Fatherland

Fatherland (1992) is a work of speculative fiction by Robert Harris. Set in 1964, the novel imagines an alternative history in which Nazi Germany won World War II. It follows Xavier March, a Berlin police detective, as he investigates a suspicious death near the homes of powerful Nazi Party members. His investigation uncovers secrets and deep-rooted corruption within the German government, which lead his investigation back to events at the beginning of World War II. The Gestapo tries to force March off the investigation, but before he’s arrested for crimes against the government, he teams with US journalist Charlie Maguire to try to uncover the truth. Through their high-stakes investigation, Harris explores several themes: Fascism’s Tendency to Breed Corruption, The Dissolution of Objective Truth, and The Value of Individual Responsibility in Fighting Corruption.

This guide uses the Random House paperback version of the novel published in 2006.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death, graphic violence, racism, religious discrimination, antigay bias, ableism, child death, animal cruelty and death, death by suicide, and cursing. In particular, the text interrogates antisemitism and genocide in Germany during the Holocaust and World War II.

Language Note: In discussing the Holocaust and World War II, the text uses offensive and outdated language to refer to Jewish people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, and nonwhite people. This study guide reproduces this language only in quotations.

Plot Summary

The novel begins on April 14, 1964, in an alternative historical reality in which Nazi Germany won World War II and has annexed many surrounding countries. In addition, the Nazi Party has introduced laws against interracial marriage, built large monuments to its victory, and established a rule of law centered on the Party and the Schutzstaffel (SS). It’s six days before the Führertag, a national holiday celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Xavier March, a homicide investigator for the Kripo (the middle level within the SS police organization), is called to a crime scene where the body of an elderly man, Josef Buhler, washed up on the shores of Lake Havel. The body shows no sign of struggle, and the mortician believes that he died of an accidental drowning.

That afternoon, March takes his son, Pili, on a tour of Berlin. Pili excitedly tells his father that he has joined the Pimpfs, a group that indoctrinates young German boys into the Nazi Party as a path to joining the Hitler Youth. Before March drops him off, Pili accuses him of being an asocial, someone who opposes the SS and the Party. March denies the accusations, but Pili points out that the Gestapo has a file on him and is investigating his indifference to the Party. As March tries to follow his angry son into his home, his ex-wife, Klara, tells him to leave them alone.

The next day, March visits Buhler’s home. Just before he enters, his partner, Jaeger, calls to tell him that the Gestapo has taken over the case. However, March ignores this and jumps the gate to Buhler’s home. The door is unlocked. Inside, he finds Buhler’s dog, muzzled and recently abused, as well as a journal. An unopened package is in the mailbox. He flees when infamous SS leader Odilo “Globus” Globocnik arrives with two other men to search the house.

Despite his department’s removal from the case, March keeps investigating for several days. He learns that, just before dying, Buhler met with two other retired government officials: Martin Luther and Wilhelm Stuckart. Luther is still alive but missing, while Stuckart died the day after Buhler. US journalist Charlotte “Charlie” Maguire found Stuckart’s body in his apartment; he was in bed and apparently died by suicide.

March convinces Charlie to accompany him to Stuckart’s apartment. There, they find a locked safe and call Jaeger and a police locksmith for help. Just as they open the safe, the Gestapo arrives in front of the building. In the safe, March finds an envelope from a Swiss bank and gives it to Charlie. She flees, leaving March and Jaeger to face the Gestapo.

After a night in lockup, March is taken back to Buhler’s home, where he meets Globus and Artur Nebe, the head of the Kripo. Globus shows March a room containing valuable art stolen from Poland during World War II. He alleges that Buhler, Stuckart, and Luther smuggled the art out to sell it for financial gain. He says his boss, Reinhard Heydrich (head of the entire police and SS force), wants Globus to investigate the theft as a matter of national security.

After their meeting, Nebe pulls March aside, telling him that the Gestapo has been investigating him for years. Globus wanted March arrested when he kept investigating the case, but Nebe fought with Heydrich to give March a few more days to finish his investigation. Nebe informs March that he has until the Führertag to solve the case, or he’ll be court-martialed.

March reconvenes with Charlie to discuss the envelope she took from Stuckart’s home. She reveals that just before his death, Stuckart asked her for help getting out of the country, claiming to have information that would be dangerous in the government’s hands. She shows March the envelope, which contains a certification letter and key for a Swiss bank account.

March and Charlie travel to Switzerland. They learn that Luther established the bank box in 1942 and paid for 30 years. He reopened the box a few times in 1942 and 1943, apparently opening it for the last time four days ago. Inside is a rare Leonardo da Vinci painting. Disappointed that their search led to more stolen art, March and Charlie return to Berlin.

As March researches the connection between the men, Charlie returns to her apartment. To her surprise, Luther contacts her, seeking asylum in the US. She calls her friend from the US Embassy, Henry Nightingale, who promises to help get Luther asylum if he has valuable information.

Charlie and Henry meet Luther, while March waits nearby to drive them to the Embassy. However, just as Luther arrives, he’s shot and killed. March, Charlie, and Henry barely escape before the police arrive. March accuses Henry of telling someone about their meeting or informing the Gestapo. The two men fight, and Henry leaves.

March and Charlie return to Lake Havel to consider their options. Charlie has an epiphany that Luther may have never returned with anything from Zürich, instead hiding it at the airport. March visits airport security and, with a friend’s help, obtains a briefcase that Luther left there.

Back at Charlie’s apartment, March opens the briefcase. Inside are dozens of documents outlining the 1942 Wannsee Conference (signed affidavits, meeting notes, train schedules, and more), all regarding the Final Solution, Nazi Germany’s plan to execute the millions of Jews it deported. March realizes that the three men smuggled the documents out of Germany as proof that Hitler and Heydrich masterminded the Final Solution. This information proves that they executed the Jews, a fact that the SS hid after Germany’s victory in World War II.

The day before the Führertag, March gives Charlie all the documents and instructs her to go to Switzerland (where March plans to meet her shortly) and seek a way back to the US. If the US government won’t listen to her story, she’ll publish it in the papers.

That afternoon, after Charlie leaves, March visits Pili to say goodbye. Pili invites him into the house, asking his father to read him stories from the war. Just as March realizes that something seems off, the police break into the home, apprehending him. Pili admits that he betrayed his father, wanting him to get help and learn to trust the Nazi Party.

In an interrogation room, March is held overnight, while Globus and his henchman, Krebs, ruthlessly torture him. Globus even shatters March’s hand, demanding to know where Charlie went. Through it all, March resists talking to give Charlie time to escape.

Late that night, Krebs visits March, who is severely injured and exhausted. He pulls March from the station and pretends to transport him to a nearby prison. Instead, he stops en route, pulling March from the car and taking him to Nebe, who informs March that he must complete his investigation to stop Globus. March is released to Jaeger, who drives away. As Jaeger questions March about Charlie and where he wants to go, March realizes that it’s a setup. March holds Jaeger at gunpoint, forcing him to admit that he’s working with Globus, Nebe, and Krebs, who all want March to take them to Charlie to stop her.

March forces Jaeger to drive the opposite direction, leaving Berlin and entering the countryside. March sees several police vehicles and a helicopter tailing them. He has Jaeger stop at the site where Auschwitz used to be, handcuffs Jaeger to the car, and flees on foot, as the police close in. He finds old bricks from the buildings at Auschwitz, providing him with proof of the death camp’s existence.

As the novel ends, March draws his gun and moves into the forest. The police begin to pursue him, but he takes comfort in the strong belief that Charlie made it to Switzerland with all the documents.