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Copiii nazistilor
Até 1945, os seus pais eram heróis. Depois da derrota alemã, o mundo passou a chamar-lhes carrascos. Gudrun, Edda, Niklas, entre outros, são filhos de Himmler, Göring, Hess, Frank, Bormann, Höss, Speer e Mengele, apelidos que são sinónimos do terror nazi. Estas crianças alemãs passaram a II Guerra Mundial no meio do luxo, acarinhados por pais afectuosos, que ao fim do dia regressavam a casa após uma jornada de morte. Para eles, o fim do III Reich foi um desastre. Inocentes, tiveram de lidar com os crimes perpetrados pelos pais: uns condenaram--nos, outros continuaram a reverenciá-los. Crianças assombradas por uma herança que não puderam repudiar. Que ligações mantiveram com os seus pais? Como se vive com um nome diabolizado pela História e pela Humanidade? Sentir-se-ão responsáveis pelas atrocidades nazis? Setenta anos depois, quando a memória se começa a perder, este é um documento perturbador, um documento apaixonante, um documento essencial.
239 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
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About the author
Tania Crasnianski
5 books31 followersFormer criminal lawyer at the Paris Court of Appeal. Living in London. Currently writing a new book called "The power under prescription", based on the relations of 8 major politician and there personal physicien.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
April 16, 2024
I've been fascinated by the second world war since I learned about it in eighth grade. My fascination centered around the Holocaust, the attempt to exterminate the Jews. It seemed so clear who the good people and the bad people were. The Germans, Italians, and Japanese were bad; the Americans, British, and French were good. The Soviet Union was also bad, but it did help beat the Germans.
Corrie Ten Boom wrote about hiding Jews in the Holland home she shared with her father and sister in The Hiding Place. Anne Frank wrote her diary about hiding in a similar place.
And then the Americans entered the war and it ended. At least that's what is seemed like in the history books I read in high school.
Later on I began to see the complexities, the complicity of the French. The British who were reluctant to go to war against the Germans. The French who collaborated with the Germans. The anti-Semitism in all the "good" countries. The racism and misogyny in all the countries, good and bad.
But still, it seemed like history, long past. From time to time I would hear about Nazi hunters, but mostly that seemed remote. Nazis were dead and gone, weren't they?
This book challenges that viewpoint, which in retrospect, seems naive. The past isn't past. Nazi viewpoints didn't disappear with the end of the war. Anti-Semitism and ideals of racial purity didn't evaporate when Hitler committed suicide. How did such recent history get swept into the past while people still lived? The author offers this observation: "By the late 1940s, a majority of West Germans had wanted to turn the page on the war and put an end to the denazification trials, which many resented as both a burden imposed by the Allies and an obstacle to the country’s democratization."
In Germany, people blamed Hitler for everything. In the US, we felt moral superiority. We fought the Nazis and won. Greatest generation, and all that.
This book reviews the lives of the children of prominent Nazis. Some of them celebrated their fathers; some denied their fathers' complicity; some have gone to great lengths to separate themselves from their fathers, but have found it nearly impossible.
The thing is, these children, were living only a few years ago. Some still live. And there are Nazi sympathizers who celebrate them, who celebrate the ideals of the party. These sympathizers never disappeared; they just went underground. And they live in Germany--and the United States. (I'm sure they are elsewhere too, but I really only know my country.)
The author asks, "Can the past protect us from extremism, whatever its origins? It must be hoped. The generation of the Hitler Youth is dying out; four generations have followed it. It is no longer unthinkable to try to understand how any of us might have reacted in that era’s social, economic, and legal context."
I don't think so. We see the rise of the far right all across the West. We see villification of people of color, of immigrants, of cultures other than our own. In the United States, we have never fully dealt with our past, filled with slavery, genocide, Jim Crow laws, discrimination. Instead, we condemned Germany--and South Africa, eventually.
As a white middle class woman raised in the US, it has been easy for me to pretend like the past is past, evil has been defeated, justice has been achieved. And yet, all around me, I see racist comments become more common, even from the president, and good people, people who would never actually say those things, overlook those things in the name of achieving their own political goals.
Can the past protect us from extremism? I wish that were true, but I am not hopeful.
Corrie Ten Boom wrote about hiding Jews in the Holland home she shared with her father and sister in The Hiding Place. Anne Frank wrote her diary about hiding in a similar place.
And then the Americans entered the war and it ended. At least that's what is seemed like in the history books I read in high school.
Later on I began to see the complexities, the complicity of the French. The British who were reluctant to go to war against the Germans. The French who collaborated with the Germans. The anti-Semitism in all the "good" countries. The racism and misogyny in all the countries, good and bad.
But still, it seemed like history, long past. From time to time I would hear about Nazi hunters, but mostly that seemed remote. Nazis were dead and gone, weren't they?
This book challenges that viewpoint, which in retrospect, seems naive. The past isn't past. Nazi viewpoints didn't disappear with the end of the war. Anti-Semitism and ideals of racial purity didn't evaporate when Hitler committed suicide. How did such recent history get swept into the past while people still lived? The author offers this observation: "By the late 1940s, a majority of West Germans had wanted to turn the page on the war and put an end to the denazification trials, which many resented as both a burden imposed by the Allies and an obstacle to the country’s democratization."
