War and Remembrance is a novel by Herman Wouk, published in October 1978 as the sequel to Wouk's The Winds of War (1971). The Winds of War covers the period 1939 to 1941, and War and Remembrance continues the story of the extended Henry and Jastrow families from 15 December 1941 through 6 August 1945. The novel was adapted into a television mini-series, War and Remembrance, and presented on American television in 1988.
Plot War and Remembrance completes the cycle that began with The Winds of War. The story includes historical occurrences at Midway, Yalta, Guadalcanal, and El Alamein as well as the Allied invasions at Normandy and the Philippines.
One of the more significant themes in the novel and one that occurs in many of Wouk's works is a rediscovery of a central character's Jewish identity. Biblical scholar Aaron Jastrow and his niece Natalie Henry's experience of the Holocaust and their internment in Theresienstadt Ghetto are the events that trigger their newfound identification with their Judaism, Jastrow having formerly converted to Catholicism. "Jastrow is transformed from a rational professor with only marginal awareness of his Jewishness into a passionate champion of his Jewish integrity" according to one reviewer.Cohen, Robert A., Editor-in-Chief, "War and Remembrance Deserves a Thoughtful Second Look", St. Louis Jewish Light, St. Louis, Missouri, pg. 7, 14 June 1989
The action moves back and forth between the characters against the backdrop of World War II: Victor "Pug" Henry takes part in various battles while separating from his wife. Pug's older son Warren, a naval aviator, and younger son, Byron, a submarine officer, also participate in combat. Warren is killed at the battle of Midway. Byron's wife Natalie is trapped in Axis territory with her uncle, celebrated author Aaron Jastrow, and another major strand focuses on their story as Jews caught in Europe. Like most Americans, Natalie and Aaron fail to believe that the civilized German culture with which they are familiar could possibly engage in genocide. As a result of their rash decision to stay when they could escape, they are slowly absorbed into the Jewish population that is first interned, then sent to concentration camps. As Byron attempts to find out what is happening to them, eventually tracking them down amidst the chaos of wartime Europe, the story of the Holocaust is gradually revealed to the American government and people. Another plot thread concerns Aaron Jastrow's cousin Berel who is captured near the end of The Winds of War and is forced to join Kommando 1005, SS officer Paul Blobel's Jewish contingent that travels around Eastern Europe exhuming the bodies of massacred Jews and disposing of them in an effort to hide the evidence of Nazi mass murder.
Characters
The Henrys
Victor "Pug" Henry – the main protagonist, becomes captain of the heavy cruiser after his prospective command, the battleship , is sunk at Pearl Harbor. He commands the ship until late 1942, when at the Battle of Tassafaronga the cruiser is sunk by Japanese long-range torpedoes. Henry is not faulted for the loss of his ship, but instead of receiving another naval command at once, is sent back to the Soviet Union to observe the effects of Lend-Lease; he observes the Siege of Leningrad and the privation of the Soviet home front. From there, he is used by Harry Hopkins as an observer. In the novel, he assists in the Tehran Conference of 1943, and then serves as a troubleshooter for landing craft production. In this capacity, he travels to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and is forced to work with Colonel Harrison (Hack) Peters, his rival for Rhoda's love.
Henry is promoted to rear admiral in early 1944. During this period, Rhoda obtains a divorce and Henry is able to marry Pamela. He does not do so until after he takes part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf as a battleship division commander with his flag in . He serves directly under Admiral William Halsey. The novel goes into this battle in greater detail than does the miniseries, including discussion of the most commonly perceived of Halsey's operational mistakes.
Victor marries Pamela in April 1945. Upon the death of President Roosevelt, President Harry S Truman makes him his naval aide.
Victor is a straightforward, honest man, which gains him the respect of political leaders such as Roosevelt and Hopkins, and the admiration of Hack Peters.
The novel notes that Henry retired from the Navy and lived in Oakton, Virginia (near Washington) after the war. He spent part of his retirement translating Armin von Roon's book, and from his notations and commentary, he can be deduced to still be alive as of 1973.
According to his notations and commentary of Roon's book, Henry retired as a vice admiral. However, there is no mention as to whether he was actually promoted to vice admiral and given a new assignment after his tenure as President Truman's naval aide prior to his retirement or if he was a "tombstone admiral". (Upon retirement, a flag officer is promoted 1 grade in rank if that officer received a commendation for their performance in combat. The flag officer will receive the retirement pay and benefits of the actual lower rank but is authorized to use the higher title in correspondence, on business cards, on their uniforms if they have a need to wear their old uniform, and—more to the point of the nickname—on their tombstones. This practice was abolished in 1959. In Pug's case he would receive the retirement pay and benefits of a rear admiral although he is called Vice Admiral.)
