Interesting story, but a tad repetitive. This was longer than necessary.
Interesting story, but a tad repetitive. This was longer than necessary.
My daughter bought this book when we visited the Holocaust Museum in D.C. a couple of years ago. I rewatched Schindler‘s List a couple weeks ago and now reading the tagged book. Such an unbelievably sad time in history.
Having just completed my own emotional journey this book touched on so many personal experiences. Reading the unbelievable shocking discovery that author Jennifer Teege underwent was a roller coaster of emotions. It was fascinating to read the POV from a perpetrator of Nazi crimes & understand the anguish descendants must contend with. The historical information was well explained. An interesting perspective often not dealt with.👇🏼
So I‘m back to reading my “heavier” books - started this last week but it was making me very sad. Ready to continue. The writing is very simple but the actual emotional impact is INTENSE. The author is literally describing the places I‘ve just been and her recall for sights, smells, feelings are powerful. Learning who her grandfather was is beyond shocking. Above is the monument that stands where the Plaszow Concentration Camp was built👇🏽
My friend just dropped this book off. She thought I might find the topic fascinating, which of course I do!
I found this topic fascinating and also incredibly hard to imagine. Jennifer is browsing her local library when she finds a book, written about her mother, that will change her life. Adopted at an early age and with sporadic contact with her biological family, it isn‘t until the age of 38 and by random coincidence that she uncovers the fact that she is the granddaughter of Amon Goeth, Nazi commandant of the Plaszow concentration camp in Poland. ⬇️
A memoir by a German-Nigerian woman who was adopted as a child and learns at the age of 38 that her biological grandfather was Amon Goeth, the brutal Nazi commandant depicted in Schindler's List. The book details her attempts to research her family history and come to terms with it. Interesting, but repetitive in parts. 3 stars.
19 #SeptemberDanes
I had a #Fascination with this book a few years ago. Teege discovers by random accident that her grandfather is the notorious Austrian Nazi concentration camp commander and war criminal Amon Göth.
One minute, it‘s first person, then other narrators pop up. However, it was an interesting account of finding out about her heritage and wondering how others who knew their family heritage felt, especially a heritage like hers. I can‘t imagine discovering you‘re the black grandchild of a notorious Nazi on a random trip to the library. Heartfelt memoir.
Managed to get in a total of 5 hours for #EclecticReadathon today.
I got through this so quickly! I know a lot of people took issue with the writing style and the switching between memoir and factual but I really enjoyed it and having a neutral narrator as well as Jennifer I think actually added dimensions to the story. The story itself is extraordinary- you just have to read it to believe it. It raises questions over nature vs nurture and a look at truly unique family dynamic.
Incredibly interesting. At 38 Jennifer Teege discovered a book in her local library that changed her life and what she thought she knew about her family. Longer review at OrangeMooseReads.wordpress.com
This book was so interesting. The author finds out later in life that her grandfather was in charge of a concentration camp. This book deals with her reaction to that knowledge, her own adoption and her depression. At times it seemed a little disjointed between the first person writing and the historical info, but it made me think about how someone deals with that family history. #litsyreadingchallenge #translated #nonfiction
"The second generation had a lot of trouble dealing with the Holocaust, my generation, we are different. We know the difference between responsibility and guilt."
What a fascinating, horrifying, wonderful book. In this memoir, Teege finds out her maternal grandfather was Amon Goeth, a commander in the Nazi regime, known for shooting Jewish people in concentration camps from his balcony. She must come to terms with this and along the way she searches for answers and ultimately hope.
This is just such a bizarre family story and it should have been a four star rating for that. But when it comes down to readability and and having a solid structure, this book was just frustrating. On top of it, despite the emotional topic it left me very disconnected for the most part.
Up next, this book I'm using for the #personofcolormemoir for the #litsyreadingchallenge #bingo ! Should be interesting!
🔔📚🔔 ebook is $2.99 amazon/ b&n today! (Add audible narration for $3.99)
Read as part of my #readharder challenge as "a book about war"
This isn't the best written of books but it is very interesting. It deals a lot with mental illness and adoption as well as being related to war criminals, and the guilt the author feels on behalf of the a her grandfather commited. Teege's biological family certainly suffered a great deal with the reality of what happened.
Interesting memoir that fell just short of a pick. The topic is fascinating and treated with a lot of respect. It alternates between Teege's emotional reflections and Sellmair's factual storytelling. I liked the format at first but then it started to feel disjointed. The early chapters were also much stronger; Teege loses some focus and gets repetitive when she moves from her discovery to her life story and complex emotions on her adoption.
The subject matter was interesting. As an amateur genealogist I have always been interested in how our family history affects our own stories and how that changes from generation to generation. My biggest issue was the style of the book...the back and forth writing of Teege and Sellmair was rather distracting and felt more like it should be a tv documentary rather than a memoir.
Well, I thought this book shed a lot of light on the burden family sometimes carries even though they didnt commit the crime. I didnt care so much for the style in which it was written with the alternating narratives of Teegee and Sellmair, but what an insightful memoir.
This is her grandfather. Amon Goeth. You may remember watching Schindler's List and seeing Ralph Fiennes shooting people out of the window for fun. Yeah, that guy.
The next book on my list is...
This one has been on my TBR all year!
Another ebook deal--this is $1.99 today and it does look like a great book.
🔔 high on my TBR list and it's $1.99 Amazon/B&N ebook!
Recently saw Schindler's List for the first time. It was intense but so good. I'm looking forward to reading this. I've heard great things.
The perfect follow up to the four months I spent engrossed in Rosemary Sullivan's Stalin's Daughter. Both were fascinating portraits about women grappling with the unthinkable violence of their families' histories
How to deal with guilt about your family...
Currently.