In Germany, people blamed Hitler for everything. In the US, we felt moral superiority. We fought the Nazis and won. Greatest generation, and all that.
This book reviews the lives of the children of prominent Nazis. Some of them celebrated their fathers; some denied their fathers' complicity; some have gone to great lengths to separate themselves from their fathers, but have found it nearly impossible.
The thing is, these children, were living only a few years ago. Some still live. And there are Nazi sympathizers who celebrate them, who celebrate the ideals of the party. These sympathizers never disappeared; they just went underground. And they live in Germany--and the United States. (I'm sure they are elsewhere too, but I really only know my country.)
The author asks, "Can the past protect us from extremism, whatever its origins? It must be hoped. The generation of the Hitler Youth is dying out; four generations have followed it. It is no longer unthinkable to try to understand how any of us might have reacted in that era’s social, economic, and legal context."
I don't think so. We see the rise of the far right all across the West. We see villification of people of color, of immigrants, of cultures other than our own. In the United States, we have never fully dealt with our past, filled with slavery, genocide, Jim Crow laws, discrimination. Instead, we condemned Germany--and South Africa, eventually.
As a white middle class woman raised in the US, it has been easy for me to pretend like the past is past, evil has been defeated, justice has been achieved. And yet, all around me, I see racist comments become more common, even from the president, and good people, people who would never actually say those things, overlook those things in the name of achieving their own political goals.
Can the past protect us from extremism? I wish that were true, but I am not hopeful.
August 28, 2022
Most of the men who ruled the Third Reich were only in their forties, so the children about whom this book is written were very young during the war. Most of them were either protected from the knowledge of what their fathers were doing, or lived in Nazi enclaves so completely cut off from the rest of the world that those around them had no reason to discuss it. Often they only began to understand when their fathers (and sometimes their mothers) were arrested, by which time the 'normative moral framework' in which their parents' actions would be judged had already changed. Still, their individual responses varied widely, from absolute refusal to accept their fathers' culpability to being sterilized for fear of passing on 'evil' genes. The response depended on a number of factors: personality, yes, but also their own memories of their fathers, the attitudes of their mothers and siblings, their experiences in the immediate aftermath of the war, and what they ultimately chose to do with their own lives. Like pretty much everything else to do with history, it's a story about how people cope, and that story is invariably interesting.
The author met only one of her subjects; most of those who weren't already dead by the time she wrote were either far too old to be involved or had long since decided they were done talking about it. Thus most of the information presented was carefully pieced together from the subjects' writings, earlier interviews, observations by third parties, and whatever other sources she could find. As a result, it reads as though it were patched together. Nonetheless, I think the topic is one that needed patching together.
The author met only one of her subjects; most of those who weren't already dead by the time she wrote were either far too old to be involved or had long since decided they were done talking about it. Thus most of the information presented was carefully pieced together from the subjects' writings, earlier interviews, observations by third parties, and whatever other sources she could find. As a result, it reads as though it were patched together. Nonetheless, I think the topic is one that needed patching together.
April 13, 2017
Crasnianski leva-nos a conhecer apenas um filho de cada nazi, embora estes tivessem tido bem mais do que um filho único, já que uma das políticas do III Reich é que estes tivessem uma prole numerosa. O filho retratado é quase sempre o primogénito, relegando para segundo ou até ignorando os outros filhos, talvez por terem tido uma exposição muito inferior.
Os Filhos dos Nazis é um livro muito bem fundamentado, que nos dá uma outra perspectiva da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Obviamente que a vida destas crianças, filhas dos nazis mais proeminentes, ajudou. A história que mais me impressionou foi a de Rolf Mengele, um dos acusadores do regime do pai, e de Gudrum Himmler, que fez precisamente o contrário.
Excelente leitura. Recomendo a todos os amantes de leituras sobre o holocausto
opinião completa: http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...
Os Filhos dos Nazis é um livro muito bem fundamentado, que nos dá uma outra perspectiva da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Obviamente que a vida destas crianças, filhas dos nazis mais proeminentes, ajudou. A história que mais me impressionou foi a de Rolf Mengele, um dos acusadores do regime do pai, e de Gudrum Himmler, que fez precisamente o contrário.
Excelente leitura. Recomendo a todos os amantes de leituras sobre o holocausto
opinião completa: http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...
February 15, 2018
I went into reading his book with some trepidation. I was a bit scared of what was going to be the various children' stories, as well as a fear the children would either be whitewashed or painted black. I was joyfully impressed by how evenhanded and well researched the book was. She didn't back off the story of those who worship their father until the day they died or those who hated everything their father did. The fathers and in some cases mothers were researched.
Much of each section is dedicated to the father's position in the nazi hierarchy and to the childhoods of the children. I was amazed by how complete the father child relationship is recorded.
This is well written, and footnoted. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the top nazis as humans and fathers. This book has the most detail on their lives outside the job and how it impacted their children. The book is not horribly graphic so is appropriate for young adult and older readers. It educates on the duality of the monster nazi and the caring father in some cases and in others the distant disciplinarian.
I chose to review this after receiving a copy from Edelweiss.
Much of each section is dedicated to the father's position in the nazi hierarchy and to the childhoods of the children. I was amazed by how complete the father child relationship is recorded.
