An Unexpected and Horrific Family Secret Uncovered

How would you deal with the sudden discovery that your grandfather was a mass murderer?  One that would, had he lived to see you, have killed you as well?

That was the situation that author Jennifer Teege, a German-Nigerian woman, found herself in when she was 38 and happened to randomly choose a book from the shelf that would radically alter her perception of her family and the Holocaust.  A picture in the book that she recognized as her grandmother and mother led her to a stunning discovery - her grandfather was the Butcher of Plaszow - Amon Goeth, who was the vicious Nazi commandant portrayed in the movie Schindler's List.

That discovery led Teege on a search to unearth her family's history.  This book is about that search and her personal search to find peace with her heritage.  Nikola Sellmair, an award winning journalist, adds in another narrative using interviews with friends and family as well as giving historical context to what Teege discovers during her quest.

This is an intriguing memoir and shows how profoundly the past can affect the present.  It might even lead readers to wonder how well they know their own family's background.

New Books on World Wars I and II

Recent additions to our Adult Nonfiction collection cover stories behind the scenes of two different World Wars.

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The conflict that would eventually be come to known as World War I was entering its tenth month when the luxury ocean liner Lusitania departed from New York on the way to Liverpool, England.  On board were nearly 2,000 people, including crew and 1,265 passengers.  The passenger list included an unusually large number of children (95) and infants (39) due to a number of English families wanting to return to their homes as quickly as possible with England's possible entry into the conflict looming.  The fastest ship that was still civilian, the speed and size of the Lusitania made the passengers feel they would be safe.

In Dead Wake : The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, author Erik Larson opens a window up back to the past, putting people and names in the place of the numbers in the history books as well as showing how spectacularly Germany's intent to end the war only served to draw both England and the United States into it - with a vengeance

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While many people have heard the story of how King Edward VIII gave up the throne and became the Duke of Windsor in order to marry a twice-divorced American woman named Wallis Simpson, fewer have heard the story about the relationship between Edward and Hitler.

17 Carnations, by Andrew Morton, takes a look at a part of history that has largely been either ignored or covered up - Hitler's hopes to conquer England and restore Edward to the English throne as a puppet ruler under his direction.

Following Edward from his days as the prince who was the handsome darling of the British Empire to the aftermath following the end of World War II, it is an intriguing look into the life of a man who was born into a position that seemed to put him constantly at odds with himself and his family.