1940’s Bavaria, German: Father Viktor Koch had duel citizenship with the United States and Germany. He was an American Catholic priest belonging to the Passionists Order and as a missionary started a group in Schwarzenfeld, Bavaria. It was a small town and everyone looked out for one another. When the Nazis arrived and took over the town, fear and testing of faith crept into the community. Fr. Koch lived his life believing that suffering is a great equalizer of humanity that unites every soul on Earth. As the gestapo and Hitler’s Youth became a way of life the challenge was trying to figure out whether the circumstances were God’s will or a persons personal will.
In 1944 a Death March of Jews came through the town. The horror of this experience is told in detail at the end of the book.
This historical fiction novel is based on true events of Fr. Viktor Koch, C.P., and his experiences in Nazi Germany. He is the authors paternal grandfather’s uncle.

A wonderful recounting of a small town during the Nazi occupation of Germany in the 1940's. I would recommend this book to everyone, it should be read and absorbed, and pondered, and remembered. The setting, atmosphere, and characters were very well written. I would give this book more than 5 stars , if I could.

An historical fiction based on the true life of an American immigrant ministering to the people of Schwarzenfeld, Germany. A pacifist by nature, this minister and his flock would work together to save their citizens while maintaining their beliefs. They would endure horrifing treatment at the hands of their captors and their saviors while maintaining their faith. An inspiring story of events during WWII that have not received the attention they deserve.

What can be said about this book? It was moody, heartstopping, graphic, real, it was inspiring. Though the subject matter was HEAVY, the way the author wrote this piece placed you inside the monastery, on the grounds face to face with the conflict. How heartbreaking to have faith in your countryman to be so tremendously disappointed. I learned a few things that I was unaware of when reading this story, that were unexpected. I did not believe this would be any different from any other story on this subject matter, I was mistaken.

You could feel the tension, the disappointment with the people and the situation, and the absolute faith needed to persevere.

The Sower of Black Field was beautifully written, this book will be on my mind for a while.

Thank you Netgalley, Book Whisperer, and Kathrine Koch for the ARC of this beautiful piece.

I am voluntarily leaving my honest review.

Courtesy of Netgalley and The Book Whisperer, I received the ARC of The Sower of Black Field by Katherine Koch. This well researched WWII historical novel recreated the Bavarian village of Schwarzenfeld and the Passionist ministry of American born Father Koch, revered by the townspeople and despised by the Nazis. Inspirational, and suspenseful, the story of the progression of the Nazi regime and the reaction of the local families highlights the war years through the indoctrination of youth to the death march from a local concentration camp. I was initially drawn to this book because of it's history, and the realization that Father Koch was born near my hometown! Compelling to read!

I am glad I read this story as I had never heard of it before. However I found the book itself very difficult to follow and I really had to concentrate. I had my little notepad for when I was reading to make it a clearer but I really did struggle reading the book.

i have rounded up to 4 based on the story.

A book that makes one think, and reflect, on history. There were decent, honourable Germans, but by 1945 the Allies, believed because of what they saw in Europe, that all Germans were responsible for the crimes of the Nazi regime. But there were exceptions and in the small Bavarian town of Schwarzenfeld the inhabitants led by their spiritual leader, Father Victor Koch, were 'good Germans'. Although the author has written this as fiction, and there are fictional elements in this, the background is based on actual events, and one reads it wanting to know that everyone survives, is not punished for the crimes of others. There is tension, real peril for some characters, but the strong and very deep faith of the protagonists has a huge role to play.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to believe that faith and goodness can make a difference.

With thanks to NetGalley and Time's Arrow Press for an ARC.

A well-researched book
This gives a bit different view of a small German town during World War II. How an American priest helped the local population. Yes, we had the collaborators who did the Nazis bidding, but the town folks just tried to survive and did their best to help other people even at risk for their own lives. Even some Nazi officers tried to help when possible but were restricted by their own limitations. Then you have the rescue by the American soldiers who did not take kindly to a fellow countryman taking sides with the Germans. This is a very engaging book. I also recommend after reading this book to check the webpage listed talking about the real Fr. Viktor.

