In the Presence of Mine Enemies is an Alternate History novel by Harry Turtledove. Originally published as a short story, the novel is set in a world where Nazi Germany won World War 2 and eventually, along with Imperial Japan, went on to defeat the United States and Canada to become the dominant world superpowers.
The story of the novel takes place in Berlin from the middle of 2010 through the middle of 2011, centering on a small group of surviving Jews who managed to survive the The Holocaust posing as "Aryans" with forged documentation. The Jewish family of the Gimpels being the main characters as the story begins with them informing their daughter, on her 10th birthday, of her true heritage. Amidst the backdrop of all this are the burgeoning calls for political reform growing in the Reich's puppet states and even in Germany itself.
Not to be confused with the film of the same name.
This novels contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The book is an expansion of a short story of the same name that Turtledove wrote. The first chapter, save for a few details, is what composed the original short story.
- Allohistorical Allusion: The whole story is one for the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union.
- Alternate History Wank: Really the only explanation for how Germany could maintain a military occupation of most of Europe but also the very large and expansive nations of the U.S. and Canada across the globe.
- Alternate-History Nazi Victory: No exact point of divergence is giving but going off what Heinrich Gimpel says, the general one seems to be the U.S. never entered World War 2 in this timeline.
- Battle Trophy: The German Reich has a museum in Berlin that acts a monument to Germany's victories over it's enemies in the 20th Century, including; the radioactive remains of the Liberty Bell, a glider used to land troops in southern Britain, the first Panzer IV to enter the Soviet Kremlin, and the railroad car in which Germany yielded to France in 1918, and in which France in turn yielded to Germany in 1940.
- Bittersweet Ending: The German Reich caves into political pressure and democratizes but this still a world where the Nazis were largely successful at wiping out the Jews and other peoples they deemed inferior, with survivors having to do their utmost to maintain their secrecy. It's also made clear that the military doesn't intend to end the occupation of countries like the U.S.
- The Coup: The SS attempt to launch one in response to new Chancellor Buckliger's democratization reforms. They're foiled by massive civilian demonstrations against it and eventually when the Wehrmacht sides with the protestors.
- Crapsaccharine World: The ending appears to setup of the world as this. On the surface, the German Reich democratizes and appears to begin easing up on it's occupation of it's vassal countries. However it's still a world where the Nazis won, the few surviving Jews still have maintain utter secrecy to survive, and elections are only allowed for "full-blooded Aryans".
- Day Of The Jack Boot: Multiple nations of the world in Europe and North America live under military occupation of Germany. Also goes for many nations in Asia and the Pacific being under Japan.
- Dystopia: It's a world where the Nazis are victorious so it comes with the territory.
- Epic Fail: During the climax, after learning that Reichsfuhrer Lothar Prutzmann has killed himself rather than face justice, his puppet Fuhrer Odilo Globocnic tries to do so, too. He misses and gets beaten to death by the mob anyway.
- Fallen States of America: The U.S. is a tributary vassal state to Germany, having lost a third of it's population and cities such as Philadelphia and D.C. to Germany in the Third World War in the 60s/70s. It's capital has been setup in Omaha with the German Wehrmacht maintaining a large military presence in the country.
- Great Offscreen War: A World War III with the United States against Germany and Japan occurred sometime in the 60s and 70s with the U.S. losing.
- Hiding Your Heritage: How people such as the Gimpels and other Jews have managed to survive into the 21st century. Heinrich and Lise don't tell their children of their true heritage until their 10th birthdays. Apparently some have gotten so good at it, they've even been able to infiltrate the SS.
- Invaded States of America: The German Wehrmacht maintains a large military presence in the U.S. to ensure it makes it's annual tribute payments to Germany.
- Les Collaborateurs: It's stated the persecution of blacks, Jews and Hispanics by German occupying forces in the U.S. were aided by segments of white Americans.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Heinz Buckliger, the new German Führer at the start of the story, is this. He proposes instituting democratic reforms for the Reich, lightening the economic burden on the United States, and in a secret party conference made a speech condemning the "excesses" of his predecessors. That being said his democratic reforms only apply to "full blooded Aryans" and is a fervent believer in the rest of Nazi ideology. As well also planning on keeping German occupation of countries like the U.S.
- Local Hangout: "Admiral Yamamoto's" is a Japanese-owned restaurant based in Berlin that's a popular lunch spot for government officials such as Heinrich.
- My God, What Have I Done?: A woman who accuses Heinrich of being a Jew (not realizing he is one) after he spurns her advances is horrified upon realizing that this has gotten his children arrested for being part-Jewish and could get them executed.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Many, a given since this Turtledove and the whole story is one for the collapse of the Soviet Union
- Heinz Buckliger, a reform-minded party figure who becomes the new Chancellor of Germany, is one for Mikhail Gorbachev with a dash of Nikita Khrushchev.
- Rolf Stolle, a buffoonish mayor of Berlin who ends up a leader of the democratization movement, is one for Boris Yeltsin.
- Kurt Haldweim, the previous German Chancellor prior to Buckliger, is a bit of a composite of Kurt Waldheim (a U.N General Secretary and president of Austria who was a former Nazi) and Leonid Brezhnev (Soviet leader around the time the economic stagnation of the Soviet Union began).
- Charles "Charlie" Lynton, the leader of the British Union of Fascists and Prime Minister of the U.K., is one for Tony Blair note . He's the figure who begins the calls for more open elections in the German Reich and it's puppet states.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country: American representatives to Germany begin making noises about this over the course of the book as calls for democratization in the German Reich begin.
- Puppet King: After Buckliger is deposed in a coup, it's pretty blatant that the new official chief of state is a nonentity who is acting as the mouthpiece for the SS.
- Puppet State: Germany has many in the forms of France, the U.K. Canada, and the U.S.
- Sadist Teacher: Both Alicia's first teacher and her younger sister's teacher are nasty diehard Nazis who don't shy away from corporal punishment and psychological cruelty toward students who irritate them.
- Significant Birth Date: Heinrich and Lise tell their daughter, Alicia, of her Jewish heritage on her 10th birthday.
- There Is Another: Despite their concerns, Heinrich and his family and friends aren't the only surviving Jews in an Alternate Universe where the Nazis won.
- Several Jews are found living in an isolated village in an occupied country (although they don't end up surviving for much longer after that).
- Rather disturbingly, the Big Bad and his family have some Jewish blood, although it's pretty clear that they aren't practicing Jews.
- One of the SS officers investigating the claims that Heinrich is a Jew implies that he is one too after evidence (falsely) clears Heinrich.
SS Interrogator: You find us in the oddest places. - Velvet Revolution: The attempted coup by the SS is thwarted by massive civilian protests and demonstrations. Eventually culminating with the Wehrmacht siding with the protestors and the planned democratization reforms going through.
- Wham Line: One of the last chapters of the book ends with this after Heinrich is cleared of charges of being Jewish.SS Interrogator: You find us in the oddest places.
- World War III: One occurred in the 1960s between the U.S. against Germany/Japan which saw the U.S. soundly defeated with many of it's cities obliterated in nuclear strikes.
