Book
Fatherland : a memoir of war, conscience, and family secrets / Burkhard Bilger.
"What do we owe the past? How to make peace with a dark family history? Burkhard Bilger hardly knew his grandfather growing up. His parents immigrated to Oklahoma from Germany after World War II, and though his mother was an historian, she rarely talked about her father or what he did during the war. Then one day a packet of letters arrived from Germany, yellowing with age, and a secret history began to unfold. Karl Gönner was a schoolteacher and Nazi party member from the Black Forest. In 1940, he was sent to a village in occupied France and tasked with turning its children into proper Germans. A fervent Nazi when the war began, he grew close to the villagers over the next four years, till he came to think of himself as their protector, shielding them from his own party's brutality. Yet he was arrested in 1946 and accused of war crimes. Was he guilty or innocent? A vicious collaborator or just an ordinary man, struggling to atone for his country's crimes? Bilger goes to Germany to find out"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780385353984 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: x, 314 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm
- Edition: First U.S. edition.
- Publisher: New York : Random House, [2023]
- Copyright: ©2023
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references. |
Search for related items by subject
| Genre: | Biographies. Personal narratives. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroud Branch | 940.53370944393 Bil | 31681010321636 | NONFIC | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
"What do we owe the past? How to make peace with a dark family history? Burkhard Bilger hardly knew his grandfather growing up. His parents immigrated to Oklahoma from Germany after World War II, and though his mother was an historian, she rarely talked about her father or what he did during the war. Then one day a packet of letters arrived from Germany, yellowing with age, and a secret history began to unfold. Karl Gèonner was a schoolteacher and Nazi party member from the Black Forest. In 1940, he was sent to a village in occupied France and tasked with turning its children into proper Germans. A fervent Nazi when the war began, he grew close to the villagers over the next four years, till he came to think of himself as their protector, shielding them from his own party's brutality. Yet he was arrested in 1946 and accused of war crimes. Was he guilty or innocent? A vicious collaborator or just an ordinary man, struggling to atone for his country's crimes? Bilger goes to Germany to find out"-- - Baker & Taylor
A New Yorker staff writer tells the story of his nearly ten-year quest to uncover the truth about his grandfather, a Nazi party chief, and the questions it raises about reckoning with the pasts of our families. Illustrations. - Random House, Inc.
A New Yorker staff writer investigates his grandfather, a Nazi Party Chief, in âa finely etched memoir with the powerful sweep of historyâ (David Grann, #1 bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon)
âFatherland maintains the momentum of the best mysteries and a commendable balance.ââThe New York Times
âUnflinching and illuminating . . . Bilgerâs haunting memoir reminds us, the past is prologue to who we are, as well as who we choose to be.ââThe Wall Street Journal
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews
One spring day in northeastern France, Burkhard Bilgerâs mother went to the town of Bartenheim, where her father was posted during the Second World War. As a historian, she had spent years studying the German occupation of France, yet she had never dared to investigate her own familyâs role in it. She knew only that her father was a schoolteacher who was sent to Bartenheim in 1940 and ordered to reeducate its childrenâto turn them into proper Germans, as Hitler demanded. Two years later, he became the townâs Nazi Party chief.
There was little left from her fatherâs era by the time she visited. But on her way back to her car, she noticed an old man walking nearby. He looked about the same age her father would have been if he was still alive. She hurried over to introduce herself and told him her fatherâs name, Karl Gönner. âDo you happen to remember him?â she said. The man stared at her, dumbstruck. âWell, of course!â he said. âI saved his life, didnât I?â
Fatherland is the story behind that storyâthe riveting account of Bilgerâs nearly ten-year quest to uncover the truth about his grandfather. Was he guilty or innocent, a war criminal or a man who risked his life to shield the villagers? Long admired for his profiles in The New Yorker, Bilger brings the same open-hearted curiosity to his family history and the questions it raises: What do we owe the past? How can we make peace with it without perpetuating its wrongs?