This is well written, and footnoted. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the top nazis as humans and fathers. This book has the most detail on their lives outside the job and how it impacted their children. The book is not horribly graphic so is appropriate for young adult and older readers. It educates on the duality of the monster nazi and the caring father in some cases and in others the distant disciplinarian.
I chose to review this after receiving a copy from Edelweiss.
November 20, 2020
The topic is interesting, although the children of the top leadership are getting thin on the ground. Still, the book is rather light. Save for Albert Speer, Jr. (also an architect) Crasnianski doesn't seem to have actually interviewed any of them. The most interesting are Edda Goering and Gudrun Himmler, both Daddy's Girls in the absolute worst sense. Gudrun showed up at Waffen-SS reunions (how are these a thing?) and Edda seemed to feel that because her grotesque father was always nice to her, Hermann gets a free pass on the whole genocide thing. Gudrun didn't come out and say there was no actual Holocaust, just that the number of deaths was exaggerated. I mean, what the actual hell?
I was ten or so when Eichmann was hanged. The week before, there was an article in the New York Times about the Eichmanns in Argentina and how much it hurt them that their husband/father was about to get the chop. The story made me emotional, and my father heard me crying downstairs. When he called me, I trailed down to the living room, newspaper in hand. He sat me down and explained what Eichmann had done in terms that even a child could understand. And that was the end of any false sentimentality about the sufferings of unrepentant Nazi families.
The only surprise? Where was Ivanka?
Addendum: Later that night, my father and mother were having coffee in the kitchen. I was sitting at the dining room table and overheard him say: "Your son was crying over Nazis. What the hell is that about, Joan?"
I was ten or so when Eichmann was hanged. The week before, there was an article in the New York Times about the Eichmanns in Argentina and how much it hurt them that their husband/father was about to get the chop. The story made me emotional, and my father heard me crying downstairs. When he called me, I trailed down to the living room, newspaper in hand. He sat me down and explained what Eichmann had done in terms that even a child could understand. And that was the end of any false sentimentality about the sufferings of unrepentant Nazi families.
The only surprise? Where was Ivanka?
Addendum: Later that night, my father and mother were having coffee in the kitchen. I was sitting at the dining room table and overheard him say: "Your son was crying over Nazis. What the hell is that about, Joan?"
May 5, 2021
The first few chapters of this book were so disheartening that I had to stop the book for a number of weeks and pick it up again later. The things that these men did are so evil that it seems completely indefensible, yet several of the children of Nazi leaders documented in this book grew up to defend their fathers’ legacies and even be darlings of Neo-Nazi movements.
As the book went on, it moved towards those children who reacted more negatively to their fathers, those who completely rejected them or who truly grappled with what it meant that the person who was their father also did all these monstrous things.
One of the most redemptive stories was of Speer’s daughter Hilde, who focused on asking Germans to consider where their artwork, jobs, etc came from if they were obtained during the war years, because so many were stolen from Jews. She even started a foundation to help Jewish women in the arts and sciences. I found her comments on guilt vs shame very helpful—that though she doesn’t bear the guilt for her father’s actions, she does bear the shame, and that we can inherit the *consequences* of the wrongdoing of the past even if we didn’t commit the wrongdoing ourselves. Thus why she worked hard to correct that wrongdoing in some way, to repair what happened before. I appreciated her clear-eyed assessment and the way she grappled with the past in a way that was productive.
As the book went on, it moved towards those children who reacted more negatively to their fathers, those who completely rejected them or who truly grappled with what it meant that the person who was their father also did all these monstrous things.
One of the most redemptive stories was of Speer’s daughter Hilde, who focused on asking Germans to consider where their artwork, jobs, etc came from if they were obtained during the war years, because so many were stolen from Jews. She even started a foundation to help Jewish women in the arts and sciences. I found her comments on guilt vs shame very helpful—that though she doesn’t bear the guilt for her father’s actions, she does bear the shame, and that we can inherit the *consequences* of the wrongdoing of the past even if we didn’t commit the wrongdoing ourselves. Thus why she worked hard to correct that wrongdoing in some way, to repair what happened before. I appreciated her clear-eyed assessment and the way she grappled with the past in a way that was productive.
June 24, 2018
I can't even imagine what life was like for those who knew and accepted what their fathers and mothers had done during the war. They are victims too. As for those living in denial, believing their fathers were great men, that they were heroes...no sympathy here.
January 5, 2019
Limited in scoop and not a great deal of depth to it. Focuses on the lives of some of the children of senior Nazis (Mengele's son, Hess' son, Goring's daughter etc), but it's all based on second-hand material and doesn't spend a great deal of time on any of them. Very little attempt at any kind of real psychological insight on the impact crimes of this nature have on a child. Overall an interesting topic but disappointing in execution.
August 22, 2022
Ok here's what I don't understand
All of these children who are now obviously adults are freaked out about their last names, right? But it's not like they are the only people in the world let alone Germany, Austria, etc. so why do they have to admit who their fathers are? I mean if someone were to tactlessly ask, "hey is your dad ...." why can't they just say no? The rest of the people even the ones who are not related in any certain way have to do that now right? Or is every single Himmler a Smith now? Am I being obtuse? Because i don't think changing their last names is just about "oh no i don't want my kid to grow up with that!" There is definitely something more psychological about it like symbolically severing that relationship when they can't literally slice off a part of their bodies. Or is that too biblical? You shall deny me three times? A doubting Thomas? Just wondering...
