Last year while on spring break, I got the chance to visit my cousin in Portland, OR, and he took me to a librarian's nirvana....Powell's Books. Now, I have to admit, I find bookstores overwhelming. I think a lot of it has to do with their organization--they aren't set up the same way a library is, so I have no idea where to start. To say Powell's was overwhelming is a gross understatement, but it was an awesome way to spend four hours!! Unfortunately, my luggage and my wallet couldn't handle all the titles I found that interested me, so I had to limit myself to three, but I also came across many titles that I do want to read sometime in the future. One of the titles I did purchase was today's post. As I've mentioned in previous posts, World War II and the Holocaust fascinate me. Today's book was no exception.
I can't imagine what it would have been like to grow up with the last name of Himmler in post-war Germany. It couldn't have been easy. The author, Katrin Himmler, is the great-niece of Heinrich Himmler, the head of Hitler's SS and the chief perpetrator of the Holocaust.
I've been racking by brain all afternoon trying to come up with an American equivalent, but, with the exception of our best-known traitor, Bennedict Arnold, I couldn't come up with an equal, and Bennedict wasn't anywhere near to being on the same level as Himmler.
I found it interesting to learn about Himmler's family, growing up and what happened to them after the war. It can't have been easy for the author to delve into the research of her own terrible family history, especially when family stories painted a much different picture of Heinrich and his two brothers, Gebhard and Ernst (the author's grandfather). The book takes the reader from the birth of the oldest Himmler son, Gebhard, in 1898 through to how Katrin came to write the book and some brief information about her marriage to a Jewish Israeli. She wrote the book for their son.
This book was difficult to get through for three reasons. 1) The translation from the German sometimes didn't come out in the best English, which required that some sentences/passages be re-read for understanding. 2) There needed to be a cast of characters so that it is easier to keep track of everyone and their relationships to one another. I found myself confused at times as to who was who. 3) A timeline of events would also have been helpful as each chapter covered a span of time and they often overlapped, depending on the subject of the chapter. It was also frustrating when a day and month would be given and I'd have to back-track to the beginning of the paragraph to confirm what year was being referred to.
Overall, it was an interesting, if difficult, read. It is always good to view history through a lens that you didn't experience/learn about. So, if you're a history buff, I would recommend it, but otherwise, not so sure.
Happy Reading!!
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