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Study Guide

Book Club Questions

+ View Supplemental Reading Recommendations

  1. Did events of World War II like those described in The Spoils of Victory directly or indirectly affect your family or community? In what ways? Are the effects of World War II still being felt in your family or in American society today? Please elaborate.
     

  2. How should the enemy be treated once they’ve been captured and are no longer a threat? Should valuable resources be used to house, feed, and care for them? Should Rolf have received a prosthetic leg courtesy of the US when his leg was amputated?
     

  3. Which character(s) in The Spoils of Victory do you relate to most? Why?
     

  4. Can romantic love ever really flourish between people who, like Rolf and Loretta come from completely different traditions, cultures, beliefs, and experiences and who are at profoundly different stages in their lives?
     

  5. Have you ever had to balance your own aspirations and beliefs with your family’s beliefs and values, as the Unruh children had to? In what ways did your issues arise, and how did you resolve them?
     

  6. Should Joseph Unruh have enlisted in the Army in 1942 when he could have taken CO (conscientious objector) status like his brother, John?
     

  7. Should Harold and Clara Unruh have done more to try to stop Joe from enlisting? What could they have done?
     

  8. After all Aunt Dora Jantz experienced in her life, including when her family was forced to leave their home in Russia in order to be able to practice their Mennonite faith, why was she so willing to support Joseph when he chose a path that was so contradictory to the Mennonite way?
     

  9. Is the kind of radical pacificism and hospitality that the Unruhs believed in and practiced realistic? Is it desirable? Is it possible for the world to achieve a lasting peace for all?  What would it take for that to happen?
     

  10. Is war ever moral? Under what conditions? Who decides? In your opinion and based on the events in The Spoils of Victory, was American participation in World War II moral? Give specific examples from the book or otherwise in support of your answer.
     

  11. Are some wrongs unforgivable? Which ones? When and in what circumstances? Who decides?
     

  12. Should Rolf have been able to forgive himself for the atrocities he committed?
     

  13. Should Loretta forgive Rolf for what he did, especially considering what happened to Joe?
     

  14. Did your opinion of Rolf change when you learned what he had done in France and North Africa? In what ways?
     

  15. How far would you go to comply with an order given by a superior in wartime if you believed your actions would violate your own moral code?

View Supplemental Reading Recommendations

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  • Prisoners of War in Kansas 1943-1946, Lowell A. May & Mark P. Schock, KS Publishing Company, Manhattan, KS, 2007 
     

  • Camp Concordia, German POWs in the Midwest, Lowell A. May, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan, KS, 1995
     

  • The Helpless Poles, Abe J. Unruh, Courier Printing Company, Grabill, IN, 1973
     

  • In The Name of Christ, A History of the Mennonite Central Committee and Its Service 1920-1951, John D. Unruh, Herald Press, Scottdale, PA 1952
     

  • Nazi Prisoners of War in America, Arnold Krammer, Stern and Day, New York, NY, 1979 
     

  • Nebraska POW Camps, A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland, Melissa Amateis Marsh, The History Press, Charleston, SC, 2014
     

  • Men in German Uniform, Antonio Thompson, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 2010
     

  • Bomber Offensive, The Devastation of Europe, Noble Frankland, Ballantine’s Illustrated History of World War II, Campaign Book, No. 7, Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 1970
     

  • Panzer Division, The Mailed Fist, Major K.J. Mucksey, M.C., Ballantine’s Illustrated History of World War II, Weapons Book, No. 2, Ballentine Books, New York NY, 1968

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