Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education event details a hero’s inspiring story
Rebecca Donner’s Sept. 12 lecture transported readers into the life of Mildred Harnack, an American who helped raise awareness of Hitler’s actions during World War II. Photo courtesy of Unsplash
The tearful and extraordinary biography, “All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler,” by Rebecca Donner, was brought to life in a Sept. 12 Zoom event hosted by the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education. The biography won the National Book Critic Circle Award for Biography in 2021.
The novel showcases the life of Mildred Harnack, Donner’s great-great-aunt and an American resistance leader who brought attention and awareness to Hitler’s actions during World War II in Germany. Her strength and intelligence brought hope during dark days. Harnack’s gruesome death was a direct order by Hilter.
“The story of Mildred has been registering in me since I was young,” Donner said during her presentation. “When I was nine, I would visit my great-great-grandmother (Mildred’s sister) in Maryland. In her kitchen, she would have the heights of everyone drawn on the walls, even Mildred’s. I looked at the other lines; the faded ones had an ‘M’ next to them. I would ask my grandmother who is M, and she would respond with, ‘Oh, that’s just Mildred’s.’ I think my obsession came from that moment.”
“The story of Mildred has been registering in me since I was young. When I was nine, I would visit my great-great-grandmother (Mildred’s sister) in Maryland. In her kitchen, she would have the heights of everyone drawn on the walls, even Mildred’s. I looked at the other lines; the faded ones had an ‘M’ next to them. I would ask my grandmother who is M, and she would respond with, ‘Oh, that’s just Mildred’s.’ I think my obsession came from that moment.”
Harnack’s motivation to save innocent lives and equal rights led her to start a resistance group called “The Circle.” Her husband, Arvid Harnack, and she built this group to combat fascism and rising tensions in Germany.
At the event, Donner shared her extensive research to fill in the missing holes in Harnack’s life.
The story is told from a first-person perspective from Harnack’s acquaintances whom Donner interviewed. She described Harnack’s story as “a tremendously timed story of someone who fought a Nazi regime” during the lecture.
Donner’s Zoom presentation covered the biography and the behind-the-scenes scoop of trying to gain information and research about Harnack’s life and her acquaintances. She was able to piece the story together with the diary of Sue Louise Bell, the wife of Donald Heath, the U.S. Secretary in Berlin. Lousie and Donald helped Mildred with her resistance.
Donner was able to interview the couple’s son, Donald Heath Jr. while conducting research for her book. Donner and Heath Jr. had continuous meetings about Harnack and his parents. These meetings helped Donner fill in the gaps in Harnack’s story.
In 1942, Harnack’s resistance towards the Nazi regime gained more attention, growing her circle. However, the attention she brought led to her arrest. Her cellmate, Gertrude, became close to Harnack. During their time in prison together, Gertrude would read poems to Harnack. Donner found these poems, and one of the first lines was “all the frequent troubles of our days,” which inevitably became the book's title.
Gertrude later sent letters to Harnack’s mother-in-law after the war. This helped Donner gather more information about Mildred’s time in prison.
“I found myself welling up with tears, especially during the letters,” Donner said. “Her letters became the portal to her thoughts.”
“I found myself welling up with tears, especially during the letters. Her letters became the portal to her thoughts.”
Marilyn Harran, the director of the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, described the event as a powerful and moving lecture.
“Ms. Donner drew us into how she told Mildred Harnack’s story,” Harran said during an interview with The Panther. “It was almost as if we became her companions as she wrote the book.”
Harran continued: “I really appreciated the insights that Ms. Donner gave us into how she wrote the book. For example, the way she decided on chapter titles and her strategies for making topics that usually seem boring (was) very interesting. Ms. Donner is as gifted a speaker as she is as a writer. Instead of feeling like I was listening to her in a webinar, It felt like we were sitting together in a room and having a conversation. She really brought her great-great aunt’s story to life.”
After attending the lecture, senior screenwriting major Hallie Kostrencich became interested in learning more about Harnack’s life.
“How Rebecca Donner talked about the people she met on the journey of figuring out who this elusive relative was made you feel like she could fully place herself into a part of history that she was not even around for,” Kostrencich told The Panther. “Her retelling was poignant and intimate and evoked a feeling of familiarity for a time and place we have heard about but will never be able to experience firsthand.”
During the lecture, Donner revealed headshots of Harnack and her friends when they were arrested and screenshots of diary entries.
“Mildred Harnack is someone we should have been learning about all along for her resilience and bravery, but society is too embarrassed to admit to doing her wrong in the past,” Kostrencich said.
Junior history major Stuart W. Ledbetter, another student who attended the event, acknowledged that Donner’s research is clearly reflected in her novel, especially in her interview with Donald Heath Jr.
“My favorite part of the lecture was when Donner told us how she had the chance to interview Donald Heath Jr., the courier Mildred Harnack used for her espionage,” Ledbetter said. “Just before he passed away, I found it especially powerful how, after the interview concluded, Heath remarked, ‘I can finally die.’ These stories deserve to be known worldwide.”
The lecture gave insight into history during the war and personal life lessons learned from Harnack’s strength and boldness. Harnack’s story has inspired those who feel they don’t have a voice.
“It is important to know that even in the most repressive of times, there were people who stayed true to themselves and their beliefs and found the courage to resist,” Harran told The Panther. “(Harnack) could easily have chosen to keep her head down and obey the authorities, but she didn’t.”
Harran continued: “Knowing her story challenges me to reflect on my own values and how far I am willing to go to stay true to them.”
“Knowing her story challenges me to reflect on my own values and how far I am willing to go to stay true to them.”
