ENDPAPERS Shelfies: History

Some of my ancestors produced the Merck drugs that Hitler consumed over the final years of his life. Other forebears, born Jewish, were chased from the family home in Karlsruhe during the 19th century, in two rounds of antisemitic riots 24 years apart. My father, of Jewish descent but nonetheless drafted into the Wehrmacht, participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union--and, simply by eating lavish rations made available to him, helped implement the Nazis' genocidal "Hunger Plan" to depopulate Eastern Europe of Jews and Slavs. Implication came at me fast while I worked on ENDPAPERS, and when I placed family letters and diaries alongside these sweeping histories, by Norman Ohler, Timothy Snyder, Bryan Mark Rigg, and the late Amos Elon, the story emerged in all its unsettling but essential aspects. I thank each of these authors, and anyone dedicated to telling the stories that undergird our common humanity.