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Summary: An unusual and controversial Holocaust memoir.
Review: In "The Nazi Officer's Wife," Edith Hahn describes how she grew up with her parents and sisters in Vienna in the 1920's. Vienna in those days was a magical, picturesque and sophisticated place. This lovely city was filled with sunny cafés, cultural activities and daring intellectuals. Although the undercurrents of anti-Semitism were present in Vienna even then, Jews and gentiles coexisted side by side in peace. Edith loved school; she enjoyed making new friends and studying different subjects. She was in love with ideas and she dreamed of becoming a lawyer or a judge someday. By 1933, Edith was in her last year of high school and she had a devoted boyfriend. Although Edith was aware of Hitler, who was gaining power at that time in Germany, she did not think that Nazism would ever seriously affect her or her family. In 1938, Edith's world was turned upside down. The German army marched into Austria and the Austrians voted for "Anschluss" or union with Germany. After the Nazis took over, everything changed for Edith and her family. German thugs ruled the streets and laws were passed which tightened the noose around Jewish necks day by day. Some members of Edith's family escaped Austria before conditions deteriorated any further. However, Edith remained in Austria and was sent to do forced labor at a farm and later at a work camp. How did Edith ultimately avoid deportation? With the help of some friends, she obtained forged papers declaring her to be an Aryan of pure blood. At the age of twenty-eight, she married a Nazi party member named Werner Vetter and spent the war years in Brandenburg, Germany, as a dutiful "Aryan" wife and mother. How could any woman live such a lie? Although Edith at times hated herself for her deception, she felt that her actions were justifiable under the circumstances. "The Nazi Officer's Wife" provides an eye-opening glimpse (through Edith's eyes) at how ordinary Germans viewed their lives during the war, deluding themselves that Hitler must ultimately triumph. Is Edith Hahn's story an honest and courageous tale of survival against all odds, or is it the memoir of a cowardly woman who sold out in order to save herself? I refuse to judge Edith Hahn, since I have never been in her shoes, and I am sure that she paid a huge psychic price for denying her identity. I admire Edith for daring to reveal the controversial details of her life. "The Nazi Officer's Wife" is a unique and fascinating book, and I recommend it.
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Summary: The Nazi Officers Wife
Review: Informative book on the plight of the Jewish people but I felt that they should have defined the value of the currency at that time more accurately. Call me ignorant but I am not clear on the metric system so grams don't mean a lot to me and the impact that the writer was trying to make would have been clearer if there was more comparison to the American/English system when referring to grams etc. I felt that the author was a little disjointed and not always believable almost self absorbed. Otherwise worth the read.
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Summary: A Fascinating and Well-Told Holocaust Memoir
Review: Just when I thought I had read and seen everything I'd ever want about the Holocaust (and then some), I found myself fascinated by this book. Quite frankly, reading about somebody's true experience suddenly makes a story like "Life is Beautiful" seem shallow and unnecessary. (Truth being stranger, and more compelling, than even well-intended fiction.) In some ways it's the details of real everyday life -- the food rations, the clandestine radio listening, the casual comments of neighbors -- that make the book come alive. Plus, the clarity of the storytelling (it reads like a novel but maintains the right dose of sobriety and dignity) simply transports you into Edith Hahn's world. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to feel knowledgeable about the Holocaust.
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Summary: A factual, but not overly depressing, look at Holocaust
Review: Many other reviewers have chosen to summarize the plot in their reviews. These reviews capture the essence of the book because it is a straight-forward recollection of Edith's experiences. While her observations and experiences are terrifying and numbing, to say the least, the book is not painful to read. The tone is sober and relays Edith's (Grete's) feelings and thoughts, but it does not dwell on the evil and pain generated by the Reich. Edith does not use this book as a platform to preach against anti-semitism or genocide, which seems to be the focus of so much Holocaust-related literature. Instead, Nazi Officer's Wife focuses on Edith's own experiences only.
