General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnyone here ever watched BBC Television Series "SS-GB" ?
If so, were you already familiar with the book of the same title?
I wasn't familiar with the book, and am embarrassed to admit I had no idea any part of England had been occupied by the German Nazi's during WWII. (Channel Islands)
This story is set in London. I'm only in the second episode, but it had me scampering to Wikipedia for fact checking history.
Watching it on Hoopla - a Library streaming service.
I don't know how I've missed this incredibly mind blowing bit of history, but it's quite telling:
from wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_the_Channel_Islands
wcmagumba
(2,871 posts)The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society...quite good film...I can only find it on Netflix currently...I do subscribe to Hoopla so I'll look for SS-GB, thanks...
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)Kanopy is another library streaming film service... it has a different film reportoire than Hoopla.
Aristus
(66,075 posts)reading about.
The Dame of Sark, Sibyl Hathaway, received praise for her imperious behavior towards the authority-loving German soldiers, insisting that they show her respect and deference.
But she has come under justifiable criticism for her obedience and support of German directives during the occupation, many of which were anti-Semitic.
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)I'm just now delving in to this series, but the little bit I read on Wiki in terms of the treachery, breach of trust who turned into collaborators, etc etc. wow. A lot for me to catch up on.
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)sounds to be interesting, and informative.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,149 posts)They have independence for things like tax, but not defence (which was, I suppose, the main point in WW2). They're the remnant of the time when England controlled land on the continent (eg Calais, up to the 1550s). They weren't in the EU, for example.
I had heard of the SS-GB book (Len Deighton is a well-known thriller author in Britain - he wrote The Ipcress File, if you've seen the Michael Caine film of that), but never read it.
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)I'll look forward to it.
Seems like I just culled in a few good book and film titles....
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)I'll check other potential sources.
Ilsa
(61,675 posts)Channel Islands. One of the History Channel programs showed were the prison was, etc. Sounded very horrible.
What does SS-GB stand for?
I'll have to check out Hoopla.
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)DavidDvorkin
(19,404 posts)Both are good.
There have been a few British TV series about the occupation of the Channel Islands (which are under the crown but not legally part of England).
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)The tv series uses London as an alternative setting to real events as it is fictionalized, however it was treated as though it were actual events, wouldn't you say? In any event, it had me racing off to Wikipedia.
DavidDvorkin
(19,404 posts)Such stories are always told that way.
If you're referring to the dramas about the occupation of the Channel Islands, those were done as historical fiction.
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)I never had the geography in relation to Normandy fixed in my understanding of that history, until now.
Per Wikipedia at this link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_the_Channel_Islands
Anticipating a swift victory over Britain, the occupying German forces initially experimented by using a relatively moderate approach to the non-Jewish population, supported by local collaborators. However, as time progressed the situation grew gradually worse, leading to forced labour, mass deportations and ending in near starvation for both occupied and occupiers during the winter of 1944.
Not to get all paranoid or anything, but when I see trump humping boot lickers carrying the Nazi flag such as the occasion in Charlottesville Va, in 2017, and other events, I see people who would intend to carry on these very atrocities here on our soil.
If they had a smarter more strategically thinking psychopath as their leader, it could be pulled off here.
sarisataka
(18,204 posts)I'll have to check it out
msfiddlestix
(7,264 posts)screen play is blowing me away.