All of these children who are now obviously adults are freaked out about their last names, right? But it's not like they are the only people in the world let alone Germany, Austria, etc. so why do they have to admit who their fathers are? I mean if someone were to tactlessly ask, "hey is your dad ...." why can't they just say no? The rest of the people even the ones who are not related in any certain way have to do that now right? Or is every single Himmler a Smith now? Am I being obtuse? Because i don't think changing their last names is just about "oh no i don't want my kid to grow up with that!" There is definitely something more psychological about it like symbolically severing that relationship when they can't literally slice off a part of their bodies. Or is that too biblical? You shall deny me three times? A doubting Thomas? Just wondering...
June 8, 2025
My second time reading this book in a short time, just a couple years apart, and it really packs a punch. Not as sociological in structure as you would think from that very long subtitle, it's more of a sordid soap opera of the lives of the kids of prominent Nazis. From the gentle, worshipful denial of Goring's and Himmler's daughter to the dragged out purgatory of Hess' son and then the stars of the show in all its horrible glory, the children of Hans Frank. They are the show stoppers and I mean some of the stuff can stop you in your tracks, whatever you're doing, with your jaw slammed into the ground in amazement.
Martin Boorman had 11 kids -- 11 lives pretty well wrecked, only one of the sons seeming to get a hold on himself and manage a worthwhile life. The Speer kids, lost in a limbo without him for 20 years, find out they don't really want him around anyway when he does come home.
Mengele's son is a fascinating case and he feels the most human of all the children profiled here. My only quibble, really, is that Eichnmann's four sons make no appearance. What in the world??? It's a serious omission and really puzzling to me.
It's a short, fast read and perhaps a second go really did it full justice for me.
Martin Boorman had 11 kids -- 11 lives pretty well wrecked, only one of the sons seeming to get a hold on himself and manage a worthwhile life. The Speer kids, lost in a limbo without him for 20 years, find out they don't really want him around anyway when he does come home.
Mengele's son is a fascinating case and he feels the most human of all the children profiled here. My only quibble, really, is that Eichnmann's four sons make no appearance. What in the world??? It's a serious omission and really puzzling to me.
It's a short, fast read and perhaps a second go really did it full justice for me.
August 3, 2023
Listened to on audio. Fascinating, but chilling.
January 21, 2023
How would a parent tell their child they were a mass murderer? How would a child handle learning their father was a mass murderer? How would they view themselves? How would others view them?
This book tries very hard to answer those questions. Unfortunately, there is very little information from the children of top Nazi officials to work with. Most of them don’t want to talk about it. That leaves very little for the author to work with, so you really only get glimpses into their lives and responses. I can rather understand that really. They are reluctant to expose their parent’s guilt and personal feeling to more publicity than they have already received. Those leaders have been judged. Maybe not before a legal court, but fully in public opinion. The children have lived with the blame and shame of their history their whole lives. But how long can you be guilty for actions that were not your own?
Perhaps, for someone who knew very little about the Holocaust it would be worth more than it was for me. It’s informative, but a lot of the book is taken up by recapping the crimes of the fathers and mothers.
One of the stories in this book contains some intimate details of a sexual nature. They are handled with some delicacy, but aren’t necessary to the history either.
This book tries very hard to answer those questions. Unfortunately, there is very little information from the children of top Nazi officials to work with. Most of them don’t want to talk about it. That leaves very little for the author to work with, so you really only get glimpses into their lives and responses. I can rather understand that really. They are reluctant to expose their parent’s guilt and personal feeling to more publicity than they have already received. Those leaders have been judged. Maybe not before a legal court, but fully in public opinion. The children have lived with the blame and shame of their history their whole lives. But how long can you be guilty for actions that were not your own?
Perhaps, for someone who knew very little about the Holocaust it would be worth more than it was for me. It’s informative, but a lot of the book is taken up by recapping the crimes of the fathers and mothers.
One of the stories in this book contains some intimate details of a sexual nature. They are handled with some delicacy, but aren’t necessary to the history either.
November 14, 2016
Este livro, tal como o o título refere, é focado na vida dos filhos de alguns nazis importantes.
Como é que estas crianças cresceram durante a guerra, em que os seus pais eram importantes? Como cresceram após a guerra terminar e os seus pais serem considerados criminosos? Mas será que a infância, muitas vezes protegidos e até amados pelos seus pais, fará com que estes filhos apoiem os actos dos seus pais? Será que os consideram culpados ou inocentes? Como lidaram com o peso do nome?
Um filho não escolhe os seus pais. Um filho não tem a culpa dos actos do seu progenitor. Mas como reagir sabendo as atrocidades cometidas pelo nosso progenitor.
Um livro de não-ficção sobre a vida dos filhos de Henrich Himmler, Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Hans Frank, Martin Bormann, Rudolf Höss, Albert Speer e Josef Mengele.
A autora explora a vida familiar destes oito nazis, quer desde a sua infância e a vida dos seus pais, as suas entradas no Partido e as suas ligações a Hitler, a sua vida como chefes de família. Mas centra-se essencialmente sobre a visão dos seus filhos, quer como viam os seus pais durante as suas infâncias mas também o que aconteceu depois do fim da 2ª Guerra Mundial. Afinal de contas, o fim da guerra transformou-lhe completamente as suas vidas.