Her story was so compelling that I did not want to put down the book. It was a fast read and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. "U-boats" tend to be forgotten in WWII history and should not be, since they suffered so greatly as they lived in constant fear of discovery in the Reich and the loss of their community and identity.
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Summary: Choices Not Easily Understood
Review: Only those who have survived the holocaust truly know the real horrors of this twentieth century hell on earth. No matter how much the rest of us learn about this living nightmare, we will never fully comprehend what went on because it will always be second hand. To make judgments about how Jewish people chose to survive seems so wrong. Yet, as I continued to read "The Nazi Officer's Wife," I could not keep from uttering some form of audible shock on certain choices Ms. Hahn made along the way. For example, it was impossible for me to comprehend her determination to stay with Pepi long after it was apparent that he would never emigrate with her or even commit to her and that his "love" for her was a distant second to the loyalty he felt for his mother. I clearly see the necessity of becoming a German's lover and then wife in order to survive, but I can not understand why Edith's pressed to have a child with Werner Vertter in the worst of times. From the moment of conception this baby's life was at risk. Uncertain of her future with a man who did not even know the real Edith Hahn, this writer relates how, after the war, her daughter was baptized. Already knowing then that so many Jewish lives had been lost throughout Europe, did another Jewish identity need to be erased? I wanted to cry when Edith ended her relationship with the orphan, Gretl. If Edith ever tried to keep her "little family" together, she did not relate that in her book. Finally, of course, after all the history and all the passing years, Edith could not stop being in touch with the man who was never there for her. Though I cannot help but be bothered by certain choices Edith Hahn made, I must quickly add that I admire a woman who lived her "lie" so well for so long that she became a survivor.
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Summary: A book with a good story, but slightly oversentimental
Review: Parts of this story are very well written, while others are very vague. I enjoyed most of the stories in this book, but thought that sometimes she began to feel overly sorry for herself when she didn't even live through the concentration camps like most Jews in Europe. It made it hard for me to fully simpathize with a woman that married a Nazi officer when her own people were dying. However, I do think that this book is worth a read. I have read several Holocaust memoirs, and find them very interesting and inspirational. To me, it felt like Ms. Beer was more informal then necessary, asking questions to the reader periodically, but in some ways, this is an interesting approach to telling her story. It really all depends on your personal preference.
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Summary: the nazi officer's wife is excellent!
Review: Possibly one of the best books I've ever read. It's interesting and educational at the same time. It was powerfully moving and sad and uplifting. I think I appreciated it even more because it was a true story. Edith Hahn allows you to feel empathy with someone in a set of life circumstances most of us could never understand--but she brings us closer to what it must have been like. A must-read.
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Summary: DULL Self-absorbed Tale
Review: Seems more fiction than fact to me; at most this reads like an embellished version of something resembling the truth.
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Summary: Stunning and shocking
Review: So much is effective and affecting here, especially the portrayal of the day-by-day dismantling of one life-a life representative of so many. The collaboration that went into relating this story is seamless; both the narration of events and their analysis seem to come solely from Edith Hahn. A deep and beautifully told tale of a life that was all too real.
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Summary: A True Survivor
Review: The Nazi Officer's Wife tells the story of how the author, a Jewish Austrian, survived the Holocaust, not in a concentration camp or while hiding out in a basement, but while living "openly" in Nazi Germany. She managed to do so by adopting the identity of an Aryan woman, working as a nurse for the Red Cross, and even marrying a man who would become an officer in the Nazi army. Other members of her family, meanwhile, were deported to concentration camps and eventually killed. This is a stark and disturbing story told simply and without adornment. Definitely not a "feel-good" book, it tells honestly of the horrors of life for Jews in Europe during the Third Reich. Nevertheless, it ultimately is an uplifting story of survival and serves as a useful reminder of how cruel mankind can be when racial hatred is not only tolerated but celebrated.
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