I’ve been absent from my book blog the last couple of weeks — getting my thesis ready to turn in, my final act as a grad student. As much as I’m glad to be done, it makes me sad to know there’ll be no more first days of school. I will miss it.
Lately it’s been tough to stick with any book past the first few chapters, so to charge myself back up I went back to my shelf of Holocaust/WWII literature and found The Nazi Officer’s Wife by Edith Hahn Beer. I never have trouble getting my head into these stories, getting my heart into them, and finishing them. I continue to be amazed by the triumph of those who survived to tell their stories. Edith Hahn lived in Vienna with her family. She was a smart woman who was always at the top of her class, even in law school. She wanted to become a judge. She was in her late 20’s when Hitler began invading countries in order to create his Aryan Nation in Europe. Most of Edith’s family perished. Edith was saved by a Christian friend and escaped to Munich — right in heart of the Third Reich! — and lived there in the open while hiding her Jewish identity. And even getting involved with a Nazi officer and bearing his child.
On every page I am astounded by her courage. The story is well-told. And unlike many other Holocaust survival books I’ve read, this one spends time toward the end telling what it was like after Hitler’s defeat. The recovery was not instantaneous.
I recommend adding this one to your reading list.
Teri Carter's Library 