The boys from Brazil door Ira Levin

Samenvatting: The story tells about a man called Liebermann. Liebermann is a nazihunter, who has almost his whole have been surching for people who hadn’t been punished for their crimes in the WO II. Liebermann gets a call on a evening from a young man named Barry Koehler. Barry tells about a Nazi-organisation under supervision from Dr Mengele who are planning to kill 94, 65 years old men. Barry knew this because he bribed a waitress to put a taperecorder into the meetingroom from the organisation. But when Barry wants to let Liebermann listening to the tape, Barry is murderd by Dr Mengele. Liebermann doesn’t know what to do, because the story is to vague. But he askes the international Press to send him all the sections concerned with the deaths of 65 years old men. He gets a lot of sections, but a few are deaths wich could be one of the murder. Mr Döring is one them. Liebermann goes to the family Döring, to find out what a reason is to be a victim from the Nazi’s. Frau Döring and her little son, teaches him nothing. On a congress he meets Klaus von Palmen, who wants to help him with this problem. A little later, when he is in the United States for a congress tour, he visites an other family, who has lost their 65 year old father too. In that family, there is also a little boy, who seems to be the twin from the boy of the family Döring. It strikes Liebermann, that the two woman he met, both are in the early fourties. He recovers also, that the boy is adopted trough an agency of a German woman, who also was Nazi in the WO II. He goes back to German, to talk with her. Some names she remembers are in Liebermannn’s list of people killed so far. She remembers also one date queit exactly, when she gave a baby a new family. In Brazil are some problems, because the bosses of the Nazi organisation have called the six killers back. Lieberman’s recovery’s are the raeson for this. Mengele decides to fullfil the task by himself. But first of all he wants to kill Liebermann. Liebermann is already back in Vienna and talks there with a biology professor. The man tells him about the possibility’s of mononuclear reproduction (clooning) and that the boys, who are exactly the same, are a product of this tegnology. Liebermann comes to the terrifying conclusion, that the boys are all copy’s of Hitler himself. He travels again, back to the United States to inform the authorities and ask their help. But this way of prevention, may take too long. Therefor he also contacts the Young Jewish Defenders. The YJD is militant organisation led by rabbi Gorin, who promises Liebermann all possible help. The name and date, wich the woman from the adopting agency remebered are from Henry Wheelock. The date is near to come and Liebermann wants to inform him about the danger. But Mengele gets wind of Liebremann’s plan. Dr Mengele goes to Mr Wheelock and impersonates Liebermann and kills Mr Wheelock. When Liebermann comes by Mr Wheelock’s house, Dr Mengele impersonates Mr Wheelock. Befor Dr Mengele kills Liebermann, he tells the whole story: Hitler gave him a litre of blood and a cutting of his skin, to produces replicas of Hitler. The young babies had to grow up in a family with a old father, who deid on his 65 year, and a young mother. Like the family situation from Hitler. All this to try to have second Hitler, physically and emotionally. When Liebermann tries to escape, he is shot by Dr Mengele. Wheelock’s adopted son comes from school and Dr Mengele treis to talk him over to his side. But the son is of opinion that Dr Mengele is a dangerous lunatic and sets his fater’s dogs on Dr Mengele. A short time after Mengele has been torn by the dogs, Gorin’s men arrive and take Liebermann to the hospital. When he is recovered, Liebermann and Gorin meet each other. Gorin’s plan is to kill all the little Hitlers. But Liebermann doesn’t agree with this plan and flushes the list with names trough the toilet. The book ends with a discribe of young boy, who dreams about a stadium filled with people who are cheering a ‘greet man’ on a platform. Like in Hitler movies… Place and time: The story happens a couple of years after the Wo II, when the attention for dangerous ideas is decreased. I think around the seventies.
Construction: The telling time is around one year and the story is told chronological from the 3th perspective. Persons: Herr Liebermann is the mainperson, who lives to see the whole story. Dr Mengele, Mr Wheelock and Klaus van Palmen are the by-persons, all with their own character and qualities. There are also a lot of types, but I won’t write their names down, becouse of the long list I will get. Theme and motives: The theme is that there always will be the danger of bad ideas like the Nazi’s had. I think, that
there are no motives in the book.