Lots of people think that history doesn't matter. But it really does, very much indeed. None of us can be entirely sure where we're going, but we can be absolutely certain, whether we knew them or not, that we had parents, who also had parents, who also had parents, going back to the very dawn of time. So something of each of us has lived through every era, as empires rose and fell, rulers lived and died and wars were won and lost.
I've just finished 'My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me', the story of how a black, German woman came to terms with the shock discovery that she was descended from Nazi concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth. Although raised in an orphanage, Jennifer Teege did have some contact with her mother and grandmother as a child, but neither woman ever gave any hint as to Teege's dark family history. It wasn't until she was in her late 30s, a happily married mother of two, that she found out by chance when she picked up an unknown book by her mother in Hamburg's central library. Suddenly she finds herself plunged into the shadow of one of World War II's most notorious psychopathic killers, the Butcher of Plaszow in Poland, slaughterer of thousands of Jews - and her grandfather. As Teege struggles to comprehend what this means for her, her family and her many Jewish-Israeli friends, she summons the courage to face this family skeleton head on. But is it possible to come to terms with such a chilling discovery?
This book is gripping, uplifting and thought-provoking from beginning to end. Written from Mrs Teege's perspective, interspersed with supporting sections by journalist Nikola Sellmair, it explores how both a person and a people have had to deal with a past they would rather forget. Some deny it, some ignore it, but I have great respect for Mrs Teege as she decided to tackle it head on and not give the past power over the present.
I think that this would make an excellent reading group book. There is much to discuss and think about here. It's not really a book about World War II, it's a book about family, national guilt and coming to terms with a shameful past.
I found it gripping from beginning to end and would thoroughly recommend it.
Now, what next...
Related Links
'My Nazi Grandfather, Amon Goeth, Would Have Shot Me' (BBC News Magazine, 03/10/2013)
Book Details
'My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me' by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair. Translated by Carolin Sommer. Hodder & Stoughton, 2015. Originally published in Germany as 'Amon: Mein Grossvater hätte mich erschossen', 2013.
