My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past
Now in paperback: The New York Times bestselling memoir hailed as €œunforgettable€ (Publishers Weekly) and €œa stunning memoir of cultural trauma and personal identity€ (Booklist).
At age 38, Jennifer Teege happened to pluck a library book from the shelf€"and discovered a horrifying fact: Her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi commandant depicted in Schindler€s List. Reviled as the €œbutcher of PÅ‚asz³w,€ Goeth was executed in 1946. The more Teege learned about him, the more certain she became: If her grandfather had met her€"a black woman€"he would have killed her.
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Teege€s discovery sends her into a severe depression€"and fills her with questions: Why did her birth mother withhold this chilling secret? How could her grandmother have loved a mass murderer? Can evil be inherited?
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Teege€s story is cowritten by Nikola Sellmair, who also adds historical context and insight from Teege€s family and friends, in an interwoven narrative. Ultimately, Teege€s search for the truth leads her, step by step, to the possibility of her own liberation.