The notes from the author and 'author in the confessional;' would be very useful in the beginning, not end, of this excellent book. Excellent explaination of how 'ordinary' Germans could have been unaware of the horrors taking place in the camps near them. This should be read by anyone with the slightest interest in the effects of WW II on the German peoples who were not active participants in the war, and as a warning to everyone who knows of horrors like these and cannot or do not do anything to prevent them or tell the world about them. The final afterward notes by the author should perhaps be read first. I would reccomment this book in addition for a college or advance high school course.

The Sower of Black Field by Katherine Koch is WWII story based a true story of an American priest living in a small Bavarian town in Germany. He is the spiritual leader of the community and as the Nazi’s take over the community, he puts all his efforts into revitalizing the faith of those who are lost due to their dedication to Hitler and the Third Reich. Majority of the town is Catholic and follow His doctrine. Why has Father Viktor Koch spent so many years and put so much effort in Germany when he was born and raised in the US? That is the big question surrounding him when the Americans liberate Germany.

Upon their arrival, what they find are mass graves of Jewish concentration camp victims. Since they are in Germany, they assume everyone there is a Nazi sympathizer. They blame his community for the atrocities committed there and give them an ultimatum with a time limit, to bury those executed or the entire town will have the same done to them. It is up to Fr. Viktor to keep them safe by convincing the Americans that most of them were not involved.

Most books on WWII deal with the Jews and their plight in the hands of the Nazi’s. Not much is mentioned about the citizens of Germany who follow a different faith and are not sympathetic to Hitler’s cause. This one does and goes into great detail on how Fr. Viktor keeps his community safe, in its faith, and is able to convince other non believers that we will all answer someday to a higher being. There are some very vivid descriptions of atrocities within the book and for those that do not like reading that, I would not recommend. All in all the book was an eye opener to the lives and difficulties that were faced by the Germans that did not go along with Hitler’s ideals.

Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this advanced readers copy.

Possibly my most favorite book of 2024 and 2025. A heart-rending story with spiritual messages as well as good storyline. Based off of a true story, it seems unreal. An American priest, in Nazi Germany, being an example of true fatherhood in. a time when everyone got carried away with the false father, Hitler. Some of the messages in this book were timeless, the relationship between a mother and her son as he comes of age, a charity worker who is conflicted and those souls who are trying to hang on to their faith and goodness at all costs. I'm considering letting my tween son read, as far as World War II imagery, this obviously has some traumatic moments, but it wasn't overly graphic or violent for a book of the genre, some mild language (which is understandable in the context). A great story of finding God in a world that is falling apart and has a balanced view that there can be good and evil on both sides of a conflict.. So grateful I got the opportunity to read this book and hope that I get to read more from this author.

ARC Review ✨️

☆Inspiring & written beautifully♡

I instantly wanted to read this book just based on the description. I've always been fascinated by historical fiction, but knowing this one was based on true events is truly inspiring. I could never imagine being alive during that time period and having to endure everything they went through.

The author is new to me, but after reading this story, I'm adding her books to my to be read pile!

Thank you to the author, Book Whisperer, and Netgalley for the ARC!

Review will be posted to Amazon upon release, and Instagram.