Algo que me surpreendeu, talvez por estarmos habituados a ver estes homens como monstros, foi o modo como encaravam a família, e pela forma como eram até carinhosos com os seus filhos. E como essa relação familiar influenciou e muito a forma como os filhos vêm os seus pais.
Um livro interessante, que nos dá uma outra perspectiva sobre estes homens, como também a visão dos seus filhos e se sentem ou não culpados pelos actos dos seus pais.
Como é que estas crianças cresceram durante a guerra, em que os seus pais eram importantes? Como cresceram após a guerra terminar e os seus pais serem considerados criminosos? Mas será que a infância, muitas vezes protegidos e até amados pelos seus pais, fará com que estes filhos apoiem os actos dos seus pais? Será que os consideram culpados ou inocentes? Como lidaram com o peso do nome?
Um filho não escolhe os seus pais. Um filho não tem a culpa dos actos do seu progenitor. Mas como reagir sabendo as atrocidades cometidas pelo nosso progenitor.
Um livro de não-ficção sobre a vida dos filhos de Henrich Himmler, Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Hans Frank, Martin Bormann, Rudolf Höss, Albert Speer e Josef Mengele.
A autora explora a vida familiar destes oito nazis, quer desde a sua infância e a vida dos seus pais, as suas entradas no Partido e as suas ligações a Hitler, a sua vida como chefes de família. Mas centra-se essencialmente sobre a visão dos seus filhos, quer como viam os seus pais durante as suas infâncias mas também o que aconteceu depois do fim da 2ª Guerra Mundial. Afinal de contas, o fim da guerra transformou-lhe completamente as suas vidas.
Algo que me surpreendeu, talvez por estarmos habituados a ver estes homens como monstros, foi o modo como encaravam a família, e pela forma como eram até carinhosos com os seus filhos. E como essa relação familiar influenciou e muito a forma como os filhos vêm os seus pais.
Um livro interessante, que nos dá uma outra perspectiva sobre estes homens, como também a visão dos seus filhos e se sentem ou não culpados pelos actos dos seus pais.
August 4, 2021
Children of the Nazis is a sad and hard look into the lives of the top Nazis leaders children and how they had to live after the Second World War.
This book was rather short but the author gives a fairly good account of the subject. I was shocked to read that some of the children grew up to support there fathers legacy like Himmlers daughter and Goerings daughter they did not see them as monsters.
I did find this book sad that these children had to grow up and learn of there family’s dark history never did these children ever live complete lives very tragic.
Definitely recommend this quick read for WW2 history buffs.
This book was rather short but the author gives a fairly good account of the subject. I was shocked to read that some of the children grew up to support there fathers legacy like Himmlers daughter and Goerings daughter they did not see them as monsters.
I did find this book sad that these children had to grow up and learn of there family’s dark history never did these children ever live complete lives very tragic.
Definitely recommend this quick read for WW2 history buffs.
March 28, 2020
Libros recomendados: ''Hijos de nazis'', de Tania Crasnianski. Editor La Esfera de los Libros. 2º Guerra mundial, historias verídicas...
Me interesa leer sobre la historia; porque escribo sobre ella. Me tengo que informar, aunque sea duro.
Una de las dudas siempre ha sido la opinión y sentimiento de los descendientes de los nazis. ¿Qué sienten, o han sentido?...
En este libro hay varios testimonios con varias opiniones: están los que defienden a sus antepasados y los que los aborrecen. Hasta qué punto es verdad, no lo sé. Pero es normal que algunos hijos adoren a sus padres; aunque sean asesinos, y es más normal aún, que otros hijos los odien por serlo: yo misma soy hija de un demonio que llevaba traje militar y la verdad es que nunca lo quise; así como él no quiso nunca a nadie.
La narración es dura, es diversa: son entrevistas sobre un 'acontecimiento' al que cuesta todavía poner adjetivo, y que espero no se repita...
Me interesa leer sobre la historia; porque escribo sobre ella. Me tengo que informar, aunque sea duro.
Una de las dudas siempre ha sido la opinión y sentimiento de los descendientes de los nazis. ¿Qué sienten, o han sentido?...
En este libro hay varios testimonios con varias opiniones: están los que defienden a sus antepasados y los que los aborrecen. Hasta qué punto es verdad, no lo sé. Pero es normal que algunos hijos adoren a sus padres; aunque sean asesinos, y es más normal aún, que otros hijos los odien por serlo: yo misma soy hija de un demonio que llevaba traje militar y la verdad es que nunca lo quise; así como él no quiso nunca a nadie.
La narración es dura, es diversa: son entrevistas sobre un 'acontecimiento' al que cuesta todavía poner adjetivo, y que espero no se repita...
March 25, 2021
More World War II book reviews at Ww2HistoryBook.com
Children of Nazis: The Sons and Daughters of Himmler, Göring, Höss, Mengele, and Others — Living with a Father’s Monstrous Legacy is a 2018 book by French Author Tania Crasnianski, which goes deep into the lives of children of high ranking Nazi officials. What was their relationship with their fathers like? How did they deal with their legacy? Did they renounce them, or did they go on with the same beliefs? These are interesting questions which any WW2 aficionado would probably like to find answers to.