Rhoda Henry – The war, and their time apart, puts a strain on Victor Henry's marriage to Rhoda. She ends her relationship with Palmer Kirby, only to fall in love with Harrison "Hack" Peters, an army colonel. Both the novel and the miniseries show her drinking problem getting worse. Warren Henry – Victor's elder son continues to serve as a naval pilot until his death on the last day of the Battle of Midway. He scored a hit on one of the Japanese carriers in the first day of the battle and his rear gunner damaged one Zero. His death affects the Henrys deeply. Victor's thoughts parallel the lament of King David for his son, Absalom. Byron Henry – Victor's younger son starts the war as an officer on the fictional submarine USS Devilfish. When the captain, Branch Hoban, breaks down under the strain of an attack, the executive officer, Carter "Lady" Aster takes over and leads the attack. Aster becomes commander of the boat, with Byron his executive officer. While on leave in Hawaii, Byron is aware that Janice, his brother's widow, is acting strangely. He does not know that she is having an affair with Aster.
Byron wants to see Natalie; when possible, he wangles duty in the European theater. He serves as a courier to the U.S. mission to Vichy France and tries to get Natalie to leave with him. She refuses on the grounds that while they were able to cross Poland in a war in 1939, they did not have Louis, their infant son, at the time. Byron and Natalie agree that Natalie and Louis and Aaron should wait to get a passport from the U.S. consulate in Marseille while Byron travels directly to Lisbon and books a room. Byron arrives in Portugal just as Operation Torch begins, and the plan has to be scrapped.
Byron returns to the Pacific theater and rejoins Aster on the fictional submarine USS Moray. Aster is severely wounded while on deck during an air attack and to save the boat, orders Byron to submerge without him. (This event is based on the death of Commander Howard W. Gilmore of the on February 7, 1943. Gilmore was awarded the Medal of Honor). Byron is later awarded command of the USS Barracuda.
As a Naval Reservist, Byron has mixed feelings about his role in the war. He is competent, but doesn't enjoy fighting. However, in one engagement, he is forced to surface and fight a battle against a Japanese destroyer. When told he will win the Navy Cross, he replies, "Killing Japs gave Carter Aster a thrill. It leaves me cold."
Shortly before the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Byron visits his father aboard his flagship. The meeting is strained, because Byron blames Pamela for the breakup of his father's marriage. Later, his sister, Madeline, straightens him out about the causes of the breakup; he and his father reconcile.
In April 1945, Natalie is found in Weimar, Germany. Byron presses the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, for an assignment in Europe so he might be reunited with his wife. He is assigned to investigate the technical details of captured German U-boats and leaves for Europe to join his wife, now recovering in a hospital, and to find his son, Louis. After a long search throughout Europe, Byron reunites with Louis, who was in an orphanage, only to find Louis is so traumatized he will not talk. However, when he reunites Louis with Natalie, Louis begins to sing with her. The reunion occurs on August 7, 1945, the day after the first use of the atomic bomb in warfare.
Janice Henry – The wife of Warren Henry. After the death of Aster she disappears from the miniseries; aside from a line Pug says about her going into law school. In the book she is given a few sentences more. Janice ends up with a politician. Madeline Henry – Victor and Rhoda Henry's daughter; wife of Simon Anderson.
The Jastrows Aaron Jastrow – Aaron Jastrow is a Jewish American expatriate professor who has lived for years in Siena, Italy. As the book opens, Jastrow, his niece Natalie, and Natalie's son Louis are aboard a steamer in Naples, waiting to attempt the illegal and perilous sea voyage to Palestine. Then Jastrow meets a former student, Werner Beck, now in the German diplomatic corps. Beck offers them his protection, and they leave the ship to return to Jastrow's Siena villa, where it appears safe, although the Italian government refuses to give them visas, while making paper-thin excuses. Beck initially pretends sympathy and friendliness, so he can solicit Jastrow in broadcasting Axis propaganda. After Jastrow refuses, Beck makes veiled threats, so Jastrow, Natalie and Louis escape to Elba, then Corsica, and finally to Marseille, in Vichy France. After the Allied landings in Africa in November 1942, Germany occupies Vichy and closes the borders. Natalie, Louis and other trapped Americans are sent by the Vichy government first to Lourdes and then to Baden-Baden, Germany, to be part of a diplomatic exchange. Aaron falls ill and he and Natalie and Louis are transferred to Paris, where Jastrow is treated at the American Hospital. Beck reappears in Paris, again threateningly requesting that Jastrow make the propaganda broadcasts. Jastrow, Natalie and Louis attempt to flee back to Baden-Baden, but the Germans stop them and the three are soon after sent to Theresienstadt Ghetto. Adolf Eichmann has Jastrow savagely beaten after he refuses to join the so-called "Council of Elders". Jastrow acquiesces and takes a major role in the beautification, a Potemkin village to convince the Danish Red Cross that conditions are excellent in the "Paradise Camp." When his usefulness is ended, he is sent to Auschwitz. The Council members thought that as "prominents" they would be spared, but all were immediately sent to the gas chambers. Jastrow's body is cremated with millions of other Jews, but despite the degradation of his body, his soul was rekindled with what it means to be a Jew. He leaves behind a diary, A Jew's Journey, which is quoted throughout the book. Aaron hides his diary behind books in his library at Theresienstadt