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I senza memoria: Storia di una famiglia europea
Nel 1938, Karl Schwarz, il nonno tedesco dell’autrice, rileva, nell’ambito del processo di arianizzazione voluto dai nazionalsocialisti, la piccola azienda di prodotti petroliferi di Julius Löbmann, pagandola assai meno di quanto in realtà valesse. E quando dopo la guerra questi, unico sopravvissuto della sua famiglia sterminata in un campo di concentramento, chiede di essere risarcito, Schwarz per anni si rifiuta di far fronte alle rivendicazioni del padrone di un tempo. Alla fine pagherà, ma in famiglia l’episodio verrà il più possibile nascosto e infine rimosso. Da questa situazione individuale prende avvio la ricognizione di Géraldine Schwarz, che allarga subito la visuale mettendo in evidenza come la «mancanza di memoria» della sua famiglia trovi un pendant nelle strategie politiche della Germania nel dopoguerra: Adenauer, il primo cancelliere tedesco, se da un lato vincola il paese alle democrazie occidentali, dall’altro in molti ambiti della vita pubblica tollera la presenza di importanti personaggi del regime hitleriano. Bisognerà attendere sino agli inizi degli anni Sessanta, prima che nell’opinione pubblica tedesca si avvii quella riflessione sulle proprie colpe che ha portato alla Germania contemporanea. Ma la disamina dell’autrice si sposta ben presto anche su altri paesi come l’Italia, dove per anni ha potuto tranquillamente essere rappresentato in Parlamento il Movimento sociale italiano, un partito che non nascondeva le sue radici fasciste; o l’Austria sempre ben attenta a negare l’entusiasmo con cui Hitler e le sue truppe vennero accolti il giorno dell’Anschluss o infine l’altro paese di origine di Géraldine Schwarz, la Francia, dove dietro il mito della resistenza si sono nascoste le precise responsabilità di molti cittadini: fra questi, forse, anche il nonno materno dell’autrice, di cui non si sa molto oltre al fatto che fu gendarme in una zona dove il governo di Vichy dava la caccia agli ebrei. E sono proprio i paesi in cui la rielaborazione critica di quegli anni è stata carente, in cui hanno avuto la meglio i «senza memoria», questa la tesi centrale e attualissima del libro, ad apparire oggi particolarmente esposti al populismo e al sovranismo, a tollerare e fomentare il razzismo, e a propugnare una concezione antidemocratica della vita politica.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 13, 2017
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About the author
Géraldine Schwarz
3 books40 followersBased in Berlin, Géraldine Schwarz is a German-French journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author. Her debut novel, Those Who Forget, a look back on World War II, has already won numerous awards, including the European Book Prize, the German Winfried Peace Prize, and the Italian NordSud International Prize for Literature and Science.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 266 reviews
November 28, 2019
Ambizioso e riuscito affresco storico e sociale che parte dalla microstoria personale dei nonni dell'autrice per arrivare ai giorni nostri. Il tema è quello della memoria storica calato nel contesto dell'acritica adesione al nazismo della Germania, fino alla successiva de-nazificazione (più o meno riuscita) e presa di coscienza delle enormità perpetrate singolarmente e come nazione. Con una visione allargata anche alla Germania dell’Est e un paio di capitoli finali sulla situazione attuale in Austria & Italia (la marea destrorsa – che più di destra si occupa di fino a ieri frange marginali e oggi gruppi sempre più affermati, o sdoganati come si suol dire con un termine fin troppo simpatico).
La capacità narrativa di Schwarz è notevolissima, supportata da un apparato storico puntuale e da una onestà intellettuale che non si nasconde dietro a nessuna delle scuse, anche di altissimo livello, ormai entrate nella vulgata, prima fra tutte quella banalità del male che ormai è invocata per ogni studente_esaltato, marito_abbandonato, politico_delirante che fa fuori chiunque sia nelle sue possibilità, dai compagni di scuola, alla moglie, a una nave di migranti.
Schwarz, figlia di un tedesco e una francese (e non risparmia una narrazione senza scuse anche ai francesi, e alla vigliacca adesione del governo di Vichy), nipote di aderenti “per comodità” alla NSDAP non fa sconti e non chiede comprensione per il passato famigliare. Il morbo del senza memoria che ha colpito a vari livelli e a tutte le epoche gli stati europei e i loro abitanti ha inoculato il virus del colpo di spugna, della pacificazione nazionale, del fronte comune contro il nemico russo (i cui 20 milioni di morti, 20 milioni di soldati e civili che fisicamente hanno fermato il nazismo, sono stati scientemente dimenticati al grido di “Si, ma Stalin? E i gulag? E le epurazioni? Come se la somma di due massacri fosse zero, e uno cancellasse l’altro), della distruzione della Germania per mano degli Alleati*, fino ad arrivare a negare per decenni la Shoah, attraverso la negazione delle singole vicende.
Lo sterminio, perpetrato scientemente (e in parecchi casi anche con un coinvolgimento che superava con gioia la richiesta di adesione) degli Ebrei (ricchi e poveri, colti e illetterati, di destra e di sinistra, uomini donne vecchi bambini, sani e ammalati), di tutti gli Ebrei è una colpa talmente soverchiante che è comprensibile che si sia sempre cercato di sfuggire alla presa di coscienza. Perché: l’hai fatto volontariamente = sei colpevole, hai girato la testa = sei colpevole. Poi si può discutere del maggiore o minore grado di coinvolgimento. E non lo dico pensando che io sarei stata coraggiosa e sarei insorta, no, probabilmente avrei girato la testa seguendo la massa come il 95% delle persone, e sarei stata colpevole.
Il virus del SenzaMemoria è gradevolissimo, ci consente di riscrivere il passato a nostra misura, ha consentito alla Russia di imporre una retorica (ben più di parole in effetti) dell’Armata Rossa ai Paesi che aveva occupato post II Guerra Mondiale, ha consentito ai Francesi di sentirsi tutti liberatori anche se solo il 2% (DUEPERCENTO) aveva aderito alla resistenza di DeGaulle e di sedersi al tavolo degli Alleati, ha permesso agli Italiani di crogiolarsi nella Resistenza dimenticando di fatto (ma l’attualità glielo sta ricordando) che fino al ’39 (e financo al ’43) Mussolini era ritenuto un grande statista dalla stragrande maggioranza, e via discorrendo. Che a parlare dell’Ungheria mi viene maldistomaco.
*…. I tedeschi che vissero gli ultimi mesi della guerra li ricordano come una apocalisse. La Germania crollava, bruciava, esplodeva, urlava, si straziava e agonizzava in un inferno degno di Dante. ….
La capacità narrativa di Schwarz è notevolissima, supportata da un apparato storico puntuale e da una onestà intellettuale che non si nasconde dietro a nessuna delle scuse, anche di altissimo livello, ormai entrate nella vulgata, prima fra tutte quella banalità del male che ormai è invocata per ogni studente_esaltato, marito_abbandonato, politico_delirante che fa fuori chiunque sia nelle sue possibilità, dai compagni di scuola, alla moglie, a una nave di migranti.
Schwarz, figlia di un tedesco e una francese (e non risparmia una narrazione senza scuse anche ai francesi, e alla vigliacca adesione del governo di Vichy), nipote di aderenti “per comodità” alla NSDAP non fa sconti e non chiede comprensione per il passato famigliare. Il morbo del senza memoria che ha colpito a vari livelli e a tutte le epoche gli stati europei e i loro abitanti ha inoculato il virus del colpo di spugna, della pacificazione nazionale, del fronte comune contro il nemico russo (i cui 20 milioni di morti, 20 milioni di soldati e civili che fisicamente hanno fermato il nazismo, sono stati scientemente dimenticati al grido di “Si, ma Stalin? E i gulag? E le epurazioni? Come se la somma di due massacri fosse zero, e uno cancellasse l’altro), della distruzione della Germania per mano degli Alleati*, fino ad arrivare a negare per decenni la Shoah, attraverso la negazione delle singole vicende.
