Sad book for Saturday

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past ~ by Jennifer Teege and Nikola Sellmair, translated by Carolin Sommer, 2013, 2015, memoir, 240 pages, 8/10

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 “butcher of Płaszów,” 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.

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?

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.

I downloaded this onto my Kindle in 2016, but I seem to have forgotten about it for all these years.  It isn't an easy book to read, especially since I lived through those years (as a child) and one of my neighbors when I moved here to the Crown Center for Senior Citizens had been in a German concentration camp.  I'm not sure I can "recommend" that anyone read this book, but I guess I'm glad I read it.  Now i need to read something light-hearted.