"Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death".

This essay focuses on the author's personal and professional journey in reassessing the historical reputation of Hermann Keller, a German Benedictine monk previously portrayed as a Nazi war criminal and SS collaborator. Initially relying on secondary sources, including an article by historian Harold Deutsch, the author accepted Keller's guilt but later encountered Sister Luitgardis Hecker, who provided alternative evidence and testimony suggesting Keller was actually an undercover agent working against the Nazis within the SS. Declassified OSS (Office of Strategic Services) files and other primary documents eventually supported this revisionist view, revealing Keller's involvement in anti-Nazi conspiracies and efforts to save Paris from destruction. The author reflects on the challenges historians face in verifying sources and warns against uncritically accepting established narratives without thorough primary research.