Lo sterminio, perpetrato scientemente (e in parecchi casi anche con un coinvolgimento che superava con gioia la richiesta di adesione) degli Ebrei (ricchi e poveri, colti e illetterati, di destra e di sinistra, uomini donne vecchi bambini, sani e ammalati), di tutti gli Ebrei è una colpa talmente soverchiante che è comprensibile che si sia sempre cercato di sfuggire alla presa di coscienza. Perché: l’hai fatto volontariamente = sei colpevole, hai girato la testa = sei colpevole. Poi si può discutere del maggiore o minore grado di coinvolgimento. E non lo dico pensando che io sarei stata coraggiosa e sarei insorta, no, probabilmente avrei girato la testa seguendo la massa come il 95% delle persone, e sarei stata colpevole.
Il virus del SenzaMemoria è gradevolissimo, ci consente di riscrivere il passato a nostra misura, ha consentito alla Russia di imporre una retorica (ben più di parole in effetti) dell’Armata Rossa ai Paesi che aveva occupato post II Guerra Mondiale, ha consentito ai Francesi di sentirsi tutti liberatori anche se solo il 2% (DUEPERCENTO) aveva aderito alla resistenza di DeGaulle e di sedersi al tavolo degli Alleati, ha permesso agli Italiani di crogiolarsi nella Resistenza dimenticando di fatto (ma l’attualità glielo sta ricordando) che fino al ’39 (e financo al ’43) Mussolini era ritenuto un grande statista dalla stragrande maggioranza, e via discorrendo. Che a parlare dell’Ungheria mi viene maldistomaco.
*…. I tedeschi che vissero gli ultimi mesi della guerra li ricordano come una apocalisse. La Germania crollava, bruciava, esplodeva, urlava, si straziava e agonizzava in un inferno degno di Dante. ….
October 21, 2019
Impecablemente documentado. Me ha fascinado cómo Géraldine es capaz de hilvanar tanta información, documentación, y hechos históricos con un hilo temporal que abarca a 3 generaciones. Y lo hace de una manera directa, fácil, didáctica y reflexiva.
Una lectura muy recomendable con una advertencia final sobre el actual auge del fascismo.
Una lectura muy recomendable con una advertencia final sobre el actual auge del fascismo.
October 8, 2020
I didn’t love this like I thought I would and I feel guilty about it because it seems like one of those books you really should appreciate and that has great historical and cultural significance. But it was just so dry in parts, it read like a textbook! I wasn’t sure I’d stick with it from the first few chapters alone. It does get better, but it was easy to lose the thread of who’s who from all the branches of her family — mother and father’s sides, grandparents from each, I don’t even remember who else. I was always confused. BUT it was completely worth it for the last couple of chapters, especially about the GDR/reunification of Germany and countries that haven’t done the memory work — everything she wrote about Austria is so true, I can’t believe what they’ve gotten away with and things I heard while living there. She writes that they “hid” behind Nazi germany’s crimes and the more unbelievable part of that is that it worked. Eventually they developed the FPÖ, a far-right party that currently governs in a coalition and helped give rise to a far-right party in Germany that’s the first to get as much support as it has since the nazis. When the FPÖ first gained seats in 2000, it drew negative attention worldwide; when they were re-elected in the coalition in 2017, hardly a stir. What she writes about the rise of right-wing populism across Europe, and of course, in America, which she also analyzed incisively, is very upsetting but important.
And her analysis of the refugee crisis and what Merkel had in mind when opening Germany’s borders was also excellent. Some of the bits describing her own experiences are lovely too, it’s just the majority that sort of walks through the Holocaust that was less captivating. I’ve read a lot in that area though, maybe if it’s a less explored subject it won’t feel as dull for others. I dunno. Aside from the last couple of chapters it felt like pretty standard, well-trodden ground history of this time.
And her analysis of the refugee crisis and what Merkel had in mind when opening Germany’s borders was also excellent. Some of the bits describing her own experiences are lovely too, it’s just the majority that sort of walks through the Holocaust that was less captivating. I’ve read a lot in that area though, maybe if it’s a less explored subject it won’t feel as dull for others. I dunno. Aside from the last couple of chapters it felt like pretty standard, well-trodden ground history of this time.
June 23, 2019
Voor ‘geheugenlozen’
“We hebben een paar dingen bereikt: de democratie, de scheiding der machten, maar je kunt paragrafen maken, je kunt artikelen schrijven, de beste grondwetten uitwerken – wat je nodig hebt zijn de juiste mensen.” – Fritz Bauer
De Duits-Joodse jurist Bauer deed deze uitspraak in de jaren 1960, toen hij actief probeerde nazi’s voor het gerecht te krijgen maar werd tegengewerkt door justitie en de algemene publieke opinie.
Géraldine Schwarz beschrijft aan de lezer waarom deze houding van een getraumatiseerde samenleving niet gek te noemen is en welke oorzaken eraan ten grondslag liggen. Hoe de generatie jongeren in de decennia 1960-1980 soms pas voor het eerst over de achtergrond van het Derde Rijk hoorden, omdat de periode 1930-1950 simpelweg niet voorkwam in de geschiedenislessen; hoe het gebeurde dat door de naoorlogse opdeling van Duitsland de nazi’s en collaborateurs niet overal even zwaar berecht werden, of zelfs helemaal niet.
Met de 21e-eeuwse bril zijn deze situaties wellicht niet te bevatten. Schwarz heeft echter de toegang tot het persoonlijke bedrijfsarchief van haar Duitse opa, tevens hoort ze via moederskant oorlogsverhalen uit Frankrijk. De bijzondere Frans-Duitse achtergrond van de auteur maakt dat ze zich verwant voelt aan beide nationaliteiten. Zou dit onwillekeurig een goede toevoeging zijn in haar streven om zo objectief mogelijk de verschillende kanten van mensen, naties, decennia te onderzoeken?
Het boek kent een fijne vertelvorm: de kleine persoonlijke (familie)geschiedenis wordt verweven met de grote wereldgeschiedenis. Het maakt dat je als lezer niet het gevoel hebt een naslagwerk te bestuderen, hoewel De geheugenlozen door de vele gedetailleerde informatie die status wel verdient.
Eerst diept Schwarz het Duitse verleden uit aan de hand van haar opa’s bedrijf in Mannheim. De overname, voor de oorlog, is niet geheel netjes gegaan, ook al was Opa duidelijk een Mitläufer. Na de oorlog ging het bedrijf niet automatisch terug naar de voormalige joodse eigenaars, want het land moest opgebouwd en het gezin-Schwarz moest ook eten. “We moeten er nu allemaal onder gebukt gaan en het is altijd wat.”
Waar de naoorlogse Duitse samenleving een laisser-faire-houding verweten kan worden, geldt dit dubbel voor de Fransen. Zonder het Vichy-regime zouden niet zoveel Franse en naar Frankrijk gevluchte joden gedood zijn. De naam van het toenmalige staatshoofd, Philippe Pétain, kan tegenwoordig nog als scheldwoord worden gebruikt. De verandering in mentaliteit t.a.v. terugkijken naar de oorlog begon later dan hetzelfde Duitse proces.
In latere hoofdstukken gaat het over (het belang van) het doorgeven van herinneringen: herdenkingen, archieven, verhalen. De DDR-historie krijgt ook een podium, er zijn meer parallellen met de verwerking van de wereldoorlogen aan te wijzen dan je zou denken. Interessant is dat Schwarz extra onderzoek heeft gedaan naar de herdenkingscultuur in Oostenrijk, Italië en Nederland. Een observatie: in Italië en Frankrijk zijn film en literatuur de belangrijkste factor in het verwerkingsproces, in Nederland de musea en herdenkingsoorden.
Dit boek is geschreven voor iedereen, maar speciaal voor de ‘geheugenlozen’: kinderen van Europa, die de geur van oorlog niet kennen.
“De geschiedenis herhaalt zich niet, maar de sociale en psychologische mechanismen blijven onveranderd en zetten er ons in crisiscontext toe aan irrationele medeplichtigen te worden van misdadige doctrines.” Schwarz waarschuwt er wel voor ons herdenken niet alleen op negatieve basis te laten gebeuren, maar de vorige eeuw juist ook als positief te beschouwen: we leven op een continent waar de volkeren tot twee keer toe het totalitarisme hebben overwonnen en de democratie hebben opgebouwd.
Eén minpuntje aan dit verder volledige boek: een register en literatuurlijst ontbreken. Vele bronnen worden in de lopende tekst aangehaald en het was handig geweest voor het overzicht om ze allemaal achterin te vermelden.
