Those Who Forget
One Family's Story; A Memoir, a History, a Warning
Published on 24. September 2020
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-78227-535-0 (ISBN)
Description
Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2020
During the war, Geraldine Schwarz's German grandparents were neither heroes nor villains - they just followed the current. Afterwards they wanted to forget, to bury it all under the wreckage of the Third Reich. But decades later, delving through the basement of their apartment building, Geraldine discovers that her grandfather Karl profited from the forced 'Aryanisation' of Jewish businesses - and so she is compelled to investigate her ancestors' past. How guilty were they?
Combining generations of family stories with the history of Europe's post-war reckoning, Geraldine asks: how did Germans transform their collective guilt into democratic responsibility? And, given rising populism in Europe today, how can we ensure we remember the crimes of the past?
During the war, Geraldine Schwarz's German grandparents were neither heroes nor villains - they just followed the current. Afterwards they wanted to forget, to bury it all under the wreckage of the Third Reich. But decades later, delving through the basement of their apartment building, Geraldine discovers that her grandfather Karl profited from the forced 'Aryanisation' of Jewish businesses - and so she is compelled to investigate her ancestors' past. How guilty were they?
Combining generations of family stories with the history of Europe's post-war reckoning, Geraldine asks: how did Germans transform their collective guilt into democratic responsibility? And, given rising populism in Europe today, how can we ensure we remember the crimes of the past?
Reviews / Votes
An utterly original memoir for our times, elegant, courageous and deeply affecting I was gripped by Schwarz's book partly because she writes from a new generational perspective... I was moved by this book... she highlights the consequences of acquiescence in wrongdoing -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times * Although she has written a searing book about the past, Schwarz's work is oriented toward the present and the future... Those Who Forget is as readable as it is persuasive. Schwarz embeds her appeal to citizens and nations to do memory work in a gripping detective story centered on her own family's history... Schwarz's book deserves to be read and discussed widely in the United States principally for all it has to teach us about the urgency of confronting the darkest dimensions of our own history. This is Schwarz's invaluable warning -- Samantha Power * Washington Post * [Schwarz] helps us understand the importance of openly facing our past, and of actively learning from it, at a time when our democracy, once again, is under threat. Those Who Forget is a powerful monument to our time, and an urgent wake-up call * Nora Krug, author of Heimat: A German Family Album * It took only two generations for her family's unexceptional wartime past to recede from view. But as the author painstakingly peeled away decades of denial, it was precisely the family's ordinariness that would prove so chilling. Geraldine Schwarz's book is a brave and important contribution to our understanding of memory * Daniel Okrent, author of The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America * [A] riveting exploration of Germany's post-World War II reckoning with guilt and responsibility... with eloquence and passion [Schwarz] demonstrates that we can never be reminded too often to never forget * Wall Street Journal * A powerful and unflinching look at Germany during World War II and Europe's postwar reckoning with far-right nationalism... In searing yet engaging prose, Schwarz makes her case for the need for memory work in this highly recommended read for fans of memoirs and World War II history * Library Journal (starred review) * [An] astute debut... This timely memoir also serves as a perceptive look at the current rise of far-right nationalism throughout Europe and the U.S. * Publishers Weekly * Absolutely remarkable... reading [Those Who Forget] is a must * France Culture * An absolutely fascinating book! * France Television * Very enriching... outstandingly composed * Sueddeutsche Zeitung * The book of the hour * Die Welt * Crystal clear... a haunting work of remembrance * Westdeutscher Rundfunk * A timely must-read, this brutally honest memoir is also a smart historical analysis and a relevant warning for the future * Booklist (starred review) *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78227-535-0 (9781782275350)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Book
04/2021
Pushkin Press
€33.61
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2020
Pushkin Press
€10.79
Available for download
Persons
Geraldine Schwarz is a German-French journalist, author and documentary filmmaker based in Berlin. Those Who Forget, an account of her family's complicity with fascism, is her first book. It has been translated into eight languages and won the European Book Prize 2018, the Winfried Preis and the Nord-Sud Prize.