The book does well to deal with these questions and provide the answers you are looking for. The author did a great job on research, and it shows. The manuscript is very fact – oriented.
The structure is clear cut from the start and there are no deviations to it. We start each chapter with the father’s exploits in World War Two Germany, the kid’s childhood, followed by a chronological examinations of their lives.
What bothered me was the writing style. In my opinion, it is pretty rigid and devoid of substance, reading more like a report than a book (maybe that was intentional, though?). I have to say I couldn’t read too many pages at one time, as I was getting bored easily, even though there are always interesting snippets of information showing up. I also didn’t like the supposedly subtle jabs taken at Nazi officials and the children who did not renounce their ideas. I never like that in a book – we get it, Nazis were bad, the author does not need to prove his or her disgust for the National Socialist regime (or at least state it clearly), or worse, to manipulate the reader into thinking one way or the other. I don’t think its the case in this book with this last one, though.
Overall, there is definitely much to learn from this volume. It’s just that I found it to be closer to an academic paper than something to sit back and enjoy, so you might want to be aware of this before going into it. All in all, a clear example of a 3/5 stars book for me.
Children of Nazis: The Sons and Daughters of Himmler, Göring, Höss, Mengele, and Others — Living with a Father’s Monstrous Legacy is a 2018 book by French Author Tania Crasnianski, which goes deep into the lives of children of high ranking Nazi officials. What was their relationship with their fathers like? How did they deal with their legacy? Did they renounce them, or did they go on with the same beliefs? These are interesting questions which any WW2 aficionado would probably like to find answers to.
The book does well to deal with these questions and provide the answers you are looking for. The author did a great job on research, and it shows. The manuscript is very fact – oriented.
The structure is clear cut from the start and there are no deviations to it. We start each chapter with the father’s exploits in World War Two Germany, the kid’s childhood, followed by a chronological examinations of their lives.
What bothered me was the writing style. In my opinion, it is pretty rigid and devoid of substance, reading more like a report than a book (maybe that was intentional, though?). I have to say I couldn’t read too many pages at one time, as I was getting bored easily, even though there are always interesting snippets of information showing up. I also didn’t like the supposedly subtle jabs taken at Nazi officials and the children who did not renounce their ideas. I never like that in a book – we get it, Nazis were bad, the author does not need to prove his or her disgust for the National Socialist regime (or at least state it clearly), or worse, to manipulate the reader into thinking one way or the other. I don’t think its the case in this book with this last one, though.
Overall, there is definitely much to learn from this volume. It’s just that I found it to be closer to an academic paper than something to sit back and enjoy, so you might want to be aware of this before going into it. All in all, a clear example of a 3/5 stars book for me.
August 11, 2019
I wish I'd known beforehand that the author only interviewed one of the children mentioned in this book. The information on the others is old and from elsewhere. After reading this I can't tell which of the children were interviewed. The book reads in a choppy manner of note-taking. It doesn't always read smoothly and jumps around a bit.
Before the story of the children, there is a short summary of the fathers' lives to give a sense of what each child had to deal with.
These children were dealt a bad hand. They were young during the events; most were too young to think or know politics. The war ended and so did their opulent, protected world. These kids range from disbelieving what history says about their fathers to believing yet being tied to them.
Those that led the most opulent, secluded, fairy-tale lives were most apt to disbelieve history. Although scary and sad, it makes sense in a distorted way. Life was good. They had fresh air, freedom, servants, good & plentiful food, opulent mansions, their fathers doted on them. This was the only life they knew. Then, from one day to the next, it ended. They were on the run, hungry, living in small apartments often in crowded conditions (many siblings), their fathers were gone, schools & people rejected them because of their names. From a child's point of view, National Socialism must have seemed good, therefore their fathers are good and history lied. Those in this book that most defended their fathers led a truly opulent life during the war and never again. Sadly, these people who disbelieve history continue to endorse a National Socialism party and want to go back to the old ways.
Those who turned away from their fathers had cold, distant relationships with them during the war.
All in all, old interviews rehashed. Interestng if this is the first book read on the thoughts of the children but otherwise short of detail and repetitive. One quarter of the book is notes from the annotations.
Before the story of the children, there is a short summary of the fathers' lives to give a sense of what each child had to deal with.
These children were dealt a bad hand. They were young during the events; most were too young to think or know politics. The war ended and so did their opulent, protected world. These kids range from disbelieving what history says about their fathers to believing yet being tied to them.
Those that led the most opulent, secluded, fairy-tale lives were most apt to disbelieve history. Although scary and sad, it makes sense in a distorted way. Life was good. They had fresh air, freedom, servants, good & plentiful food, opulent mansions, their fathers doted on them. This was the only life they knew. Then, from one day to the next, it ended. They were on the run, hungry, living in small apartments often in crowded conditions (many siblings), their fathers were gone, schools & people rejected them because of their names. From a child's point of view, National Socialism must have seemed good, therefore their fathers are good and history lied. Those in this book that most defended their fathers led a truly opulent life during the war and never again. Sadly, these people who disbelieve history continue to endorse a National Socialism party and want to go back to the old ways.
Those who turned away from their fathers had cold, distant relationships with them during the war.
All in all, old interviews rehashed. Interestng if this is the first book read on the thoughts of the children but otherwise short of detail and repetitive. One quarter of the book is notes from the annotations.
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March 20, 2018Possono le colpe dei padri ricadere sui figli?
Per esperienza personale dico di sì e se non paghiamo scotto e conseguenze materiali, comunque rimane in noi una 'traccia' fatta di piccoli gesti, leggende, storie di famiglia.
Peggio sarebbe se gravasse su di noi la Storia, come è stato per i figli di Himmler, Goring, Hess, Frank, Bormann, Hoss, Speer, Mengele.
E nonostante il libro sia intitolato a loro, è la vita dei padri che si racconta sempre e per sempre, incombendo sui 'prossimi'.
La prossimità sentimentale fa sì che non si sia obiettivi nel considerare freddamente un problema, perchè ne siamo parte. Dunque capisco chi ha rifiutato, chi ha aderito, chi s'è vergognato o si è sentito in colpa. Meglio ha fatto s chi è rimasto indifferente alla propria vita interiore.
Può la colpa trasmettersi attraverso le generazioni? Possiamo solo osservare le vite di questi figli e non giudicarle: il sangue non conta, conta la volontà.
Quanto consapevolmente?
Alcuni di loro hanno forse preferito non chiederselo e anche questo è comprensibile per noi 'distanti' nel tempo, immersi in una società talmente libera da poter essere virgolettata.
Per i 'figli di...' la fatica di vivere è paragonabile a quella dei sopravvissuti ai lager ed ai loro figli, vittime tutti?
Ora che i protagonisti di questa Storia stanno via via lasciandoci, rimarrà la Memoria ed essa ci porrà domande mai fatte prima, forse arriveremo a capire chi mai è l'Uomo...
...e chiedo, sempre chiedo, perché i padri lasciano soprattutto domande in eredità ai figli di tutte le epoche.
Per esperienza personale dico di sì e se non paghiamo scotto e conseguenze materiali, comunque rimane in noi una 'traccia' fatta di piccoli gesti, leggende, storie di famiglia.
Peggio sarebbe se gravasse su di noi la Storia, come è stato per i figli di Himmler, Goring, Hess, Frank, Bormann, Hoss, Speer, Mengele.
E nonostante il libro sia intitolato a loro, è la vita dei padri che si racconta sempre e per sempre, incombendo sui 'prossimi'.
La prossimità sentimentale fa sì che non si sia obiettivi nel considerare freddamente un problema, perchè ne siamo parte. Dunque capisco chi ha rifiutato, chi ha aderito, chi s'è vergognato o si è sentito in colpa. Meglio ha fatto s chi è rimasto indifferente alla propria vita interiore.
Può la colpa trasmettersi attraverso le generazioni? Possiamo solo osservare le vite di questi figli e non giudicarle: il sangue non conta, conta la volontà.
Quanto consapevolmente?
Alcuni di loro hanno forse preferito non chiederselo e anche questo è comprensibile per noi 'distanti' nel tempo, immersi in una società talmente libera da poter essere virgolettata.
Per i 'figli di...' la fatica di vivere è paragonabile a quella dei sopravvissuti ai lager ed ai loro figli, vittime tutti?
Ora che i protagonisti di questa Storia stanno via via lasciandoci, rimarrà la Memoria ed essa ci porrà domande mai fatte prima, forse arriveremo a capire chi mai è l'Uomo...
...e chiedo, sempre chiedo, perché i padri lasciano soprattutto domande in eredità ai figli di tutte le epoche.
December 23, 2016
I thought the thorough research work made by the author on this book contributes to making it one of the best testimony of one of the rather unknown consequences of the third reich. I came to know the book trough the great media covering it was offered in France while I was on a business trip there and was not disappointed by this powerful historic essay on guilt. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a good historic book or that is simply interested by the subject.
February 5, 2021
Já li muitos livros sobre o Holocausto mas ainda não tinha lido nenhum do ponto de vista dos Nazis, neste caso dos seus filhos. Foi interessante ver as diferentes reações e percursos que tiveram estas crianças.
June 7, 2017
Well documented, very objectively written, concise and with interesting facts.
I recommend!
I recommend!
May 13, 2019
No real revelations and the writing felt disorganized.
April 5, 2022
This book sounded fascinating to me because while I've read fiction books about high ranking Nazi children, I'd never read nonfiction about it. I was very eager to learn more. However, I quickly realized why there aren't more books like this. There just isn't much information.
There are eight chapters (one per child) in 200 pages (I'm not including the introduction, conclusion, or bibliography) which comes out to just 25 pages per child. That's not a lot of time to discuss their lives. And within those 25 pages, you also get a summary of their father's life and what he did during the war. There's barely any time actually focused on the children and what it was like for them.
And also, that information just doesn't exist. A lot of the children went on to live private lives, not talking about their fathers publicly for obvious reasons. A lot of them avoided the media. It's just hard to compile a book like this when there isn't available information and only one of the children was willing and available to speak to the author.
I feel like you probably could have googled these men and read the personal life section of their wikipedia page to get basically the same information. I did enjoy some of the information I learned, but their honestly wasn't enough of it to warrant a book in my opinion.
I found it really disappointing. I couldn't recommend this.
