I will love you beyond measure
Be true to you unconditionally
attend to order and cleanliness,
work hard for you and the children and myself,
be frugal, when it is called for,
generous in all things,
trust you!
What is mine shall be yours,
I will always be there for you
-- Elisabeth Wust, née Kappler
Aimée & Jaguar by Erica Fischer is something of a remarkable account. I recently watched the film adaption, which changed some details for dramatic license, but held the core of the basic story:
The film explores the lives of the characters Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), a Jewish woman who assumed a false name and who belongs to an underground organization, and Lilly Wust (Juliane Köhler), a married mother of four children, unsatisfied with her husband (a German soldier).
The book clarifies how things actually occurred (e.g., the divorce between Lilly and her husband occurred differently), provided a bio for Felice and discussed what happened after Felice was captured. This latter matter provided an interesting (among other things) account of regularity in the midst of craziness. As Felice was taken various places before her (unrecorded) final days, Lilly was at first able to visit and contact her. We even read brief messages that survived a few months later when Felice was in a concentration camp. And, some of Lilly's diary entries from that time. This is take a bit far at points, but it is a good device overall.
The basic story is a lesbian love story, but it also is a window into another time. The charm is that we have a lot of writings (as well as some remarks of survivors, including Jews who hid in Berlin and so forth) from that time, particularly a lot of poetry from Felice (the book was originally in German though the poetry translates well into English) and writings between the two lovers. As noted in a brief epilogue from the author, there is some holes from the perspective of Lilly (Aimee was a pet name given by Felice from a play, and it means "beloved"). For instance, we have a detailed background of Felice's upbringing, but very little on Lilly.*
[The opening excerpt is from vows of sorts they traded as a sort of marriage contract.]
The movie was somewhat more hazy about certain details but provided a great sense of place (one where the usual rules were not in place) and dramatic energy. Or something. Seriously, it was very good, the two leads particularly making it work. Juliane Köhler (Lilly; one photo in particular does remind me of her) later played a Jew fleeing from Germany in the Academy Award winner Nowhere in Africa (they emigrated there) and later as Eva Braun in Downfall. Since she was alive when the book was written, we know more about her, but Maria Schrader (various German roles I'm not familiar with) as Jaguar (as in the animal, her pet name) is somewhat more the focus in the film.
We know about the events before and after from various accounts, but Anne Frank is generally known for the events in her diary. A couple years of an already short life is what most people think about. As with the Civil War in the lives of others, a few years also comes off as the true time for these two. Life was pretty sad for Lilly after Felice was arrested, particularly after the war. Besides a short, unhappy, marriage, apparently she did not express her lesbian side again. But, many a love story is about a short period of bliss, if during truly scary times.
So is this. [Jaguar & Aimee]
* I'm not quite sure why -- yes, Lilly might not have wanted to share, but various things were in the public record. Thus, a chapter on her youth could have been done, probably, but the epilogue suggests the author (Jewish herself and born in 1943 of a mother who grew up in Poland) was less interested in digging that up. But, with a half-Jewish (!) brother and such, it surely would have added to the account. The book is however is generally neutral in tone.