That Time Cannot Be Forgotten

"In an exchange of letters written in the closing years of the twentieth century, two men struggle to come to terms with the signal event of their time, the Holocaust. Born in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany in the early part of the twentieth century, both bore witness to the turbulent years of the Weimar Republic, Hitler, World War II, and the Holocaust. But their perspectives were entirely different. Sold was a Catholic and served in the Wehrmacht during World War II. Friedhoff, a Jew, escaped from Hitler's Germany and fled to the United States. The two men never met. A book led to their first contact. A half-century after circumstances had placed them in different worlds, the two suddenly found themselves in a correspondence that covered the many issues of that earlier time, in particular those involving the Holocaust - racism, hatred, religion, philosophy, government, and education.". "Despite the obstacle of never having seen one another, the two became friends. Their discussions often led to conflict and only sometimes ended in resolution, for theirs was not a genteel rehashing of generally accepted views. They tackled difficult issues and did not blunt their arguments for fear of offending the other. The result is an honest and open exchange of letters that speak as much to the future as they do about the past."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.