There are eight chapters (one per child) in 200 pages (I'm not including the introduction, conclusion, or bibliography) which comes out to just 25 pages per child. That's not a lot of time to discuss their lives. And within those 25 pages, you also get a summary of their father's life and what he did during the war. There's barely any time actually focused on the children and what it was like for them.
And also, that information just doesn't exist. A lot of the children went on to live private lives, not talking about their fathers publicly for obvious reasons. A lot of them avoided the media. It's just hard to compile a book like this when there isn't available information and only one of the children was willing and available to speak to the author.
I feel like you probably could have googled these men and read the personal life section of their wikipedia page to get basically the same information. I did enjoy some of the information I learned, but their honestly wasn't enough of it to warrant a book in my opinion.
I found it really disappointing. I couldn't recommend this.
December 10, 2023
Before migrating to Canada my father grew up in Köln, Germany during the Second World War. He was too young to be a Nazi party member, but since it was mandatory after 1936, he and his brother were Hitler Youth. He certainly clung to attitudes of bigotry his whole life.
My father and I never got along: he didn’t like me; I didn’t like him. I had this book on my kindle for ages but had been avoiding it. I finally thought it was time to give it a read.
Unfortunately, it’s not a good book. The author only ever spoke with one of the adult children. The rest of the book is just cobbled together from existing publications. So, these are potted histories, not anything that offers in-depth insights into the mental processes and feelings of the family members.
You do learn that some of the high-up Nazis were wonderful with their children while others were awful. And you find that the children adopted every conceivable attitude toward their parents and their family histories. This is to be expected. But the author provides no meaningful, insightful analysis of the interior lives of these children, just their documented reactions. Not a useful read about what could have been an extremely interesting psychological study.
My father and I never got along: he didn’t like me; I didn’t like him. I had this book on my kindle for ages but had been avoiding it. I finally thought it was time to give it a read.
Unfortunately, it’s not a good book. The author only ever spoke with one of the adult children. The rest of the book is just cobbled together from existing publications. So, these are potted histories, not anything that offers in-depth insights into the mental processes and feelings of the family members.
You do learn that some of the high-up Nazis were wonderful with their children while others were awful. And you find that the children adopted every conceivable attitude toward their parents and their family histories. This is to be expected. But the author provides no meaningful, insightful analysis of the interior lives of these children, just their documented reactions. Not a useful read about what could have been an extremely interesting psychological study.
December 8, 2017
Libro que recopila en un sólo un resumen de las biografías de algunos importantes jerarcas y oficiales nazis enfocándolo en sus relaciones familiares. Podemos ver cómo era la relación padre-hijo y las distintas reacciones de estos últimos a lo acaecido. Entre otros, hijos o sobrinos de Himmler, Hans Frank, Mengele, Höss, Hess, etc.
El libro es interesante, aunque la lectura llega a resultar un tanto monótona. Al final muchas veces se centra más en los padres que en los hijos, mostrando como la impronta de unos padres se deja ver años después en sus descendientes. La autora se vale de entrevistas e investigaciones de varias fuentes para hacer un recopilatorio de biografías familiares, y eso se nota en el estilo del libro.
El libro es interesante, aunque la lectura llega a resultar un tanto monótona. Al final muchas veces se centra más en los padres que en los hijos, mostrando como la impronta de unos padres se deja ver años después en sus descendientes. La autora se vale de entrevistas e investigaciones de varias fuentes para hacer un recopilatorio de biografías familiares, y eso se nota en el estilo del libro.
October 3, 2020
This is an excellent look into the lives of the fathers, mothers and children and how they were affected by the atrocities of the Holocaust. The men were all Hitler devotees who murdered without conscience.
Having just finished “Too Much and Not Enough” by Mary Trump, I can see the similarities to Fred Trump in every one of these evil Nazi fathers. I have always thought Donald Trump was Adolph Hitler reincarnated, maybe this is why.
There are so many descriptive passages in the book describing Hitler’s abhorrent behavior where you could insert Trump’s name instead. “Hitler did not take anyone’s advice” - sound familiar? Coronavirus anyone??
Having just finished “Too Much and Not Enough” by Mary Trump, I can see the similarities to Fred Trump in every one of these evil Nazi fathers. I have always thought Donald Trump was Adolph Hitler reincarnated, maybe this is why.
There are so many descriptive passages in the book describing Hitler’s abhorrent behavior where you could insert Trump’s name instead. “Hitler did not take anyone’s advice” - sound familiar? Coronavirus anyone??
April 2, 2025
Very interesting! It’s sobering to realize that some of the children are still alive, making the events of the 1940s seem not as distant as we may imagine. Also, amazingly, some of the children maintained their father’s innocence and loving memories of them until their (the children’s) deaths. I guess it’s hard to parse the image of the loving father that doted on you with the man who was responsible for the deaths of millions of people.
May 30, 2018
This book was fascinating and horrifying. I can't imagine being in any of these people's shoes, but I was aghast at how many of them thought their father's had been treated unjustly and had therefore spent their lives trying to write books and positively promote their father's work. An interesting look at how having genocidal monsters as parents impacts the children's lives.
August 12, 2018
It was interesting to read about which children still revere their fathers and which have denounced them, and it seems to have quite a bit to do with how close they were to their fathers during childhood. I can't imagine having to reckon with a legacy like that.
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