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Children of Nazis: The Sons and Daughters of Himmler, Göring, Höss, Mengele, and Others— Living with a Father’s Monstrous Legacy
by
In 1940, the German sons and daughters of great Nazi dignitaries Himmler, Göring, Hess, Frank, Bormann, Speer, and Mengele were children of privilege at four, five, or ten years old, surrounded by affectionate, all-powerful parents. Although innocent and unaware of what was happening at the time, they eventually discovered the extent of their father’s occupations: These me
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Kindle Edition, 264 pages
Published
February 6th 2018
by Arcade Publishing
(first published January 1st 2016)
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Start your review of Children of Nazis: The Sons and Daughters of Himmler, Göring, Höss, Mengele, and Others— Living with a Father’s Monstrous Legacy
Most of the men who ruled the Third Reich were only in their forties, so the children about whom this book is written were very young during the war. Most of them were either protected from the knowledge of what their fathers were doing, or lived in Nazi enclaves so completely cut off from the rest of the world that those around them had no reason to discuss it. Often they only began to understand when their fathers (and sometimes their mothers) were arrested, by which time the 'normative moral
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Feb 15, 2018
Gina Marie ~books are my drug of choice~
rated it
it was amazing
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review of another edition
I went into reading his book with some trepidation. I was a bit scared of what was going to be the various children' stories, as well as a fear the children would either be whitewashed or painted black. I was joyfully impressed by how evenhanded and well researched the book was. She didn't back off the story of those who worship their father until the day they died or those who hated everything their father did. The fathers and in some cases mothers were researched.
Much of each section is dedic ...more
Much of each section is dedic ...more
I can't even imagine what life was like for those who knew and accepted what their fathers and mothers had done during the war. They are victims too. As for those living in denial, believing their fathers were great men, that they were heroes...no sympathy here.
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I've been fascinated by the second world war since I learned about it in eighth grade. My fascination centered around the Holocaust, the attempt to exterminate the Jews. It seemed so clear who the good people and the bad people were. The Germans, Italians, and Japanese were bad; the Americans, British, and French were good. The Soviet Union was also bad, but it did help beat the Germans.
Corrie Ten Boom's wrote about hiding Jews in the Holland home she shared with her father and sister in The Hi ...more
Corrie Ten Boom's wrote about hiding Jews in the Holland home she shared with her father and sister in The Hi ...more
Limited in scoop and not a great deal of depth to it. Focuses on the lives of some of the children of senior Nazis (Mengele's son, Hess' son, Goring's daughter etc), but it's all based on second-hand material and doesn't spend a great deal of time on any of them. Very little attempt at any kind of real psychological insight on the impact crimes of this nature have on a child. Overall an interesting topic but disappointing in execution.
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The topic is interesting, although the children of the top leadership are getting thin on the ground. Still, the book is rather light. Save for Albert Speer, Jr. (also an architect) Crasnianski doesn't seem to have actually interviewed any of them. The most interesting are Edda Goering and Gudrun Himmler, both Daddy's Girls in the absolute worst sense. Gudrun showed up at Waffen-SS reunions (how are these a thing?) and Edda seemed to feel that because her grotesque father was always nice to her,
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I thought the thorough research work made by the author on this book contributes to making it one of the best testimony of one of the rather unknown consequences of the third reich. I came to know the book trough the great media covering it was offered in France while I was on a business trip there and was not disappointed by this powerful historic essay on guilt. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a good historic book or that is simply interested by the subject.
Well documented, very objectively written, concise and with interesting facts.
I recommend!
I recommend!
This is an excellent look into the lives of the fathers, mothers and children and how they were affected by the atrocities of the Holocaust. The men were all Hitler devotees who murdered without conscience.
Having just finished “Too Much and Not Enough” by Mary Trump, I can see the similarities to Fred Trump in every one of these evil Nazi fathers. I have always thought Donald Trump was Adolph Hitler reincarnated, maybe this is why.
There are so many descriptive passages in the book describing Hi ...more
Having just finished “Too Much and Not Enough” by Mary Trump, I can see the similarities to Fred Trump in every one of these evil Nazi fathers. I have always thought Donald Trump was Adolph Hitler reincarnated, maybe this is why.
There are so many descriptive passages in the book describing Hi ...more
This book was fascinating and horrifying. I can't imagine being in any of these people's shoes, but I was aghast at how many of them thought their father's had been treated unjustly and had therefore spent their lives trying to write books and positively promote their father's work. An interesting look at how having genocidal monsters as parents impacts the children's lives.
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It was interesting to read about which children still revere their fathers and which have denounced them, and it seems to have quite a bit to do with how close they were to their fathers during childhood. I can't imagine having to reckon with a legacy like that.
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I wish I'd known beforehand that the author only interviewed one of the children mentioned in this book. The information on the others is old and from elsewhere. After reading this I can't tell which of the children were interviewed. The book reads in a choppy manner of note-taking. It doesn't always read smoothly and jumps around a bit.
Before the story of the children, there is a short summary of the fathers' lives to give a sense of what each child had to deal with.
These children were dealt a ...more
Before the story of the children, there is a short summary of the fathers' lives to give a sense of what each child had to deal with.
These children were dealt a ...more
No real revelations and the writing felt disorganized.
Extremely well researched, balanced, informative and well written book. The many anecdotes such as the girl wanting to eat strawberries close to the extermination camp but is being warned by its mother to wash off the ashes from the nearby crematoria first, brings the story to life in intriguing and often horrific ways. The book answers many questions how the offspring of some of history's worst criminals deal with this legacy, but leaves you also with many other thoughts to contemplate. The ton
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The sons and daughters of high ranking Nazis have lived with their shame and coped with it in various ways. It was particularly difficult because many of them had a loving relationship and were treated well by these fathers who were monsters to society. At age four, five, or ten they had privileged lives, surrounded by loving parents. They were innocent children who discovered the monstrous actions of their fathers. This is a study of how the children dealt with this and how they grew up with th
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An interesting look at the effects of parental influence on children. I felt sorry for most of these kids, some growing up in a villa or a palace, and suddenly being a pariah living in a tiny apartment in shame. Thinking of your father as a war hero one day and a monster the next. It couldn't have been easy.
