Nacht über dem Tal (6350 399). Eine Jugend in Deutschland.

by Wendelgard von Staden

The niece of Hitler's first foreign minister candidly relates her rural adolescence in Nazi Germany, stepping back in time to face the shocking reality of the death camp built in their family-owned valley.

Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fängt unauffällig an, wird dann schnell sehr interessant und ist auch schnell wieder vorbei. Es handelt vom KZ-Außenlager Vaihingen und darum, dass in einer irrsinnigen Situation wie dem Dritten Reich auf den Irrsinn Verlass ist, die Dinge auch wirklich bis zum Letzten schiefgehen und hinterher die Falschen verhaftet werden. (Muss wohl die Zweitlektüre gewesen sein, ich habe an die erste aber keine Erinnerung.)

[Antea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find this book quite suprising,beacuse it shows the other side of the German people in WWII.It shows that not all of them were Nazis and that you should not judge the whole nation because of a few bad people.

[Ann Ackermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The strength of this book, a true story, is the author's detachted narration of her family's experiences in World War II. She tells what she experienced as a teenager without judging any of the participants, and that detachment makes her narrative much more compelling and emotional. The Nazis take part of her family's farm through eminent domain and set up a concentration camp there. The family's proximitiy to the camp allows it to observe what is going on -- and before anyone else in their city, the author's family figures out what is happening in the concentration camps. The author's mother tries to save some of the prisoners by arranging for 30 to work on the farm. At least the family can feed them. The description of the end of the war, when the starving, skeletal prisoners are released from camp and the Germans and the French occupation realize what was going on is unforgettable and harrowing. When the author, as a 19 year-old, enters into a romantic relationship with one of the former prisoners, a Polish Jew, after the war ends, her mother begs her to end the relationship for both their sakes. The war made the differences in their backgrounds insurmountable, the mother says, for after the war, Jews will hate the Germans. The ending, when the author turns down her boyfriend's request to emigrate with him to America stabs like a knife. It highlights the collective guilt Germans feel about the war.