Peter Sichrovsky

I didn't like this book as much as I hoped I would. I wish more biographical information was given about the people who were interviewed, and also just what their fathers had been up to during the Nazi era, though I know the book wasn't supposed to be about the Nazi crimes.

All of the people interviewed were born after the war and were the children of identified war-criminals. The children's reactions ranged from complete denial ("My father never did all those things they say he did, it's all lies") to making excuses ("It was just politics, he had to follow orders") to complete revulsion and estrangement from their parents. Interestingly, one of the interviewees was serving a prison sentence for embezzlement at the time of the interview. Another was basically a neo-Nazi.

I don't think the stories (which the author told in the first person) were as revealing and educational as they could have been. It might have been better if the author hadn't been a Jew who had lost relatives in the Holocaust; I think that colored his perception and put the interviewees on the defensive.… (más)

Nés de parents nazis ou nés de parents juifs, enfants de bourreaux ou enfants de victimes, adolescents de 15 ans ou adultes de 45 ans, vivant en Allemagne ou en Autriche, ils racontent leur vie, témoignent des séquelles de l'Holocauste dans leur famille, dans leur pays, dans leur vie quotidienne, hier et aujourd'hui, ici et ailleurs. Partout, toujours. Loin des études historiques, des essais théoriques, des discours édifiants, ces interviews - qui sont autant de terribles romans -, constituent une approche vécue, cruellement contemporaine qui vaut, et de loin, tous les manuels pédagogiques sur l'antisémitisme.… (más)