathematicianDavid Meyer , an American pilot who volunteers for the Royal Air ForceTrevor Galway , a British navy lieutenant aboard HMS IntrepidYacov Lubetkin , the infant son of Etta and Aaron Lubetkin, victims of the Nazis
Overview
In The Twilight of Courage, the husband-and-wife team of Brock and Bodie Thoene explore the interplay of political events in Europe at the start of World War II as they imprinted themselves upon the lives of the novel’s principal characters and how the frayed moral fabric of the time brought people to personal crises just as it brought the continent to war. The novel begins with Rabbi Lebowitz, in Jerusalem, praying for the safety of his granddaughter, Etta Lubetkin, and her family in Warsaw, Poland. Rabbi Lebowitz’s granddaughter, Etta, her husband, Aaron Lubetkin, and their children—the smallest of whom is the infant Yacov—have been arrested for trying to leave Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto without permission. They are taken captive by the Nazis to be incarcerated. Etta is able to hide Yacov with a Christian Polish woman just before the Lubetkin family is herded aboard a train for the slave camps.
Josephine Marlow, an American news correspondent assigned to Europe, realizes that she has waited too long to leave Warsaw. She finds herself working as an emergency relief worker for the wounded in a Warsaw’s bombed-out St. John’s Cathedral. Just before Poland surrenders to Germany, Marlow is placed in German custody as an American press neutral to be questioned and shipped to the Netherlands; from there she ultimately finds her way to London.
Horst von Brockman, a German army officer who is not an official member of the Nazi Party and does not agree with all Nazi political positions, witnesses the brutality of the Nazis’ methods of dealing with enemy prisoners in Warsaw. Von Brockman is aghast at what he sees, but he is warned to suppress his moral outrage for the sake of his career and the personal safety of his family as well as himself.
Meanwhile, the entire world sits on its hands as Nazi Germany and Russia both attack and virtually destroy the national identity of Poland. The nation’s leaders are either imprisoned or killed, and the country is carved into pieces as spoils for the aggressors. England and France are afraid to confront German chancellor Adolf Hitler, not because they are not powerful enough to engage the Nazi army but simply because they are willing to sacrifice Poland and other Eastern European countries to appease the aggressor and, they hope, avoid war altogether. The United States sees the struggle as a purely European matter, choosing neutrality as the economically prudent course.
David Meyer, a young American crop duster, disagrees with his country’s neutrality stand. Besides, he likes the idea of flying the incredibly fast and maneuverable Hurricane fighter planes that the British Royal Air Force (RAF) has developed. Meyer decides to renounce his U.S. citizenship and flee to Canada, where he joins the RAF. He soon finds himself on a transport ship headed for England, where he will be trained to fly the Hurricane and then be assigned to combat. After undergoing the RAF’s intense training program, Meyer flies combat sorties from a base in France that borders the neutral state of Belgium.
In a semi-covert operation, intelligence officer Colonel André Chardon has secretly invited Polish mathematical genius Richard Lewinski to his home to attempt to break the code of the infamous Nazi Enigma cryptograms. Lewinski was a ranking operative in Poland when the Enigma machines were being designed, but because of his Jewish heritage he was designated as undesirable when the Nazis came to power. Consequently, Lewinski is the object of a Nazi manhunt as a Jewish escapee as well as a potential intelligence saboteur.
American Mac McGrath, a cameraman for Movietone News, escapes Warsaw just before the Nazi invasion. An associate and would-be paramour of Josephine Marlow, McGrath believes that Marlow is safely on her way out of Poland as he is making his own escape from the invading Nazi assault. After his escape from Poland, Movietone News reassigns McGrath to cover the “Phony War,” as it is known among the Allied countries. McGrath continues to develop his already keen skill for inserting himself into the front lines of every combat situation. He ultimately chooses the adventure of his life as a war correspondent over a life as the lover and husband of Marlow.