Een eervolle vermelding voor de vertalers Kris Lauwerys en Isabelle Schoepen! Hun werk zorgt ervoor dat deze lijvige geschiedenis prettig leest.
Omdat dit boek door zijn bijzondere vertelvorm en naslagwerkgehalte vatbaar is voor grondige herlezing en aanzet tot het opzoeken, bekijken en lezen van andere (film)titels, is het voor mij de volle 5 sterren waard!
“We hebben een paar dingen bereikt: de democratie, de scheiding der machten, maar je kunt paragrafen maken, je kunt artikelen schrijven, de beste grondwetten uitwerken – wat je nodig hebt zijn de juiste mensen.” – Fritz Bauer
De Duits-Joodse jurist Bauer deed deze uitspraak in de jaren 1960, toen hij actief probeerde nazi’s voor het gerecht te krijgen maar werd tegengewerkt door justitie en de algemene publieke opinie.
Géraldine Schwarz beschrijft aan de lezer waarom deze houding van een getraumatiseerde samenleving niet gek te noemen is en welke oorzaken eraan ten grondslag liggen. Hoe de generatie jongeren in de decennia 1960-1980 soms pas voor het eerst over de achtergrond van het Derde Rijk hoorden, omdat de periode 1930-1950 simpelweg niet voorkwam in de geschiedenislessen; hoe het gebeurde dat door de naoorlogse opdeling van Duitsland de nazi’s en collaborateurs niet overal even zwaar berecht werden, of zelfs helemaal niet.
Met de 21e-eeuwse bril zijn deze situaties wellicht niet te bevatten. Schwarz heeft echter de toegang tot het persoonlijke bedrijfsarchief van haar Duitse opa, tevens hoort ze via moederskant oorlogsverhalen uit Frankrijk. De bijzondere Frans-Duitse achtergrond van de auteur maakt dat ze zich verwant voelt aan beide nationaliteiten. Zou dit onwillekeurig een goede toevoeging zijn in haar streven om zo objectief mogelijk de verschillende kanten van mensen, naties, decennia te onderzoeken?
Het boek kent een fijne vertelvorm: de kleine persoonlijke (familie)geschiedenis wordt verweven met de grote wereldgeschiedenis. Het maakt dat je als lezer niet het gevoel hebt een naslagwerk te bestuderen, hoewel De geheugenlozen door de vele gedetailleerde informatie die status wel verdient.
Eerst diept Schwarz het Duitse verleden uit aan de hand van haar opa’s bedrijf in Mannheim. De overname, voor de oorlog, is niet geheel netjes gegaan, ook al was Opa duidelijk een Mitläufer. Na de oorlog ging het bedrijf niet automatisch terug naar de voormalige joodse eigenaars, want het land moest opgebouwd en het gezin-Schwarz moest ook eten. “We moeten er nu allemaal onder gebukt gaan en het is altijd wat.”
Waar de naoorlogse Duitse samenleving een laisser-faire-houding verweten kan worden, geldt dit dubbel voor de Fransen. Zonder het Vichy-regime zouden niet zoveel Franse en naar Frankrijk gevluchte joden gedood zijn. De naam van het toenmalige staatshoofd, Philippe Pétain, kan tegenwoordig nog als scheldwoord worden gebruikt. De verandering in mentaliteit t.a.v. terugkijken naar de oorlog begon later dan hetzelfde Duitse proces.
In latere hoofdstukken gaat het over (het belang van) het doorgeven van herinneringen: herdenkingen, archieven, verhalen. De DDR-historie krijgt ook een podium, er zijn meer parallellen met de verwerking van de wereldoorlogen aan te wijzen dan je zou denken. Interessant is dat Schwarz extra onderzoek heeft gedaan naar de herdenkingscultuur in Oostenrijk, Italië en Nederland. Een observatie: in Italië en Frankrijk zijn film en literatuur de belangrijkste factor in het verwerkingsproces, in Nederland de musea en herdenkingsoorden.
Dit boek is geschreven voor iedereen, maar speciaal voor de ‘geheugenlozen’: kinderen van Europa, die de geur van oorlog niet kennen.
“De geschiedenis herhaalt zich niet, maar de sociale en psychologische mechanismen blijven onveranderd en zetten er ons in crisiscontext toe aan irrationele medeplichtigen te worden van misdadige doctrines.” Schwarz waarschuwt er wel voor ons herdenken niet alleen op negatieve basis te laten gebeuren, maar de vorige eeuw juist ook als positief te beschouwen: we leven op een continent waar de volkeren tot twee keer toe het totalitarisme hebben overwonnen en de democratie hebben opgebouwd.
Eén minpuntje aan dit verder volledige boek: een register en literatuurlijst ontbreken. Vele bronnen worden in de lopende tekst aangehaald en het was handig geweest voor het overzicht om ze allemaal achterin te vermelden.
Een eervolle vermelding voor de vertalers Kris Lauwerys en Isabelle Schoepen! Hun werk zorgt ervoor dat deze lijvige geschiedenis prettig leest.
Omdat dit boek door zijn bijzondere vertelvorm en naslagwerkgehalte vatbaar is voor grondige herlezing en aanzet tot het opzoeken, bekijken en lezen van andere (film)titels, is het voor mij de volle 5 sterren waard!
May 11, 2020
"I wasn't particularly destined to take an interest in Nazis. My father's parents were neither on the victims' nor the executioners' side. They didn't distinguish themselves with acts of bravery, but neither did they commit the sin of excess zeal. They were simply Mitläufer, people who 'followed the current.' Simply, in the sense that their attitude was shared by the majority of the German people, an accumulation of little blindnesses and small acts of cowardice that, when combined, created the necessary conditions for the worst state-orchestrated crimes known to humanity."
Géraldine Schwarz is a French-German journalist who takes it upon herself to reckon with her family's complicity in the Third Reich. She traces the progression of political, social, and cultural opinions after World War II, showing the tide slowly turning against Nazism. Shockingly, after the war, many "everyday" Germans were quick to deny culpability for the Reich and the Holocaust - they were simply Mitlaufer, a category in the U.S.-occupied section of Germany that meant they were just going along with the tide, supporting some of the NSDAP's beliefs but not taking any strong stance for or against the war. Schwarz is quick to refute this categorization. Although many Germans hid behind the idea that they would be punished for going against the Party and that they were supportive of the NSDAP simply for the economic revitalization and not for the anti-Semitism, countless Germans benefitted from the "Aryanization" of German businesses - the informal practice of boycotting Jewish-owned businesses until they had no choice but to sell to Germans for far below market price. Schwarz's own grandfather was one of these Germans, buying a mineral business from a German Jew at barely face value, then denying all blame when that same German Jew filed a reparations suit against Schwarz's grandfather after the war.
Schwarz's documentation of the history of immediate postwar German "reconstruction" was quite interesting. Most works I've read and watched about WWII basically stop after Potsdam, and hardly focus on the punishments that we all expected to be doled out after the war. You'll learn here that punishments were not doled out, not nearly as many as were deserved - people were scared of being implicated, even non-German officials in France and England.
However, after the first third of the book, I found the narrative to be quite meandering and the timeline a bit hard to follow. Schwarz often goes back and forth between pre-war and post-war history, which I understand is needed to show the gradual process of Aryanization and subtle cultural shifts - but the blending of these timelines makes the story slightly confusing. After going through her German grandparent's history, Schwarz enters into more recent history, discussing her father and aunt's upbringing, then introducing her French mother and her French grandparents' side of the story. I would have preferred it be arranged chronologically, with all of the grandparents' stories first, then her parent's generation, then hers. Schwarz goes quite in depth with the French occupation and collaboration with Germany (sometimes it seems that the French were worse than the Germans here!), but this story wasn't as compelling as the recounting of German history.
I enjoyed this piece of history that I haven't read about before - although it could be dense at times, it is a fascinating story, and one that I hope causes other Germans to interrogate their pasts and reckon with the scars in their family's histories. Thank you to Scribner for the ARC.
March 28, 2020
Sorpresón el de este libro. Lo he disfrutado muchísimo
July 21, 2019
Everyone should read this book!
