ALEXIS CLARK:

She was from a prominent black family in the Boston suburbs. It was actually very progressive. It was called Milton, Massachusetts. Went to white schools. Had white friends. And she was from an educated family. So although she knew about discrimination. She was largely secluded from that.

Now on the other hand, Frederick was from Nazi Germany. And he was from a very wealthy family. A prominent family. And they were German nationalists. Now although they didn't join the Nazi party, they were believers in Hitler, and the German empire. But Frederick was an artist. And was incredibly into jazz. And so that had been outlawed in Germany by Hitler, but he snuck around and would listen to it. So he had this impression of African Americans. They were artistic. They were warm. All the things that he never felt growing up in his family, because he had a very dysfunctional relationship with his father, in particular. Because he wasn't a military guy. He wasn't into the war. He really was this artistic, free spirit. So he saw Elinor, and attached all these feelings and ideas, and fell madly in love with her. So they started to see each other in secret. He volunteered at the hospital and they were able to go on these secret rendezvous, and started a full-blown romance.

When you think about two people who never should've been falling in love with each other, they found each other. And that's what makes this story, to me, even all the more unbelievable. I mean, he was a soldier. She was although discriminated against, she still was an American officer in the army. So they were committing a crime, really.