I finished Art Spiegelman's Maus II this weekend and it was hard to imagine that this was released and published as two separate works. I wonder how odd that was to spend so much time in between the two having left the story only half told!
It was nice to see Spiegelman address all the questions about the impact of his work at the start of this second volume. When he made the point that he thinks many companies that exploited the Jews in Germany are still in business and making fine profits today it reminded me of the difficult struggles that were going on (and may be still) to recover personal items and treasures stolen by the Nazi's and then secured in Swiss banks. It was quite the issue for a while where the Jewish owners could not reclaim the property stolen from them as the Banks were bound by their service agreements to hold them for the people or entities that deposited them even if they were stolen.
Further when Art's father mentioned how Jews tried to return home and were killed by the Germans who enjoyed their ill gotten homes and businesses it was a harsh reminder that the hatred that Nazi Germany created did not die overnight just because the war was over. Having been to Germany in the past decade though and having seen the steps they take as a nation to insure the crimes are not brushed aside or forgotten I sincerely respect where they have gone as a nation and people since those dark days though!
The comment about the Nazis killing Jews overnight was interesting. One can wonder if the SS officers really hated the people they were killing of if they saw it as "following orders." The part where the Germans take Jewish property parallels the where Vladek and his friend go into a German home. Then later the German woman gets mad and says that he Jews were stealing her clothing. Sometimes being in another person's shoes makes for a change on how we treat others.
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