September 20, 2020
In French there is a word for people who lose their memory, or forget things: “les amnésiques”. The word comes from the Latin word “amnesia”, also used in English, which means a complete or partial loss of memory due to trauma, injury etc. Géraldine Schwarz uses this term as the original title of her book (translated to Those Who Forget in English), and I think it accurately sums up the main theme that prevails through-out the book: that awful tendency that we humans have to erase and forget certain parts of our history in order to live guilt-free. That whole “I didn’t participate in XYZ, so I was not part of it” attitude that is still a core part of our make-up today. The ability that we have to not hold ourselves accountable for acts committed by those around us, telling ourselves that because we did not actually physically commit those acts, we were not part of it. Well, silence is complicit, and silence allows violence to become genocide, and hatred to become state-sanctioned mass murder.
Géraldine Schwarz is a German and French journalist, and Those Who Forget is a deep dive into her family’s past, but also a general overview of Germany before, during, and after the war, and the Germans in general during that time. There is a term for Germans who were not active Nazi followers, those who just followed the current: “Mitlaüfer”. Schwarz grew up thinking that her German grandparents were Mitlaüfer, but when she discovers that her grandfather appears to have taken his own advantage of anti-Semitism in 1938, she starts to wonder how complicit he actually was, and how complicit the entire population was. Schwarz also studies the actions of the French side of her family as her mother’s father was a Vichy policeman during the war. I really love how the author creates a story by weaving through three generations of her family, and each generation's own way of reckoning with what their country and their people did during the war. Within these studies the author takes us on a personal journey of discovery, but also on a more general journey into our collective ability to forget and move on, while burying the past, and what this actually means for our future. If we bury the past how can we move forward without committing the same acts down the road? If we remain silent in the face of wrong, how can we really hope to make a change in the future?
This is such a timely book, as I feel that, once again, we are at a crossroads, and our actions, as individuals and as populations in general, will dictate how the future unrolls. Nazism, Fascism, and Anti-Semitism were never wiped out, but hastily buried in a shallow grave with a breathing tube. I appreciated the parallels that the author draws with other atrocities committed elsewhere (slavery in the US for example), portraying how none of us are safe from being persecuted and/or complicit in persecution of others.
I asked my sister to send me a copy of this book in the original language as I want to be able to read it again in French. Part memoir, part history, part warning, this is a must read in my opinion, and also a call to action: do we really want to continue to watch the same atrocities be committed over and over again, standing by and pretending that we are not guilty by association? Or do we want to stand up and actually say NO MORE and mean it? I know what side of history I want to be standing on.
Thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for the advance copy in return for an honest review.
Géraldine Schwarz is a German and French journalist, and Those Who Forget is a deep dive into her family’s past, but also a general overview of Germany before, during, and after the war, and the Germans in general during that time. There is a term for Germans who were not active Nazi followers, those who just followed the current: “Mitlaüfer”. Schwarz grew up thinking that her German grandparents were Mitlaüfer, but when she discovers that her grandfather appears to have taken his own advantage of anti-Semitism in 1938, she starts to wonder how complicit he actually was, and how complicit the entire population was. Schwarz also studies the actions of the French side of her family as her mother’s father was a Vichy policeman during the war. I really love how the author creates a story by weaving through three generations of her family, and each generation's own way of reckoning with what their country and their people did during the war. Within these studies the author takes us on a personal journey of discovery, but also on a more general journey into our collective ability to forget and move on, while burying the past, and what this actually means for our future. If we bury the past how can we move forward without committing the same acts down the road? If we remain silent in the face of wrong, how can we really hope to make a change in the future?
This is such a timely book, as I feel that, once again, we are at a crossroads, and our actions, as individuals and as populations in general, will dictate how the future unrolls. Nazism, Fascism, and Anti-Semitism were never wiped out, but hastily buried in a shallow grave with a breathing tube. I appreciated the parallels that the author draws with other atrocities committed elsewhere (slavery in the US for example), portraying how none of us are safe from being persecuted and/or complicit in persecution of others.
I asked my sister to send me a copy of this book in the original language as I want to be able to read it again in French. Part memoir, part history, part warning, this is a must read in my opinion, and also a call to action: do we really want to continue to watch the same atrocities be committed over and over again, standing by and pretending that we are not guilty by association? Or do we want to stand up and actually say NO MORE and mean it? I know what side of history I want to be standing on.
Thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for the advance copy in return for an honest review.
February 22, 2023
Le due stelle sono per la ricerca storica della prima parte, specialmente quella che riguarda la Francia e la collaborazione con i nazisti della gendarmeria francese e dei francesi tutti, smentendo la versione ufficiale che vuole la Francia un popolo di "resistenti".
Interessante anche la parte della Germania nel dopoguerra, specialmente quando parla degli scrittori del calibro di Boll o Grass (pero' ho trovato veramente insopportabile che la Schwartz raccontasse tutte le trame dei libri di cui parlava: se fossi uno degli scrittori citati le avrei fatto causa per questo).
Finita la parte storica, che a dire il vero da' ben poche risposte riguardo alla famiglia della Schwarz (i nonni sapevano quello che stava succedendo?Collaboravano? Non si sa) , ho trovato la parte piu' "odierna" abbastanza superficiale ed un tantino ridicola ( la Merkel santa subito!)
Ho letto di molto meglio, sinceramente non lo consiglierei.
Interessante anche la parte della Germania nel dopoguerra, specialmente quando parla degli scrittori del calibro di Boll o Grass (pero' ho trovato veramente insopportabile che la Schwartz raccontasse tutte le trame dei libri di cui parlava: se fossi uno degli scrittori citati le avrei fatto causa per questo).
Finita la parte storica, che a dire il vero da' ben poche risposte riguardo alla famiglia della Schwarz (i nonni sapevano quello che stava succedendo?Collaboravano? Non si sa) , ho trovato la parte piu' "odierna" abbastanza superficiale ed un tantino ridicola ( la Merkel santa subito!)
Ho letto di molto meglio, sinceramente non lo consiglierei.
January 3, 2018
Well written book about part of the European, not just Germany, history which opens our eyes to a lot of unknown events. Very well documented.
80 years later we are still struggling on some of the same problems, surprised about quotas of refugees then and now.
I would recommend to read that book to everybody that would like to understand, part of the History of Europe.
80 years later we are still struggling on some of the same problems, surprised about quotas of refugees then and now.
I would recommend to read that book to everybody that would like to understand, part of the History of Europe.
July 17, 2019
Questo “I senza memoria”, libro bello e importante di Géraldine Schwarz – padre tedesco, madre francese –, è “un'indagine appassionante e dolorosa sulle responsabilità individuali e sulle amnesie collettive legate ai paesi governati da regimi totalitari fascisti nell'Europa del XX secolo”. La storia della famiglia Schwarz ha un piccolo spazio nella grande Storia, che l'autrice ripercorre passo passo fino ad oggi, congedandosi – dopo tante negatività – con un appello alla “memoria positiva” da sottolineare e diffondere: “Commemorare le vittime del fascismo e del comunismo come l'Unione europea fa il 27 gennaio è importante, ma non basta. Abbiamo bisogno di una memoria positiva. Non abbandoniamo questo ambito ai populisti. Agli europei, ai giovani, deve essere restituito l'orgoglio di appartenere a un continente i cui popoli sono riusciti a sconfiggere per due volte il totalitarismo, nel 1945 e nel 1989, e che con il sudore della fronte hanno costruito la democrazia e restituito la dignità ai cittadini.”
September 11, 2019
La tesi del libro, che in parte la stessa Schwarz è costretta a mettere in discussione alla fine, è che il pericolo nazionalista/fascista è tanto minore laddove si è fatto un maggior lavoro sulla memoria del paese per quel che riguarda il fascismo storico, il nazismo, i collaborazionismi. I senza memoria sono tutti coloro che questa rielaborazione non hanno fatto. Sono molti.
Giornalista franco-tedesca, Géraldine Schwarz traccia la storia di come la memoria e la storia dei fascismi, della 2a guerra mondiale e dell'Olocausto sia stata curata nei vari paesi europei, con maggior peso ai due paesi della sua origine: Germania e Francia. Alla Storia Schwarz aggiunge la storia dei nonni entrambi coinvolti in un modo o nell'altro nella tragedia di quegli anni. Con particolare cura è raccontata la storia del nonno tedesco che approfittò dell'obbligo per gli ebrei di vendere le proprie aziende per comprare quella che poi divenne la sua azienda di commercio petrolifero e dell'iniziale rifiuto, insistito per del tempo, a rimborsare la cifra richiesta da uno dei precedenti proprietari a guerra finita.
