Conducted by Aubrey Reiss Taylor
Hello Readers! Instead of an author interview, today we are conducting a character interview! If you’ve had a chance to read the new Brave Authors collection, Every Life Treasured, you won’t find Thomas Jodl mentioned until the very end of the third story, Born for Adversity. We’ve discovered snippets of an old interview that took place with Thomas 24 years later, in 1944, during the last year of the Second World War, and today, we’re going to share them with you!
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Aubrey: How would you define bravery? What is it? Where does it come from?
Thomas: Bravery is doing what you have to do, even if you’re afraid. It comes from deep within—my Mama would say it comes from above, from God. It may not be fashionable to say so, but I think she’s right.
Aubrey: Who’s the bravest person you know? Why?
Thomas: Many people don’t realize that I was adopted. The woman who raised me adopted many orphaned boys over the years. Even in her old age, after her husband had passed away, she adopted my brother Benni, who is 18 years younger than me. If lovingly disciplining a herd of wild boys isn’t brave, I don’t know what is!
Aubrey: Du hast Recht. You’ve got that right. Thomas, bravery is very important in the organization you serve, and so is the related quality of toughness in the face of the adversary. Many would say it has gone too far and become heartlessness. So, Thomas Jodl, do you consider yourself brave? Tough? Why or why not?
Thomas: Na ja… [Thomas pauses and rubs his chin thoughtfully.] I’m a driver. I’ve never been put in a position where I have to do anything that actually requires bravery or toughness. Honestly, sometimes, I feel like a pretender, especially since so many other young men have put their lives on the line for Germany. I was put into a lot of challenging situations when I was in training, but it was still a controlled environment. We were all playing for the same team, even if we were supposed to fight each other.
Aubrey: What is a book that has really impacted you? How did it change you? What do you think the author did that made it impactful?
Thomas: I grew up in rural Bavaria. No one came looking for banned books down our dirt road, so I managed to retain a copy of All Quiet on the Western Front throughout my teenage years. While I don’t necessarily agree with Remark, who was fully anti-war, it helped balance my inner convictions with the training I would later receive in the SS. War is not something we can be against, it is a de facto a part of the human condition. We Germans know that better than anybody, with our lands having been raked over by war for centuries. Mama would say it is because of sin in the human heart, and I think she’s right. It has been a tricky balance all these years because some of my comrades have kind of sold out—I don’t think they realize that there’s a lot of paganism woven into our SS culture. I chose this career—sort of—but I also knew what I was getting into. It has protected me from a lot of the stuff I don’t agree with. The Americans and British believe we are all forced to be exactly the same—in reality, there’s a lot of differences among my comrades.
Aubrey: If you could travel anywhere for a week, where would you go? Who would you take with you?
Thomas: I definitely haven’t had the opportunity to travel the way some of the boys have. Working for my boss since 1940, I’ve been in Berlin and East Prussia, mostly. I mentioned my upbringing in rural Bavaria. Even when the Strength Through Joy vacation program was initiated, there wasn’t much opportunity for us, especially once my adoptive father passed, though we were certainly cared for in other respects.
Aubrey: How has the Lord shown Himself faithful in your life?
Thomas: Well that’s a refreshing question. I don’t talk about my beliefs much—it’s not as verboten as people think, but we are encouraged to keep it to ourselves. I feel I can be honest with you, though: my entire life has been proof of God’s faithfulness. My birth parents didn’t want me. I was told my birth father died in 1923, and I knew better than to ask about my birth mother. It’s still a mystery why my family records were retained. No one could have known that I would need them. I know how men who wear this uniform are perceived abroad, but I know I’m in this position for a reason.
Aubrey: What are 3 things about you that we can’t find out from your bio?
Thomas: My bio? [Chuckles.] Maybe you mean my one chapter [in Born for Adversity]. I’ve been living in East Prussia with my boss, his housekeeper, and another young woman who is technically household staff. For five years, I have driven for him and performed all the duties of an adjutant as well—he doesn’t trust many people, but for some reason, I’ve won his confidence. Unfortunately, being indispensable also means I haven’t seen my family in five years… that all changed this fall.
Aubrey: So it did, and here you are back in Bavaria. You’ve had some interesting things happen recently. Can you tell us about them?
Thomas: Absolutely. In events that began to sound more and more like a fairy tale, we had a young woman who came to help my mother and six brothers. It became obvious the young woman was being stalked—true to the Snow White story, there were apples, mirrors, combs and a man named Jäger—which means huntsman. Can you see where this is going?
Aubrey: Indeed. Can we therefore assume that you, Thomas Jodl, came to rescue a sleeping maiden?
Thomas: I came to rescue my family, but I will be honest: I have been intrigued by Gerda since I first heard about her. It wouldn’t be unheard of if this “fairy tale” ends in a Happily Ever After.
Aubrey: Do you foresee a happy ending to the war?
Thomas: Again, between you and me—
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That is all that remains of this fascinating interview, but we can tell you that Thomas’s “Snow White story” has been recorded in a novella entitled Schneewittchen, which appears in a collection called A Worthy Love, published by Beyond the Bookery.
You can pick up both collections on Amazon:
Every Life Treasured: Three Novellas About the Value of Life, including Born for Adversity
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBLGJBMJ
A Worthy Love: A Collection of Historical Fairytale Retellings, including Schneewittchen
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F6VVP4DB
Aubrey Reiss Taylor unites a fascination for history with a passion for redemption, creating a unique brand of gritty, honest wartime sagas, written from the German perspective. She is the mother of three, and married to her best friend Brian. When she’s not writing or taking care of home and family, she enjoys making music, dancing, reading, and spending time with friends.
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