The Sower of a Black Field: Inspired by the True Story of an American in Nazi Germany
By Katherine Koch
Set in a small village in southeastern Germany, we meet Fr. Viktor Koch, a priest in the Passionist Order of Catholicism. Fr. Koch has dual citizenship with Germany and the United States and has served the Schwarzenfeld community for decades. He saved the community from starvation after WWI by employing hundreds of men to build the Miesbergkloster monastery. Fr. Koch was an uncle to the author’s grandfather. Most all of the story is true, with some name and minor date changes. Major events are factual.
This story begins in 1941 as the Nazis invade the area, and the effects of the larger war stress the resources of the small town. We meet townspeople who are anti-nazi but must hide their sentiments to survive. Norbert, who runs the bakery, Helene and her two sons, Kraus and Hans, and of course, Fr. Koch and his fellow priests.
“The car, a black and silver-trimmed Mercedes, rumbled out of the hills like thunder from a cloudless sky.”(Pg.20). Katherine Koch begins the novel with dramatic imagery. “The Mercedes skulked through his courtyard gate. It prowled within the shadow of a plaster wall that circled his church and cloister. (Pg.20) Sixty-seven-year-old Fr. Koch receives a visit from Nazi officials, and we immediately sense that things are not boding well for the Miesbergkloster. Fr. Koch ministers to his church family, “…we must stop seeing ourselves as individuals with solitary problems. No matter who you are, whether you’re rich or poor, whether you are a devout Catholic or you don’t believe in God at all, we’re connected, all of us – and on an intimate level. Were united by the reality of suffering.” (Pg.43)
As the monastery is taken over and turned into a children’s home, the Nazis remove the crucifixes from school classrooms and replace them with portraits of Hitler. Those actions set the community on fire. The citizens circulate a petition, leading to key village members' arrests. The village feels that it can no longer tolerate the Nazi invaders, yet they must survive.
Katherine Koch’s prose is poetic. She takes the reader deep into the setting and story with beautiful sensory imagery. “After reading the breviary at noon, Fr. Viktor Koch heaved open the Miesburgkirche’s wooden doors and let a breeze gust into the sanctuary. A pristine Autumn sky stretched above him. He lifted a beaming face, reveling in the sight, then froze. Christ staggered across the church courtyard and gazed at him through the stricken visage of Maria Gindele.”(Pg.110)
“Tolling thundered from a distant hilltop. It was noon. Shouts rippled below a feathery sky while his classmates reveled in freedom that felt sickly sweet.”(Pg. 104)
Each chapter begins with a dramatic statement or description. “The news broke in Schwarzenfeld on a Thursday afternoon, but Frs Viktor and Payl learned it first in the Gindele’s sitting room during their usual Saturday visit.”(Pg. 128) “In the wet, miserable dawn they lined up.”(Pg.33) The reader cannot wait to turn the next page.
Koch's masterful characterization makes the characters of this story come alive. Their voices are clear and vivid; we hear their innermost doubts, conflicts, and prayers. “Klaus groaned, but sat obediently as she wiped the red ribbon oozing down his face and throat. Aquamarine eyes shifted up to watch her; the brows arced in endearing pertness. Meeting that gaze, those clear and luminous eyes identical to her own, the young mother stood arrested.”(Pg.90)
This true story is obviously extremely well researched and told so very well. I highly recommend this important work of historical fiction and look forward to Katherine Koch's future books. Rating 5.

Excellent book! The author, gives you both sides of the Nazis & villagers, and when the Americans arrive & take back the village. This book should be mandatory reading in high school and college! The village people really come together & try to make their difficult lives easier. The priests are able to give them their spiritual needs, even though at time they don't feel God is with them! Thank you Net galley for allowing me to read this book before the publishing date!

When I was approached by Bookwhisperer to receive a copy of this book through #Netgalley to read and review , I was drawn to it by a paragraph used in it's description. "In April 1945, American liberators arrive in Schwarzenfeld and make a gruesome discovery: the SS have left a mass grave of concentration camp victims on the village’s border. Enraged by the sight, the American commander holds the town responsible. He issues a chilling ultimatum—the villagers must dig up and properly bury each of the 140 corpses within 24 hours, or every German man in town will be executed."

This sounded like nothing I had ever read before and indeed that proved to be true. The main focus of the story is Father Viktor Koch, a real person who was a Catholic priest with dual citizenship, American by birth but Austrian by heritage through his parents. When Austria was annexed by Germany he became German and this allowed him to stay in the town of Schwarzenfeld at a time when few of American birth would be allowed. His story has been meticulously researched by the author whose paternal grandfather was nephew to Father Viktor.She had the opportunity to speak with several primary sources and to visit Schwarzenfeld and see first hand the esteem with which he is still held. This book is based on his true story but has been fictionalized with several composite characters included to help tell the story of this town, it's people and what happened to them and their spiritual leader throughout the war.

I am not a Catholic, but I am an active member of a Protestant denomination, and what stood out to me in this story was the living faith of this one man Father Viktor , and how he shared it in such a way that made it real and living for his parishioners who made up most of the town. Through his preaching he opened their eyes to the idea that in everyone they meet, they should see the face of Christ and treat them accordingly. To a people who had suffered through the Great War and the desperate times that followed, his was a voice that gave them hope when little was to be found. Many had doubts and questions about why so many bad things happened in spite of their heartfelt prayers. Koch encouraged them to look beyond the obvious to see how in actual fact, prayers were being answered. He was a sower of seeds in their souls - fertile ground where growth could occur. This made them different from other towns of similar size and makeup.