Schwarz non fa sconti a nessuno, né ai nonni né ai paesi in cui questi vissero, mettendo in luce come chiare siano le responsabilità di tutti i cittadini nelle nefandezze compiute dai nazisti tedeschi e dai loro complici francesi. I "mitläufer", coloro che accompagnarono il nazismo senza partecipare attivamente alle attività del partito e alle azioni che lo stato tedesco compì contro ebrei e altri perseguitati, sono stati comunque responsabili in qualche modo dei fatti avvenuti e non potevano non sapere. Schwarz in qualche modo sostiene dunque, almeno in parted, la stessa tesi del famoso e contestato libro di Daniel Goldhagen "I volenterosi carnefici di Hitler", libro del 1996 peraltro non citato.
Il libro è bello, ben scritto e molto interessante, soprattutto i primi tre/quarti. Per quanto Schwarz racconti cose note a chi si è interessato a questi temi, la messa in ordine temporale e logico dei fatti risulta in una narrazione potente. La parte finale del libro è un'analisi di quanto avvenuto negli altri paesi europei. Un capitolo è dedicato ad Austria e Italia (un po' troppo corto, ma non manca niente, nemmeno Salvini) e un altro agli altri paesi, inevitabilmente superficiale. L'aggiunta in questi ultimi capitoli di qualche aneddoto personale risulta superfluo e fuori luogo.
La tesi, scrivevo all'inizio, è che più si è lavorato nella rielaborazione dei fatti, minore è il rischio del ritorno al fascismo e maggiore è la sensibilità sul tema. Non si può che concordare e anch'io come la Schwarz considero la Germania il paese a minor rischio fascismo anche se i successi dell'AfD mettono comunque preoccupazione, come sottolinea l'autrice.
Sull'Italia Schwarz sostiene (non è la sola e condivido) che il mito della resistenza, senz'altro utile a fare da collante nella rinascita del paese, unito al fuorviante e falso binomio Tedeschi/cattivi-Italiani/buoni, è stato però un ostacolo alla seria rielaborazione del fascismo e delle tragedie provocate dagli Italiani, così che nell'Italia di oggi le possibili derive fasciste del nazionalismo sono largamente sottovalutate.
Giornalista franco-tedesca, Géraldine Schwarz traccia la storia di come la memoria e la storia dei fascismi, della 2a guerra mondiale e dell'Olocausto sia stata curata nei vari paesi europei, con maggior peso ai due paesi della sua origine: Germania e Francia. Alla Storia Schwarz aggiunge la storia dei nonni entrambi coinvolti in un modo o nell'altro nella tragedia di quegli anni. Con particolare cura è raccontata la storia del nonno tedesco che approfittò dell'obbligo per gli ebrei di vendere le proprie aziende per comprare quella che poi divenne la sua azienda di commercio petrolifero e dell'iniziale rifiuto, insistito per del tempo, a rimborsare la cifra richiesta da uno dei precedenti proprietari a guerra finita.
Schwarz non fa sconti a nessuno, né ai nonni né ai paesi in cui questi vissero, mettendo in luce come chiare siano le responsabilità di tutti i cittadini nelle nefandezze compiute dai nazisti tedeschi e dai loro complici francesi. I "mitläufer", coloro che accompagnarono il nazismo senza partecipare attivamente alle attività del partito e alle azioni che lo stato tedesco compì contro ebrei e altri perseguitati, sono stati comunque responsabili in qualche modo dei fatti avvenuti e non potevano non sapere. Schwarz in qualche modo sostiene dunque, almeno in parted, la stessa tesi del famoso e contestato libro di Daniel Goldhagen "I volenterosi carnefici di Hitler", libro del 1996 peraltro non citato.
Il libro è bello, ben scritto e molto interessante, soprattutto i primi tre/quarti. Per quanto Schwarz racconti cose note a chi si è interessato a questi temi, la messa in ordine temporale e logico dei fatti risulta in una narrazione potente. La parte finale del libro è un'analisi di quanto avvenuto negli altri paesi europei. Un capitolo è dedicato ad Austria e Italia (un po' troppo corto, ma non manca niente, nemmeno Salvini) e un altro agli altri paesi, inevitabilmente superficiale. L'aggiunta in questi ultimi capitoli di qualche aneddoto personale risulta superfluo e fuori luogo.
La tesi, scrivevo all'inizio, è che più si è lavorato nella rielaborazione dei fatti, minore è il rischio del ritorno al fascismo e maggiore è la sensibilità sul tema. Non si può che concordare e anch'io come la Schwarz considero la Germania il paese a minor rischio fascismo anche se i successi dell'AfD mettono comunque preoccupazione, come sottolinea l'autrice.
Sull'Italia Schwarz sostiene (non è la sola e condivido) che il mito della resistenza, senz'altro utile a fare da collante nella rinascita del paese, unito al fuorviante e falso binomio Tedeschi/cattivi-Italiani/buoni, è stato però un ostacolo alla seria rielaborazione del fascismo e delle tragedie provocate dagli Italiani, così che nell'Italia di oggi le possibili derive fasciste del nazionalismo sono largamente sottovalutate.
February 21, 2025
"Die Gedächtnislosen" erzählt europäische Geschichte durch die Linse der Familiengeschichte der Autorin. Ihr deutscher Großvater, ein Mitglied der NSDAP, hat 1938 ein jüdisches Geschäft erworben, und ihr französischer Großvater hat während des Vichy-Regimes als Gendarm gedient. Diese Entdeckung veranlasst sie, in die Vergangenheit ihrer Familie einzutauchen. Der Teil ist auch sehr interessant. Lesenswert sind auch die Kapitel über die Vergangenheitsbewältigung in Österreich und Italien, eher schwach die über die Nachwendezeit in Deutschland und über den Rechtspopulismus heute. Gerade in Bezug auf diesen letzten Teil des Buches hat die Wirklichkeit dieses Buch von 2017 etwas überholt.
November 8, 2024
A powerful memoir, but also an in-depth look at Germany before, during, and after the war and the dangers of false collective memory. An informative history lesson that covers the World War II years and decades since.
One of the best books I've read this year.
One of the best books I've read this year.
March 31, 2019
Ein europäisches Buch (es wurde mit dem Europäischen Buchpreis 2018 ausgezeichnet), in dem Géraldine Schwarz die Geschichte ihrer eigenen deutsch-französischen Familie und deren Verhältnis zum Nationalsozialismus untersucht. Ihr Ziel war es, so schreibt sie, "die Fäden der großen Geschichte mit jenen der persönlichen verweben, diese Spuren auf einer imaginären Leinwand skizzieren, sie so lange miteinander kreuzen und überlagern, bis ein lebendiges Tableau sich abhebt, eine vergangene Welt mit ihrem Geist, ihren Empfindungen, dem Leben und all seinen Schatten und Lichtseiten wiederersteht." (283f.)
Der erste und insgesamt größte Teil des Buches ist der väterlichen Familie Schwarz im Mannheim der 30er bis 60er Jahre gewidmet. Die Autorin folgt den Spuren ihrer Großeltern, v.a. ihres Großvaters, der eine Mineralölfirma aus jüdischem Besitz erworben hat und gleichzeitig der jüdischen Familie, die die Firma verkaufen musste, um vielleicht doch noch emigrieren zu können. Dieser Teil wird vor allem dadurch lebendig, dass Ausschnitte aus Briefen und Fotos beigefügt sind und die regionale Situation in Mannheim skizziert wird. Um die Verantwortung der eigenen Familie nachvollziehen zu können, hat die Autorin akribisch den Weg der jüdischen Familie Löbmann recherchiert.
Die Erzählungen um die Familie Schwarz werden immer wieder durch lange Episoden zur deutschen Geschichte unterbrochen. Dabei bleibt die Autorin nicht bei Hintergrundwissen, mit dem das Verhalten ihrer Familie verständlich würde, sondern sie nimmt es auf sich, die gesamte Geschichte der Bundesrepublik und der Aufarbeitung ihrer nationalsozialistischen Vergangenheit abrissartig nachzuerzählen! Schwarz hat sich definitiv kundig gemacht und fasst in einem sehr gut lesbaren, etwas nüchternen Stil diese Geschichte zusammen. Trotzdem bleibt die so umfangreich, dass die Familiengeschichte in den Hintergrund tritt und man eigentlich nicht mehr von Memoiren oder Erinnerungen sprechen kann. Wer über ein einigermaßen fundiertes Geschichtswissen der jungen Bundesrepublik verfügt, wird hier wenig Neues erfahren.
