A marvelous book...

[alexpgp]

After several interruptions, I have finally finished (through Appendix B) a book titled Between Silk and Cyanide, by one Leo Marks, who worked in the British Special Operations Executive during World War II.

The book is something of a memoir of the author's cryptographic work during the war, and may not be everyone's cup of tea, but one of the poems he wrote to replace the well-known poems that were a key part of the code used by behind-enemy-lines operatives grabbed me.

The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours

The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause

For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours
And yours

According to Marks, this poem was "issued" to one Violette Szabo, who - like so many other agents - was caught and eventually executed by the Nazis.

Cheers...

Comments

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

The book sounds quite intriguing. I'm thinking maybe I have heard of it. I know I read another many years ago about a double agent.

BTW, I have a student by the name of Szabo. She of course is Jewish. Is that why Violet was executed--in addition to being an agent?

I'll have to post another poem today. The one from yesterday was simply the first one I came across. But knowing how so many men (in particular) have a hard time settling down, I thought it was memorable.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if Violette was Jewish, but being an agent was enough to get her killed.

Her Wikipedia article (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Violette_Szabo) notes that she married a French officer of Hungarian extraction.

Cheers...

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

To me, Szabo has always sounded like a Hungarian name...but what do I know? So, taking your own advice, I googled it. I found that most of the Szabos listed were Hungarian, with a smattering of Romanian, and even one Slovak. So I guess I wasn't too far off. Thanks for the link; I looked at that, too.

[dyfferent.livejournal.com]

I loved that book, and that poem <3