What if Hitler had won the war and succeeded in achieving his terrible plans?

The story of “Fatherland” starts in 1964. Preparations are ongoing for a glorious celebration of Hitler’s birthday. We are presented to Nazi Berlin and its grand new monuments built in honour and to serve the new regime. In the meantime, a body is found and Xavier March is called to investigate it. He is a regular German policeman who is not very happy with his job. His lack of enthusiasm with Nazism leads his colleagues to avoid him and his family to desert him. That’s the reason why it is Xavier March investigating the murder; everyone else is too busy with important things: the celebration of Hitler’s birthday.

The case is deemed unimportant, but soon he realizes that it is not an ordinary murder. During the course of the investigation, he meets a foreign journalist who tells him disturbing things about the regime, something about massive murder in concentration camps… At first, he does not believe her, but he keeps on thinking about what she said and tries to uncover the truth.

Robert Harris tells the story from the point of view of a regular person, fully integrated in the system, but one that can pay attention to what lies beyond. As a “normal” person, he believes in the Nazi propaganda, partly because he has no reason not to. After all, there are no other sources of information. When he meets a foreign person, with information unavailable in his country, he starts questioning everything. What she is telling is too unbelievable. He doesn’t even comprehend it. However, he starts thinking, connecting the dots… and he goes on investigating although he is not allowed to do so. The investigation puts his life in danger, but he pushes forward. Until, one day, he discovers the horrifying truth.

The book is based on the fact that the German population was completely unaware about the concentration camps and portraits how people were required to comply with the regime. Those who did not were sidelined, maybe even arrested by the Gestapo and tortured. Eventually, they were killed. Even those who would comply could be killed anyway. No one was safe and people would do anything to survive.

As a former journalist, knowingly or not, Robert Harris shows how important free press is, to investigate in depth and denounce all wrong doing of the State, regardless of the regime. Authoritarian regimes want their populations to be kept in the dark, and be ignorant. So, they feed people with propaganda and they force them to be part of organizations where they can mould their brains. We can see this in Xavier March’s son. He thinks he is doing the best he can do for his father, believing his father needs to see reason. He doesn’t know better, but he should.

The role of the American journalist is the opposite of Xavier March’s son. She represents the free press that investigates and denounces. She shows the truth and how it is important for people to be informed.