Umso gespannter war ich auf den französischen Teil, sowohl auf die Familiengeschichte, als auch auf die allgemeine Geschichte der französischen Aufarbeitung dieser wenig glorreichen Vergangenheit. Dieser Teil fällt aus Mangel an schriftlicher und mündlicher Überlieferung deutlich kleiner aus. Schwarz weiß fast nichts über die Arbeit ihres Großvaters als Gendarm, berichtet stattdessen aber beispielhaft von den Verwicklungen der Vichy-Polizei in die Deportationen der jüdischen Bürger, die jahrzehntelang nicht thematisiert wurden. Richtig unterhaltsam fand ich übrigens den folgenden Teil, in dem sich die Eltern der Autorin kennenlernen und schließlich trotz Bedenken auf beiden Seiten der Familie und einiger Kulturschocks (Schnecken für die Mannemer) heiraten. Leider ist auch diese Episode viel zu kurz geraten. Denn Schwarz gibt sich nicht mit einem deutsch-französischen Vergleich zufrieden, sondern bezieht die DDR, Österreich und Italien mit ein, um nachweisen zu können, dass ohne ordentliche Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit und der Übernahme von Verantwortung für das Geschehene, Populismus und Faschismus neu entstehen.
Damit hat sie sicher nicht Unrecht und ich habe mich über ihre Leidenschaft für Freiheit, Verantwortung und Demokratie auf jeder Seite gefreut. Aber ich hatte ganz andere Erwartungen an "Erinnerungen" und hätte mir gewünscht, dass sie mehr in die Tiefe der Familiengeschichte als in die Breite der allgemeinen Geschichte von fünf Ländern gegangen wäre.
Der erste und insgesamt größte Teil des Buches ist der väterlichen Familie Schwarz im Mannheim der 30er bis 60er Jahre gewidmet. Die Autorin folgt den Spuren ihrer Großeltern, v.a. ihres Großvaters, der eine Mineralölfirma aus jüdischem Besitz erworben hat und gleichzeitig der jüdischen Familie, die die Firma verkaufen musste, um vielleicht doch noch emigrieren zu können. Dieser Teil wird vor allem dadurch lebendig, dass Ausschnitte aus Briefen und Fotos beigefügt sind und die regionale Situation in Mannheim skizziert wird. Um die Verantwortung der eigenen Familie nachvollziehen zu können, hat die Autorin akribisch den Weg der jüdischen Familie Löbmann recherchiert.
Die Erzählungen um die Familie Schwarz werden immer wieder durch lange Episoden zur deutschen Geschichte unterbrochen. Dabei bleibt die Autorin nicht bei Hintergrundwissen, mit dem das Verhalten ihrer Familie verständlich würde, sondern sie nimmt es auf sich, die gesamte Geschichte der Bundesrepublik und der Aufarbeitung ihrer nationalsozialistischen Vergangenheit abrissartig nachzuerzählen! Schwarz hat sich definitiv kundig gemacht und fasst in einem sehr gut lesbaren, etwas nüchternen Stil diese Geschichte zusammen. Trotzdem bleibt die so umfangreich, dass die Familiengeschichte in den Hintergrund tritt und man eigentlich nicht mehr von Memoiren oder Erinnerungen sprechen kann. Wer über ein einigermaßen fundiertes Geschichtswissen der jungen Bundesrepublik verfügt, wird hier wenig Neues erfahren.
Umso gespannter war ich auf den französischen Teil, sowohl auf die Familiengeschichte, als auch auf die allgemeine Geschichte der französischen Aufarbeitung dieser wenig glorreichen Vergangenheit. Dieser Teil fällt aus Mangel an schriftlicher und mündlicher Überlieferung deutlich kleiner aus. Schwarz weiß fast nichts über die Arbeit ihres Großvaters als Gendarm, berichtet stattdessen aber beispielhaft von den Verwicklungen der Vichy-Polizei in die Deportationen der jüdischen Bürger, die jahrzehntelang nicht thematisiert wurden. Richtig unterhaltsam fand ich übrigens den folgenden Teil, in dem sich die Eltern der Autorin kennenlernen und schließlich trotz Bedenken auf beiden Seiten der Familie und einiger Kulturschocks (Schnecken für die Mannemer) heiraten. Leider ist auch diese Episode viel zu kurz geraten. Denn Schwarz gibt sich nicht mit einem deutsch-französischen Vergleich zufrieden, sondern bezieht die DDR, Österreich und Italien mit ein, um nachweisen zu können, dass ohne ordentliche Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit und der Übernahme von Verantwortung für das Geschehene, Populismus und Faschismus neu entstehen.
Damit hat sie sicher nicht Unrecht und ich habe mich über ihre Leidenschaft für Freiheit, Verantwortung und Demokratie auf jeder Seite gefreut. Aber ich hatte ganz andere Erwartungen an "Erinnerungen" und hätte mir gewünscht, dass sie mehr in die Tiefe der Familiengeschichte als in die Breite der allgemeinen Geschichte von fünf Ländern gegangen wäre.
July 6, 2024
Quizá la historia, asi como el mundo, solo se puedan comprender cuando uno se implique activamente en su reconstrucción. En las encrucijadas más difíciles de nuestras vidas debemos decidir si debemos olvidar o recordar. Pero los caminos de la memoria nunca son fáciles. Quien quiera recordar se puede condenar a sí mismo al aislamiento y al dolor. Además quien recuerda corre el peligro de no porder integrase fácilmente a la felicidad, a lo banal y lo fácil que le rodea. La memoria transforma. La memoria es una herida que jamás cicatriza por lo que no es fácil vivir con plena conciencia del pasado. En cierta forma hay que atreverse, hay que ser valiente. Quien no tiene coraje no puede saber ni entender. A quien le falte coraje buscará siempre una respuesta fácil o una explicación que atenúe los hechos. La historia, e igualmente la vida, no se puede reconstruir y mucho menos comprender sin que uno esté dispuesto a decifrar los hechos.
En este libro que no solo impacta por su meticulosa documentación, por la profundidad de la reflexión, por la calidad narrativa, sino, y sobretodo, por la valentía con la autora afronta y desnuda la historia de su propia familia para analizar la forma en que Alemania y Francia, aunque también Italia y Austria, decidieron afrontar sus responsabilidades en el holocausto y los crímenes del nazismo. La autora nos obliga a reflexionar en los resultados positivos y negativos que han tenido el olvido y la memoria colectiva en la política, en la sociedad, la economía, la educación y el bien estar, de los países que las han preferido y practicado. Al final, obviamente, es muy difícil no reflexionar en nuestros propios recuerdos y olvidos como individuo.
En este libro que no solo impacta por su meticulosa documentación, por la profundidad de la reflexión, por la calidad narrativa, sino, y sobretodo, por la valentía con la autora afronta y desnuda la historia de su propia familia para analizar la forma en que Alemania y Francia, aunque también Italia y Austria, decidieron afrontar sus responsabilidades en el holocausto y los crímenes del nazismo. La autora nos obliga a reflexionar en los resultados positivos y negativos que han tenido el olvido y la memoria colectiva en la política, en la sociedad, la economía, la educación y el bien estar, de los países que las han preferido y practicado. Al final, obviamente, es muy difícil no reflexionar en nuestros propios recuerdos y olvidos como individuo.
December 2, 2020
Interesting. Could have been better, writing and organization. She would have received a 3 star if not for p.294 to the end where she had to allege Donald Trump was a white supremest, put children in cages etc etc (words cannot describe her venom) and she does not understand the definition of "populist". Sadly she lost what credibility the book and her research may have had. However, as she said it was Trump that led her to right this book. Maybe she should have changed the title and saved many readers from her opinions.
November 13, 2020
Condivido completamente le recensioni di @Tittirossa e @Lupo : sono talmente esaustive e favorevoli che, sinceramente, non so cos'altro potrei aggiungere.
L'argomento è uno dei miei preferiti , il momento storico pure , la lettura è scorrevole, tutto è ben documentato, quindi letto volentieri e apprezzato moltissimo .