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A very interesting and thought provoking book. In the eighties I did a lot of business in Germany and I remember a high level meeting with company executives where the German CEO stood and apologized for the war.
Gives an interesting insight into the lives of children who, for the most part, had no idea of the roles their fathers played in the Third Reich
Good short read. Interesting to hear about the children as well as the men and the wives.
Looks like there are a series of books on this subject. This author's goal is to explore what happened to the children of the Nazi leaders. But, to do that, the author spends a little time reviewing who the leaders were: Himmler (Mr. SS), Goring (air force chief), Hess (Hitler's #3 who flew to England to bring a peace plan), Frank ("The Butcher" of Poland's Ghettos), Morman (rose to #2), Hoss (Auschwitz commandant), Speer (Architect), and Mengele (human experiments). These names are familiar to
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This book was interesting, taking a look at the lives of 8 children whose fathers were some of the most well known Nazi leaders and criminals. They had different reactions and relationships with their fathers, both during the Holocaust and WW2 and after the war. "To move forward as adults, some chose to downplay their fathers' voluntary participation in the Nazis' war crimes. Others refected outright their fathers and the love they felt for them." It was really sad to imagine what it would be l
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Interesting enough, very easy read, the author gives you snippets of these people, nothing deep dive but you get an introduction of the child, than their parent (what they did, who they were in the Nazi machinery) the child's life during the Third Reich and finally what happened after the fall of Hitler and Nazis.
All of the author's information comes from third party resources so she has to extrapolate a lot, but you can see that those children who had good relations with their fathers tended t ...more
All of the author's information comes from third party resources so she has to extrapolate a lot, but you can see that those children who had good relations with their fathers tended t ...more
The children pay for the sins of the parents. It’s an old story, but it still happens.
This book was a remainder from Edward R. Hamilton and it turned out to be well worth the pittance that I paid for it. Author Tania Crasnianski writes the biographies of the children of eight, high-ranking Nazis.
For the most part, Crasnianski allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. However, at times, Crasnianski slips into cliche and the story loses its momentum. But, on the whole, it’s a good rea ...more
This book was a remainder from Edward R. Hamilton and it turned out to be well worth the pittance that I paid for it. Author Tania Crasnianski writes the biographies of the children of eight, high-ranking Nazis.
For the most part, Crasnianski allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. However, at times, Crasnianski slips into cliche and the story loses its momentum. But, on the whole, it’s a good rea ...more
This is a short book with eight stories about the children of major Nazi leaders, including Himmler, Göring, Hess, Frank, Bormann, Hoss, Speer, and Megele. The stories reveal each parent’s participation in the Nazi atrocities and then how the children reacted to it after the war. Most of the children who were quite young during the war found out about their father’s role after the war from outside sources. Some chose not to denounce their fathers and instead grow up to become apologist for their
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Excellent first book by the author! A different approach to this historical period that allows readers to immerse themselves in the intimate life of certain actors of the Second World War. It is a book rich in historical information with a remarkable style of writing! The body of work is very well documented, includes a multiple of portraits of children who have tried to solve these questions each in their own way. The book is addictive, sometimes terrifying. A very interesting subject that is v
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Aug 27, 2018
Ana-Maria Bujor
rated it
liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
history
This was an interesting read, but I could feel the author did not have access to these people so there wasn't as much depth as I wished. I like the fact that it covered the entire spectrum, from children who grew up idolizing their parents and who decided to continue their legacy to those who utterly despise the ones that gave them life. A big chunk of the book is spent analyzing the deeds of people like Hess, Goring or Frank, but for me that added little information. It is a very good book thou
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This book was very good. Everyone knows who these children's fathers were and the atrocities that they perpetrated against not only the Jews but also anyone who did not fit the Aryan stereotype.
However, most of the children were too young to know what or who their fathers were in the Military sense. They only knew that one day dad was gone.
Then in the aftermath of World War II, these children had to grow up knowing their fathers were war criminals and these children had to carry on the family n ...more
However, most of the children were too young to know what or who their fathers were in the Military sense. They only knew that one day dad was gone.
Then in the aftermath of World War II, these children had to grow up knowing their fathers were war criminals and these children had to carry on the family n ...more
An interesting subject less common in the literature chronicling the Third Reich. Well researched and even-handed. It's a fair and compelling exploration of reconciling a child's experience of his/her father and monstrous acts they committed - learned of from sources outside their families. Further, how these children carry the burden of their fathers' actions and the direction it sets for their lives.
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I'm giving 5 stars for the writing and research the author excelled at. I enjoyed her viewpoint. These people were twisted and evil.....and horrible parents. Some of their children grew up to be decent people, some continued in their fathers' footsteps of hatred and evil.
It was a bit difficult to follow my "don't start one book without finishing one" rule....the stories were a bit depressing. Well worth the read. ...more
It was a bit difficult to follow my "don't start one book without finishing one" rule....the stories were a bit depressing. Well worth the read. ...more
I found the parallels between the current discord in our country and Nazism in Germany to be numerous and chilling. I have greater understanding of the white supremacy movement; this understanding doesn’t mean tolerance. In fact, I am sure that we need to have a clear policy on how to address this issue or we shall be overwhelmed. These groups are sophisticated in their use of social media and how to tap into the disaffection of great swathes of our society.
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