Witness to War: Lessons from a WWII Translator
Historical takeaways on war, peace, and blind nationalism through the eyes of a soldier.
“The Translator”
November 11, 2024
This time last year, a destructive war ignited across the Middle East. Ceasefire talks and hostage exchanges took place, yet bombs continued to rain down on innocent Palestinian Gazans — primarily women and children.
Israeli hostage families lived in a mix of fear and hope, waiting for their government to bring their loved ones home safely. Even now, these families hold tightly to their government’s promise to do the right thing. Instead, the hardline Israeli government, led by a deceitful Netanyahu, dismisses their heartfelt demands while continuing to bomb Gaza and setting its sights on Lebanon. Many of these hostage families also have loved ones in Gaza. Israeli citizens now face ostracism for anything remotely associated with “peace,” according to Standing Together activists on the ground in Israel-Palestine.
All of this unfolds with the support of the United States Congress, influenced by Christian Zionism. Christian Zionism, though appearing to support Israel, harbors deeply antisemitic ideas. Christian Zionists often endorse the “Great Replacement Theory,” openly quoting and admiring figures like Hitler and promoting the notion of a secretive group controlling everything. (More on that below.)
Queen’s University Belfast’s Tristan Sturm reports that over 30 million Christian Zionists reside in the United States — more than twice the worldwide population of Jews.
Christian Zionism centers on a belief that Jews will eventually convert to Christianity, triggering the second coming of Christ. Ironically, Jesus of Nazareth — later known as “the Christ” — lived as a Jew, not a Christian, in Roman-occupied Palestine. Some of the world’s oldest Christian communities, originally Jewish, still reside in Palestinian territories. These narratives contradict the skewed belief that Jesus was white, Protestant, or Catholic.
The logic behind Christian Zionism remains deeply flawed and manipulative. This ideology, promoted by leaders like Donald Trump, numerous MAGA representatives, and John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), perpetuates disturbing beliefs. Hagee famously claimed that Hitler served as a “messenger” sent by God to gather the world’s Jews in Israel. Such an insensitive statement disregards the profound trauma of the Holocaust, where Nazis brutally murdered 6 million Jews.
Another harmful stereotype, the “dual loyalty” trope, implies that certain communities feel a stronger allegiance to another country than to the United States.
In 2019, NBC reported that Donald Trump used this trope to pressure American Jews to vote for MAGA candidates, stating, “You vote for a Democrat, you’re being very disloyal to Jewish people and very disloyal to Israel.” Most American Jews identify as Democrats, and forcing them into an allegiance with Trump is both frightening and insulting.
He wasn’t even an adult yet, but he was shipped away to Europe and would help achieve the most dangerous plot to overcome the Nazi regime: Operation Overlord or what we now call the D-Day invasion of World War II.
This mission’s success would give the Allies the upper hand to overthrow Hitler’s tyrannical rule across Europe and parts of North Africa.
Growing up among the cornfields of Iowa, Donald “Don” Nanke spoke fluent German, raised in a community of German immigrants who greeted each other with “Deutschland über alles” (“Germany above all”) — a common greeting among his neighbors.
When Don enlisted, his family said, “Good luck. You’re fighting the best in the world.”
The reasons behind his decision to enlist at 17 remain unknown, but perhaps life in Iowa felt limiting. Whatever he sought wasn’t waiting for him there.
Don’s fluency erased any language barrier between him and the German Nazis. The U.S. Army placed him in intelligence, leveraging his understanding of German culture and propaganda, which made the Nazis’ racial ideologies even more reprehensible to him.
Ignorance didn’t serve as a luxury for him, as it might have for others who spoke only English. Imagine visiting the U.K. as an American and feeling at home with the language. The German that Don knew made Nazi-occupied Europe more vivid and haunting, as he fully understood the Nazi propaganda that fueled racial “purity” and exclusion.
Don and his fellow soldiers advanced through Europe, arriving at what they assumed was a prisoner-of-war camp. No one yet fully understood the Nazis’ extermination campaign or the function of concentration camps. After intense questioning, a Nazi at the camp revealed the horrifying purpose: to kill Jews. Don likely became one of the first Americans to receive and translate that devastating truth.
Imagine growing up among Germans in the U.S., only to confront the reality of such crimes. Phrases like “Germany above all” might not sound the same — or in our case, “America first.”
Don survived the D-Day invasion on Normandy’s beaches and fought in five major battles, including the grueling Battle of the Bulge, a six-week ordeal in the freezing cold. Before D-Day, he even guarded Southwick House as General Eisenhower planned Operation Overlord. Once Europe was secure, Don was asked to assist with the Nuremberg Trials, but he politely declined.
In high school, I remember learning how American soldiers in the European theater of WWII accustomed themselves to sleeping while walking because they never had a moment to rest their heads. I also knew the terrors of the Battle of the Bulge. I watched “Band of Brothers.”
I was stunned: how did Don, merely a teenager, manage to survive the Normandy beaches, five additional major battles, and a concentration camp liberation? Such survival is nothing short of a miracle.
I believe Don’s survival serves a purpose: to stand as a witness to the truth that war is never the answer and that authority should always be questioned.
Later, Don became a skilled stonemason and contractor, taking on a construction project in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. One day, after a grenade landed in a theater where he was watching a film, he decided he’d had enough. He immediately left Vietnam; war was something his nervous system could no longer accommodate.
Though Don suffered from PTSD, he shared his wartime experiences with my husband, Jared, never sparing the brutal realities.
To the people who bought into Trump’s Southern Strategy: I feel pity. I can only imagine what WWII veterans like Don Nanke would have to say about Trump and the MAGA party that backs him.
“From out of the ground a eulogy grows and becomes a poppy.” – Nanette L. Avery
I pray for our veterans, the future of this fragile country, and a time when we can turn our swords into plowshares. -Meghan
My newsletter and concept, Faith is Feminist, started out as an honest exploration of figuring out went wrong with Christianity’s early embrace of equality in faith spaces and confronting institutionalized power and empire.
There is more to this picture than meets the eye. Since starting this newsletter, I have discovered the serious negligence that exists within patriarchal systems, including Christian spaces that privilege male power and race, and how these patriarchal systems foster environments of abuse, especially for children and women.
If you’ve been here for a while, a huge solid thank you to you. I appreciate you more than you may realize.
“In Defeat: Defiance…In Peace: Good Will” -Winston Churchill