Grazie a tutti gli amici di GR per tutti i preziosi suggerimenti di lettura !
L'argomento è uno dei miei preferiti , il momento storico pure , la lettura è scorrevole, tutto è ben documentato, quindi letto volentieri e apprezzato moltissimo .
Grazie a tutti gli amici di GR per tutti i preziosi suggerimenti di lettura !
November 8, 2022
Those Who Forget begins with the lives of individuals, Schwarz's grandparents, and their roles in the second world war. Her mother is French, and her father is German. She grew up in both cultures, speaks both languages, and has a unique grasp of both countries' intertwined political histories. Her central question concerns "the work of memory," and how the Nazi years and the Holocaust are remembered, memorialized, and ignored. She traces the attitude toward the past across generations, providing a fascinating study of the Mitläufers like her German grandparents who were passive under Nazism, yet always demanded others respect "the Führer" decades later.
I learned much from Schwarz, especially what life was like in different territories of occupied Germany, and the differences between East and West Germany after the unification. This was of personal interest to me, as my father was born to a US military family in West Germany. Years later, so was my cousin, his niece. Even though the large German branches of my family emigrated before the first world war, modern European history still affects my family history. Schwarz effectively demonstrates how interconnected European history is, and how much "work of memory" remains, especially regarding the recent rise of far-right nationalism in Europe. It is a global trend; as a historian, I'm inclined to agree with her that the work of memory is a step in preventing navel-gazing nationalism.
Those Who Forget would likely have earned five stars, had there been a list of works cited. As there is none (making it more difficult for her research to be reproduced), the reading experience was lessened for me. A work of this import deserves a list of its sources, especially since Schwarz has a fondness for referring to TV series, films, and documentaries that many readers will want to watch. A few maps, and perhaps a family tree, would have also been helpful.
Content warnings: war crimes, human rights atrocities, suicide
I learned much from Schwarz, especially what life was like in different territories of occupied Germany, and the differences between East and West Germany after the unification. This was of personal interest to me, as my father was born to a US military family in West Germany. Years later, so was my cousin, his niece. Even though the large German branches of my family emigrated before the first world war, modern European history still affects my family history. Schwarz effectively demonstrates how interconnected European history is, and how much "work of memory" remains, especially regarding the recent rise of far-right nationalism in Europe. It is a global trend; as a historian, I'm inclined to agree with her that the work of memory is a step in preventing navel-gazing nationalism.
Those Who Forget would likely have earned five stars, had there been a list of works cited. As there is none (making it more difficult for her research to be reproduced), the reading experience was lessened for me. A work of this import deserves a list of its sources, especially since Schwarz has a fondness for referring to TV series, films, and documentaries that many readers will want to watch. A few maps, and perhaps a family tree, would have also been helpful.
Content warnings: war crimes, human rights atrocities, suicide
November 30, 2020
This book started out exceptionally well. I found the experiences of the Mitlaufer quite fascinating. Haven't we all wondered what we would have done had we been alive in that time and place? From this perspective alone, I would have rated it five stars.
However, as the book progresses, it becomes more confusing with regard to the characters. For example, the author frequently switches between the birth names and the nicknames of her grandparents so that it becomes more difficult to keep track of whom she is speaking. Perhaps this is an issue of editing, or maybe some things were lost in translation. For this, I had to drop my score to four stars.
And then there is the last chapter. Oh boy! There was so much to unpack in that chapter, the author and the reader would have benefited had she left this chapter for a whole other book. This chapter severely detracted from the rest of the book, as it oversimplified the issue of fascism and seemed to equate totalitarian style of governments with "right wing" versus the open society of the "left wing." For example, nationalism bad, open borders good. The screed against Donald Trump and the Americans who voted for him in 2016 was nearly unbearable. Writing this review in late 2020, we can see clearly now that totalitarian governments can fall under the banner of either right or left wing parties, as we are seeing countries around the world decimating their citizens' human rights under the banner of safetyism.
However, as the book progresses, it becomes more confusing with regard to the characters. For example, the author frequently switches between the birth names and the nicknames of her grandparents so that it becomes more difficult to keep track of whom she is speaking. Perhaps this is an issue of editing, or maybe some things were lost in translation. For this, I had to drop my score to four stars.
And then there is the last chapter. Oh boy! There was so much to unpack in that chapter, the author and the reader would have benefited had she left this chapter for a whole other book. This chapter severely detracted from the rest of the book, as it oversimplified the issue of fascism and seemed to equate totalitarian style of governments with "right wing" versus the open society of the "left wing." For example, nationalism bad, open borders good. The screed against Donald Trump and the Americans who voted for him in 2016 was nearly unbearable. Writing this review in late 2020, we can see clearly now that totalitarian governments can fall under the banner of either right or left wing parties, as we are seeing countries around the world decimating their citizens' human rights under the banner of safetyism.
October 9, 2020
I won this book on Goodreads. This book is a waste of time. I would have given it two stars if the author had just left out the last chapter spewing her warped opinions to herself but I had it give it the lowest rating of one star due to the last chapter. The history and memoir part of the book was OK but felt like a list of things that happened in history at times. But it was the last chapter that really offended me. The author falls in the same trap that the Nazi party is a right wing group when it is in reality a left wing group. She goes into a hatred spewing of President Trump and how he is promoting the same Nazi rhetoric when in fact he is promoting liberty and democracy while the left wings groups are more in line with the Nazi party's ideology. She even says that Trump puts children in cages, if you really believe that you are nuts! A complete waste of time, the book is total garbage.
October 10, 2018
Géraldine Schwarz réussit un superbe aller-et-retour entre la « petite » histoire, celle de sa famille et de son rapport avec la Seconde Guerre mondiale et la mémoire de celle-ci, et la « grande » histoire de la mémoire de la guerre, surtout dans ses deux patries, l’Allemagne et la France, mais aussi dans les derniers chapitres dans un rapide tour d’Europe. Le résultat est confondant. Si elle m’a beaucoup appris sur la gestion de la mémoire allemande, de son tardif questionnement quant au nazisme et à ses crimes, sans parler du problème en Roumanie, Autriche ou Hongrie, Géraldine Schwarz m’a surtout surpris par sa précision, sa capacité à formuler clairement, sans trop de dramatisation ni de ressentiment familial, ce qui avait dû être l’état d’esprit de ses grands-parents allemands et par extension de millions de leurs compatriotes qui par leur passivité, leur indifférence ou même par leur convoitise ou leur petite haine, ont rendu possible les crimes nazis. Humblement, Les Amnésiques est qualifié de récit, mais c’est quasiment un livre d’histoire qu’a écrit la journaliste franco-allemande, un livre d’histoire auquel ne manque que des références bibliographiques ou archivistiques dans un souci de scientificité et parfois un peu de modération dans quelques rares formulations. Je pense notamment à l’allusion à l’indéniable antisémitisme français, qualifié d’être un des plus violents d’Europe au XIXe siècle, ce qui est faire peu de cas des pogroms en Europe de l’Est, dont l’auteure est parfaitement informée, et je pense aussi à l’évocation de la position de Marine Le Pen quant à responsabilité de la France dans la rafle du Vel d’Hiv, responsabilité pourtant évidente et position que Géraldine Schwarz considère comme ayant réduit à néant le long et difficile travail de mémoire mené depuis les années 80. Cela n’empêche pas Les Amnésiques d’être un ouvrage extraordinaire, à lire absolument.
January 1, 2023
I found this book to be interesting and to a degree thought provoking initially. However the further I read it began to read like a justification for how the author and the rest of Germany think. The author takes potshots at nearly every other country in the world and chides them for not doing things that German way. Her attack of President Trump is typical of the left wing media and their 4 year hatefest. I do not believe as she appears to that rewriting history through tearing down monuments that are no longer in favor is a good thing. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it is an understatement when compared to those who learn from revised history and act from ignorance. I will not recommend this book to others primarily because I disagree with so much of it.
October 4, 2019
Weergaloos boek, geconstrueerd vanuit een privékwestie: schrijfster Géraldine Schwarz stelt zich vragen bij de schuldige 'Mitlauferei' van haar Duitse grootvader én de collaboratie van haar Franse grootvader onder het Vichy-regime. Dit boek legt haarfijn uit hoe het proces van fascisme verloopt en hoe niemand echt onschuldig is. Niet voor gevoelige zielen; dit boek bevat informatie die je nooit meer zal vergeten.