As the continuing aggression of Nazi Germany pushes the West toward war, the lives of the characters begin to face moral dilemmas that mirror those of the nations on the brink of war. Von Brockman sees the clear moral void of his country’s policies and the depravity of the atrocities committed by the Gestapo’s SS (Nazi police) units in the field. On the other hand, his identity as a man is invested in his role as a warrior, not merely a professional soldier. These forces collide in a crisis of honor when, after being sickened by the treatment of Jews in Poland, von Brockman agrees to save a single Polish Jewish infant, Yacov Lubetkin. This decision saves not only the baby’s life but also von Brockman’s soul.
Chardon is on secret assignment in England when he learns that his lover, Elaine Snow, has been murdered by the Nazis, allegedly for conspiring to assassinate Hitler at a Munich beer hall. Chardon not only grieves over the death of Snow but also faces his own failure to confront the anti-Semitic bigotry of his family by marrying Snow and accepting the child he has fathered as his own.
England finally rejects the failed leadership of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and embraces the bold resistance against Nazi aggression advocated by Winston Churchill. Consequently, England enters the fray to assist France as Germany makes its “end-run” around the Maginot line. France makes drastic changes in its military leadership, albeit almost too late. As Germany invades through Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Ardennes Forest, it virtually surrounds the British and French fighters and nearly destroys them, driving them into the sea and a devastating rout at Dunkirk.
Just as the nations of France and England suffer disaster and are nearly defeated as a consequence of their lax moral strength in resisting evil, the novel’s characters—Chardon, Lewinski, McGrath, and even the innocent Yacov Lubetkin—endure catastrophic pain and anxiety, escaping only with their lives.
Christian Themes
The foundational Christian theme of The Twilight of Courage is the ongoing necessity to resist evil in order to allow good to survive and triumph. The novel juxtaposes this struggle at two levels—personal and national—as both characters and nations are torn by their desire for “peace at any price” and the need to identify and confront evil for what it is.
At the personal level, Horst von Brockman and André Chardon illustrate this internal moral battleground, played out on a physical battleground. Von Brockman, a Nazi officer, and Chardon, a French officer, are beset by their respective moral cataclysms as they simultaneously function as players in the wartime drama of their homelands. Appalled by the utter brutality and depravity of the Gestapo forces during the invasion of Poland, von Brockman is shaken to his core as he tries to find honorable footing on which to continue as a professional warrior. Chardon, an officer in the French army, which is standing against the Nazis’ abominable treatment of the Jews, has fallen in love with a Jewish woman whom he refuses to marry and fathers a child he is reluctant to claim as his own in the face of his family’s anti-Semitism. This story brings these men face-to-face with the truth of their real characters as they decide how they will conduct their lives.
On the field of nations, a similar moral dichotomy unfolds at the beginning of the war. Germany, rising out of a period of economic recession and poverty to regional prominence, has become aggressive toward its neighbors, embracing a totalitarian form of government that is heavily invested in military might. As Germany flexes its military muscles in Europe, the traditional standardbearers of freedom and democracy, England and France, take a weak, conciliatory approach to German foreign policy. The French and English find, to their consternation, that the more they placate Hitler, the more aggressive he becomes. Finally turning from appeasement to resistance, the Allies engage evil in a just war.
Sources for Further Study
Carrigan, Henry, Jr. Review of The Twilight of Courage. Library Journal 119, no. 18 (November 1, 1994): 65. A brief review of the novel.
Cooper, Ilene, and Sally Estes. “Upfront: Advance Reviews.” Booklist 91, no. 2 (September 15, 1994): 84. Recommended novels for young adults, including The Twilight of Courage.
Groot, Tracy. “Thoenes Hinge Their Books on Small Details.” Grand Rapids Press, November 13, 1994, p. J11. Brief overview of the Thoenes, from their discovery by actor John Wayne.
Holmes, Cecile S. “Exploring Ethics Through Fiction: Husband-Wife Writing Team Is a Novel Success.” Houston Chronicle, December 17, 1994, p. 1. A profile of the husband-and-wife team, the Thoenes, authors of historical and Christian fiction, which praises their “meticulous research.” Photo.
Mort, John. Review of The Twilight of Courage. Booklist 91, no. 2 (September 15, 1994): 84. A lukewarm review.