A shocking truth has been revealed thanks to a book accidentally found in the library by Jennifer Tighe. It turns out that her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the same concentration camp commandant known from the film "Schindler's List". This knowledge encourages the girl to explore the dark corners of her past and look for answers to difficult questions: how to look into the eyes of friends from Israel now, why no one told the whole truth before, how could grandma fall in love with such a cruel man and, most importantly, is evil inherited?
The result of the search was the book "My grandfather would have shot me." It is co-written with journalist Nicola Zellmair and does not focus solely on the personality of Goethe. The text combines a reportage, memoirs and biography of Jennifer herself, who seeks to overcome deep feelings of guilt and shame and understand the phenomenon of collective responsibility.
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After World War II, Germany faced a difficult challenge — the need to rethink events in order to prevent a repeat of the Nazi regime. Under the heavy yoke of shame and responsibility, the formula of "overcoming the past" was born. It has become a moral guideline for four generations of Germans and countries striving to defeat the legacy of the totalitarian dictatorship of the Third Reich.
This process includes many stages — from the silencing phase to active overcoming, for example, the introduction of democratic education in schools. Historian Alexander Borozniak explores the lessons learned by millions of German families and invites readers to take a look at this slow and difficult process of understanding guilt for themselves.
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In the battles for history waged by politicians and propagandists, collective memory suffers: streets get new names, monuments are destroyed, and textbooks are rewritten. Different interpretations of events affect the perception of history by today's generation.
In the book, awarded the special award of the prize "PolitProsvet", Professor of the European University in St. Petersburg‑In St. Petersburg, Ivan Kurilla analyzes who benefits from reshaping the past and why. He gives 12 examples of manipulating history to show how different political and social groups adjust its course to their own ideas.
The author urges readers to pay more attention to any events and to abandon unambiguous interpretations. Since the multiplicity of the past is an integral part of life, it is useful to be able to understand the layering of interpretations.
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In the years after World War II, historians recorded the persistent interest of millions of Germans from different social groups in supernatural practices: astrology, parapsychology, spiritualism, telepathy and predictions. This was facilitated by the general feeling of uncertainty hovering over the state. Using historical documents and evidence, American Professor Monica Black creates a visual portrait of the people of that time with their expectations and fears.
Through the study of witchcraft, Black reveals the deepest layers of the human psyche. This book is not so much about magic as about the process of transforming society, where old values have been banned, and new ones are forced to form in conditions of moral and material collapse and an acute desire to find protection.
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Revered in Macedonia, Alexander the Great is remembered in Asia as a bloodthirsty criminal. Former US President Donald Trump admired Andrew Jackson, who was responsible for the "Road of Tears" — the forced eviction and ethnic cleansing of Indians. Walking through the Colosseum, few tourists will remember that this place served as an arena for killing strangers. The canonization of folk heroes makes it difficult to look at their actions with a critical eye.
The book by cultural critic Ari Turinen destroys the heroic facade of some monuments, drawing readers' attention to the dark sides of leaders. His research makes one wonder whether it is worth thoughtlessly taking on faith everything that is written in history textbooks. Buy a book
For half a century, the United States has supported mass killings of Communists around the world, including the deaths of a million civilians in Indonesia. These events, despite their scale, went unnoticed on the world stage.
Journalist Vincent Bevins undertakes to restore justice and exposes his country's involvement in these episodes with the help of recently declassified documents, archival evidence and interviews collected from eyewitnesses from 12 countries.
The book "The Jakarta Method" offers a new look at the events of the Cold War and how America's secret strategies influenced the formation of the world in which we live today.
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A little apart from the list of books about historical memory is the latest work by journalist Julius Fuchik. This living wartime testimony was written on tissue paper during his incarceration in Pankrats prison and saved by a warden — a member of the Resistance.
One of the most famous works of Czech literature tells about the brutality of the Prague Gestapo; about the choice that distinguishes man from an animal; and about the people who made this choice. Fuchik writes about members of the underground opposition, prison workers risking their lives to help prisoners, as well as those who ended up behind bars for following the ideals of a humane society. The book, collected by the writer's wife literally from pages after the war, was translated into 80+ languages and awarded the International Peace Prize.
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