The novel is loaded with details of what life was like in Schwarzenfeld, from one of the bakeries that provided food to the towns people, stories of those who had fought before, the strength of a widow whose husband had died at Dunkirk. The grief of a young teen, victimized within Hitler's Youth while grieving the death of his father, and A Nazi German "social worker" charged with caring for children being moved away from bombing in big cities. German words are used but in such a way the it is fairly easy to understand their meaning. Real photographs from the time are included in the post notes.

And then there is that paragraph that drew me to the story- after a death march from Flossenburg ened in the killing of approximately 140 Jewish people near the train station of the town, shot by the SS and dumped in the local trash yard, the American soldiers arrived, never expecting to be greeted by a priest of American birth. Their anger was extreme (understandably) but their response was unusually unique and harsh. The dead bodies must be retrieved, washed, dressed in decent clothes, buried in caskets in the local cemetery with a proper burial service and it must be done within 24 hours or all the German men of the town would be shot. It was an impossible task and one must read the book to really see how it all unfolded and what place faith in God's plan had in it all. The Americans needed to see that these townspeople were not the complicit Nazi's that they thought they were. That would take a miracle!

As I read this book, I found myself highlighting different quotes that were particularly meaningful to me. Here is one: "Prayer - real prayer - is a bonding," the provincial revealed in used awe. " It's a communion with all that is good in this universe. That grace gives us the courage to fight evil. And when evil overwhelms us, as it's doing now? Prayers gives us the strength to endure."

We live in trying times, and the message in this book has the power to inspire, change attitudes and lives. That message will hopefully stick with me through my own battles and calls to action. I would highly recommend it to others, both for it's historical content and inspirational content.

This was a really well done historical fiction novel and had me thinking about what was happening in this dark period of time. I thought the characters worked well in this universe and was glad everything felt like it was supposed to. Katherine Koch has a strong writing style and it worked with the historical period.

The author did a fabulous job helping the reader see a part of World War II Germany through the eyes of Fr. Viktor. Fr. Viktor was constantly torn between two countries that he loved and the people he was pastoring. His German family worked hard to live the values and morals Fr. Viktor preached about while trying to understand the vile happenings of Hitler’s commands. I couldn’t put this book down. Thank you for offering it.

Love that this book is inspired by a true story as that makes it more real. It is a book with depth, emotion and was quite intense. That is not a bad thing as it makes the story interesting, lets you really delve into the story and the characters and that is exactly what I did.

A very well written book but one that may not be for everyone. It is a book that reaches out to you and pulls you in and I like that. Great characters you either love or loathe. A very good book with I enjoyed.

Thank you NetGalley and Book Whisperer for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Inspired by the true story of an American in Nazi Germany

The story in a few words:

The Sower of Black Field by Katherine Koch is a historical fiction novel set during the final days of Nazi Germany. The story follows Fr. Viktor Koch, an American priest of German heritage, who is deeply conflicted as he tries to guide his parishioners through the horrors of the Third Reich.

My thoughts:

I found this story hard to get into, the accurate depiction of Nazi Germany was heart-stopping from the beginning till I flipped the last page not a moment where I didn’t have chills running down my spine. The author captured the tyrannical Nazi regime expertly as well as the struggles and fear of the ordinary Germans, while the tenacity of Fr. Koch to help his parishioners never wavered. The novel is populated with a host of historical figures mixing in with the fictional ones. We have a lot of German words and names making dialogue and narrative a bit difficult at time to comprehend but in whole we get the drift and able to carry on.

What was driving Fr. Koch to stay in the Third Reich? Was he following a higher plan?

While his parishioners grow restless under the Nazi rule Fr. Victor relied upon his ingenuity to keep them safe and out of prison. With the help of a Nazi charity worker, he managed to do so. Fr. Koch was an exceptional in all manners.

To summarize:

“The Sower of Black Field” is a gripping novel that explore human resilience, faith and braveness.

I love reading about the holocaust because it’s one of the worst things in history. My mom passed her passion to me and I love reading about others who lived that life.