August 8, 2025
6⭐
Es uno de los mejores libros que he leído en mi vida.
Es uno de los mejores libros que he leído en mi vida.
June 4, 2019
Bij het zien van de schitterende cover van De geheugenlozen van Géraldine Schwarz wil je weten wie die man op de foto is. Is het de vader van de auteur, een van haar grootvaders of iemand anders? Waar zou hij aan denken of over dromen? Wat je op de foto zo ziet, lijkt het dat hij een mooi uitzicht heeft, maar is dat ook zo of bedriegt de schijn? De titel maakt nieuwsgierig. Je wilt weten wat ermee bedoelt wordt.
In het voorwoord van De geheugenlozen vertelt Géraldine Schwarz hoe ze erop gekomen is om dit boek te schrijven, waarom ze dit boek heeft geschreven en wat ze ermee hoopt te bereiken.
Géraldine Schwarz kijkt in De geheugenlozen met een kritische blik naar het verleden van haar grootouders tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog en hoe de mensen in de wereld reageerden op wat er gebeurde in de Tweede Wereldoorlog. De rol van de regeringen en de mensen in diverse landen is schokkend. Ze probeert te achterhalen hoe het komt dat zoveel mensen indertijd zoveel vergeten zijn van wat er in de oorlog is gebeurd, waarom zoveel mensen Hilter en consorten hun gang hebben kunnen laten gaan, hoe Hitler te werk ging, waarom veel Duitsers na de oorlog in de slachtofferrol kropen, hoe het komt dat zoveel nazi's naderhand nog steeds topfuncties konden krijgen overal, waarom men niet meer over de oorlog wilde praten, hoe het kan dat op veel scholen de waarheid niet wordt verteld over de oorlog, hoe men heden ten dage reageert op het verleden en op wat er nu in heel veel landen speelt.
Lees verder op https://surfingann.blogspot.com/2019/... .
In het voorwoord van De geheugenlozen vertelt Géraldine Schwarz hoe ze erop gekomen is om dit boek te schrijven, waarom ze dit boek heeft geschreven en wat ze ermee hoopt te bereiken.
Géraldine Schwarz kijkt in De geheugenlozen met een kritische blik naar het verleden van haar grootouders tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog en hoe de mensen in de wereld reageerden op wat er gebeurde in de Tweede Wereldoorlog. De rol van de regeringen en de mensen in diverse landen is schokkend. Ze probeert te achterhalen hoe het komt dat zoveel mensen indertijd zoveel vergeten zijn van wat er in de oorlog is gebeurd, waarom zoveel mensen Hilter en consorten hun gang hebben kunnen laten gaan, hoe Hitler te werk ging, waarom veel Duitsers na de oorlog in de slachtofferrol kropen, hoe het komt dat zoveel nazi's naderhand nog steeds topfuncties konden krijgen overal, waarom men niet meer over de oorlog wilde praten, hoe het kan dat op veel scholen de waarheid niet wordt verteld over de oorlog, hoe men heden ten dage reageert op het verleden en op wat er nu in heel veel landen speelt.
Lees verder op https://surfingann.blogspot.com/2019/... .
October 2, 2020
Extraordinary work of journalism. Winner of the European Book Prize and other awards in Germany and the authors native France. Schwarz uses the personal history of her parents and grandparents to expound upon the importance of preserving national memory. She details how Germany was able to come to terms with its nationalist Nazi past to become one of the worlds strongest democracies. She also draws parallels between other countries such as Italy and France who struggle with accepting the blame of their fascist pasts.
Utterly fascinating review of history and also sadly relevant to today's political climate. The importance of memory work among a nation's population is paramount to its success. To paraphrase Schwarz "Without this memory work, individuals and societies will be pushed to make irrational choices by supporting regimes and leaders who are opposed to their interest, by becoming complicit in criminal ideas and actions." Sadly, I feel like this already taking place in the US. There are striking similarities between the alt-right movement in the US and the Nazi party rise in the 1930s. This book serves as a warning. Definitely required reading for any WW2 historian, history lover, or political junkie. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.
Utterly fascinating review of history and also sadly relevant to today's political climate. The importance of memory work among a nation's population is paramount to its success. To paraphrase Schwarz "Without this memory work, individuals and societies will be pushed to make irrational choices by supporting regimes and leaders who are opposed to their interest, by becoming complicit in criminal ideas and actions." Sadly, I feel like this already taking place in the US. There are striking similarities between the alt-right movement in the US and the Nazi party rise in the 1930s. This book serves as a warning. Definitely required reading for any WW2 historian, history lover, or political junkie. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.
May 5, 2023
La autora, hija de alemán y francesa hace un magnífico recorrido por la Europa de la II Guerra Mundial, contrastando documentación, conversaciones con sus padres y familiares de ambos paises e intentando demostrar que, aunque no fuesen partidarios ni afiliados al partido nazi, algo tuvieron que ver, por desidia, por mirar al otro lado, por no manifestarse en contra, por miedo. La parte alemana, aunque es bastante conocida ya que sobre este periodo se ha escrito mucho, es interesante ya que ahonda en las relaciones personales y la forma de afrontar esa época.
Me ha resultado muy interesante por poco divulgado la posición de Francia, Italia y Austria donde no llegaron a hacer un repaso en profundidad de ese periodo, tanto Francia como Italia pasan de puntillas en su participación con los nazis y no se enfrentaron al pasado y su conveniencia con Hitler.
Para aquellos que sepan poco o de una forma superficial los años del III Reich es un libro apasionante, no busca vencedores y vencidos, tampoco acusa a los ciudadanos de su desidia en esos momentos tan dolorosos y negros de la historia, solo busca el llegar a comprender como se pudo llegar a esa situación.
Muy aconsejable.
Me ha resultado muy interesante por poco divulgado la posición de Francia, Italia y Austria donde no llegaron a hacer un repaso en profundidad de ese periodo, tanto Francia como Italia pasan de puntillas en su participación con los nazis y no se enfrentaron al pasado y su conveniencia con Hitler.
Para aquellos que sepan poco o de una forma superficial los años del III Reich es un libro apasionante, no busca vencedores y vencidos, tampoco acusa a los ciudadanos de su desidia en esos momentos tan dolorosos y negros de la historia, solo busca el llegar a comprender como se pudo llegar a esa situación.
Muy aconsejable.
September 19, 2020
Esta semana leí sobre una encuesta realizada a jóvenes preguntándoles si conocían sobre el holocausto, par mi sorpresa muchos de ellos respondieron que había sido un evento sin importancia y que todo era un mito. A esas personas y todos, les recomiendo sin duda este libro.
Los libros han sido par mi un camino al conocimiento este no ha sido la esepción. En el libro encontraran un relato desgarrador pero muy humano en el que la autora nos lleva por un recorrido a lo que ha sido la historia del nazismo, y como sigue presente... la manera como la sociedad, permitió que todo esto pasara, lo vio pasar frente a sus narices y aún así decidió no hacer nada. Así como hoy en día miramos hacia un costado cuando vemos alguna injusticia, y continuamos con la xenofobia frente a migrantes de otros países que huyen en búsqueda de la supervivencia.
La historia siempre debe estar presente, para aprender de ella y no cometer los mismos errores.
Los libros han sido par mi un camino al conocimiento este no ha sido la esepción. En el libro encontraran un relato desgarrador pero muy humano en el que la autora nos lleva por un recorrido a lo que ha sido la historia del nazismo, y como sigue presente... la manera como la sociedad, permitió que todo esto pasara, lo vio pasar frente a sus narices y aún así decidió no hacer nada. Así como hoy en día miramos hacia un costado cuando vemos alguna injusticia, y continuamos con la xenofobia frente a migrantes de otros países que huyen en búsqueda de la supervivencia.
La historia siempre debe estar presente, para aprender de ella y no cometer los mismos errores.
January 21, 2021
I’ll be thinking about this and what it means to be a mitlaüfer for a long time. So much of this resonates in my thoughts about the lack of memory work we have done in the US to account for our own history, and it also makes me think about my own Grandma Inge’s deep shame and probably embarrassment about being German after immigrating to the US after the war.
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