Sunday, July 24, 2016

Review: The Nazi Officer's Wife

When asked by Amazon to review a book, the first question is how many stars do you give it? How do you rate a person’s true life story any less than a 5? “The Nazi Officer’s Wife” by Edith H. Beer and Susan Dworkin is Edith’s life story of a young Jewish woman in Nazi Germany. That fact is enough to give it 5 stars. 

Edith finally lived under the Nazi radar as an Aryan Christian including marrying a Nazi officer. Even though you know her outcome, after all she lived to write her story, the tension is high and I found myself eager to know what happened next. 

I was fascinated with the little details of life under the Nazis and following the war under the Russians. I am not sure how people lived with all the tension of watching every word you said, every step you took. It is hard to imagine having to think about the answer to every question: was it asked by a friend who was just curious about your life or was it asked by someone  who was going to turn you in to the Gestapo? 


The story is Edith’s narrative and because it is true, it may not be written with the dramatic flourishes a fictional account would have. That doesn’t matter. Her story is amazing and incredible and tells itself in all its wonder and intensity. I highly recommend “The Nazi Officer’s Wife” for anyone interested in the ordinary life of Nazi Germany. 

No comments: