''My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past'' (German release title: ''Amon. Mein Großvater hätte mich erschossen'') is a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

by German writer

Jennifer Teege Jennifer Teege (born 29 June 1970) is a German writer. Her maternal grandfather was German Nazi concentration camp commander and war criminal Amon Göth. Her 2015 book '' My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi ...

. It covers her discovery that her grandfather was

Amon Göth Amon Leopold Göth (; alternative spelling ''Goeth''; 11 December 1908 – 13 September 1946) was an Austrian SS functionary and war criminal. He served as the commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów in German ...

, nicknamed the "Butcher of

Płaszów Płaszów is a suburb of Kraków, Poland, now part of Podgórze district. Formerly a separate village, it became a part of the Greater Kraków in 1911 under the Austrian Partition of Poland as the 21st cadastral district of the city. During World ...

" and famously depicted in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

's 1993 film ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...

''. Teege was adopted and learned about her family history after reading a biography of her biological mother, . The book was published in the United Kingdom and United States on 14 April 2015 through The Experiment publishing and was co-written by Nikola Sellmair. The work details Teege's discovery of her ancestry and her attempts to come to terms with this revelation. Teege decides to research her family and travels to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. Through this she also tries to reconnect with her estranged biological mother.

Reception

Critical reception for the book has been positive and ''My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me'' has received praise from the ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

'', ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''. The

Jewish Book Council The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...

'' panned the work, stating that it was a "dull affair" and "brings new and unintended meaning to the

banality of evil ''Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil'' is a 1963 book by political thinker Hannah Arendt. Arendt, a Jew who fled Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power, reported on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the major organizer ...

References

External links

*
''My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me''
at The Experiment *
Interview with Teege on ''My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me''
'' Q&A'' (

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

), September 13, 2015. {{DISPLAYTITLE:''My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me'' 2013 non-fiction books German autobiographies Amon Göth Rowohlt Verlag books

Reception

See also

References

External links