Overview

The internationally bestselling memoir hailed as ""authentically shocking"" (Library Journal) and ""an important document--proof that history never ends"" (Profil) When Jennifer Teege, a German-Nigerian woman, happened to pluck a library book from the shelf, she had no idea that her life would be irrevocably altered. Recognizing photos of her mother and grandmother in the book, she discovers a horrifying fact: her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi commandant chillingly depicted by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List--a man known and reviled the world over. Although raised in an orphanage and eventually adopted, Teege had some contact with her biological mother and grandmother as a child. Yet neither revealed that Teege's grandfather was the Nazi ""butcher of Plaszów,"" executed for crimes against humanity in 1946. The more Teege reads about Amon Goeth, the more certain she becomes: if her grandfather had met her--a black woman--he would have killed her. Teege's discovery sends her, at age thirty-eight, into a severe depression--and on a quest to unearth and fully comprehend her family's haunted history. Her research takes her to Krakow--to the sites of the Jewish ghetto her grandfather ""cleared"" in 1943 and the Plaszów concentration camp he then commanded--and back to Israel, where she herself once attended college, learned fluent Hebrew, and formed lasting friendships. Teege struggles to reconnect with her estranged mother, Monika, and to accept that her beloved grandmother once lived in luxury as Amon Goeth's mistress at Plaszów. Teege's story is cowritten by award-winning journalist Nikola Sellmair, who also contributes a second, interwoven narrative that draws on original interviews with Teege's family and friends and adds historical context. Ultimately, Teege's resolute search for the truth leads her, step by step, to the possibility of her own liberation.

Full Product Details

9781504640008

Table of Contents

Reviews

""A gripping read, highly recommended for anyone interested in history, memoirs, and biography."" -- ""Library Journal (starred review)"" ""A refreshing and ultimately impartial analysis. Teege's heartfelt commentary and Sellmair's objective narrative produce a layer of balanced interpretation and insight."" -- ""New York Journal of Books"" ""A stunning memoir of cultural trauma and personal identity."" -- ""Booklist (starred review)"" ""Haunting and unflinching...A memoir, an adoption story, and a geopolitical history lesson, all blended seamlessly into an account of Teege's exploration of her roots."" -- ""Washington Post"" ""In honest, direct, and absorbing prose, Teege and coauthor Nikola Sellmair confront highly personal repercussions of the Holocaust."" -- ""Jewish Book Council"" ""Robin Miles' narration is engaging and easy to listen to, with tonal variation that helps to convey the fascinating story to the listener...[in this] engrossing story."" -- ""AudioFile"" ""Teege's new memoir traces the pain of discovering her grandfather was the real-life 'Nazi butcher' from Schindler's List."" -- ""People magazine"" ""This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is fascinating and fair... Readers will be challenged to think about a major event in world history from a perspective that is rare but surely significant."" -- ""History Book Club""

Author Information

Jennifer Teege has worked in advertising since 1999. She lived for four years in Israel, where she became fluent in Hebrew. She holds a degree from Tel Aviv University in Middle Eastern and African studies. Teege lives in Germany with her husband and two sons. Nikola Sellmair graduated from Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich and has worked in Hong Kong, Israel, Palestine, and Washington, DC. She has been a reporter in Hamburg at Germany's Stern magazine since 2000. Her work has received many awards, including the German-Polish Journalist Award, for the first-ever article about Jennifer Teege's singular story. Robin Miles, named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, has won several Audie Awards and many Earphones Awards and AudioFile Best of the Year accolades.

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