“And it stands for human nature. For the earthly realm. It is both bitter and healing.”
I can’t think of a better sentence to summarize my feelings for this story. Twenty years after WWII, Eva Bruhnes grapples with the reality of Auschwitz as she serves as a translator for the trials of some of the war criminals. How did Germans heal from knowing their neighbors committed such atrocities? Let the past stay in the past, or face it now. And face their complicity.
This story shows the aftermath of the war from the perspective of the German people- some who didn’t believe the horrors, some who did, and some with their own secrets to keep. This story was heartbreaking and sad, and yet, the way of healing and moving forward glimmered in the distance. This novel is more timely than one can imagine.
I can’t think of a better sentence to summarize my feelings for this story. Twenty years after WWII, Eva Bruhnes grapples with the reality of Auschwitz as she serves as a translator for the trials of some of the war criminals. How did Germans heal from knowing their neighbors committed such atrocities? Let the past stay in the past, or face it now. And face their complicity.
This story shows the aftermath of the war from the perspective of the German people- some who didn’t believe the horrors, some who did, and some with their own secrets to keep. This story was heartbreaking and sad, and yet, the way of healing and moving forward glimmered in the distance. This novel is more timely than one can imagine.