The German Trauma: Experiences and Reflections 1938-1999 Allen Lane History: Amazon.co.uk: Gitta Sereny: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

For over 50 years Gitta Sereny has been a one-woman truth and reconciliation committee for post-war Germany, inserting her needle every so often to make sure that no one should forget the crimes of the Nazis and to measure the ambient climate of acceptance and regret. The German Trauma is a collection of these investigations, loosely tied together with an autobiographical thread. Few writers are better placed than Sereny to examine the German conscience and few do it as well. She attended a Nuremberg rally in 1934 at the age of 11 and has had her hooks into the pernicious influence of Nazism ever since. She is perhaps best known for her brushes with Albert Speer, whom she eventually persuaded to admit what he had previously denied: that he had known of the Final Solution. But there are other Nazi apologists and sympathisers here, too--David Irving, Kurt Waldheim, Leni Riefenstahl and John Demjanjuk--and none escapes the Sereny probe. For all that, Sereny is never less than scrupulously fair. She only wants her pound of flesh and takes no more. Those who admit their wrongdoings are blessed with some forgiveness; only the deniers are taken to the wire. The converse of this is that Sereny allows few grey areas into her analyses; there is merely good or bad, wrong or right. One could argue that Nazism permits no other approach, but humans are rarely that two-dimensional. For most of us, there is no one final leap into evil but rather a continuum of quantum collusive jumps. So when Sereny tells of those who stood up to Nazism, she intends to parade them as ordinary bastions of good with which to bash all those who failed to measure up to such ideals. A more telling way of looking at them might have been to give them a quasi-saintly status, and to view those who failed to measure up as mere fallible mortals. But then one is often left feeling with Sereny that she needs or rather is desperate to paint a picture of a Germany that stepped so far over the moral abyss that it can never be repeated. You can't quibble over the morality, but sadly you can over its abnormality. And there are signs towards the end of the book that Sereny has just begun to understand this. Nazism isn't a one-off; it is being acted out in variant forms in Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda and Iraq. And with a desperate irony that would not be lost on Sereny, the Israelis can themselves no longer claim any moral high ground in their treatment of the Palestinians. Maybe that's where she will turn her attention next. --John Crace --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Gitta Sereny is one of the world's most respected journalists and historians. This book gathers together the best of her writing on Germany from over sixty years. It amounts to an extraordinary portrait of the country and its people, how they have come to terms with their Nazi past, both collectively and in specific instances - and how the burden of their guilt has altered the national identity. She writes about key individuals - Stangl, Speer - and the questions which their lives raise. Thepenetration and conviction of her writing throughout is startling and she constantly reminds us why it is important to consider the questions she addresses - war guilt, holocaust denial and the temptations of obedience.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

Necessary to live. 30 May 2001

By simon.pass@bbc.co.uk

Format:Hardcover

One of the most profound books I have read, as a consequence I feel unable to write anything but a couple of comments.

This book is unafraid of the truth - however awful the outcome. It demonstrates the need to understand the 'failings' of the human condition. Sereny has the ability to show that morally repugnant behaviour can stem from people like you and me - this is because she is able to get inside the skin of these offenders, to expose their ordinariness and their monstrosity. This isn't just about war.

Superbly written, clear and eloquent.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

Sereny:The German Trauma 25 Jun 2003

By "garyjlove"

Format:Paperback

The German Trauma may seem slightly disjointed in comparison with Gita Sereny's previous works, however, this should not demand criticism. For the book reveals a life's work, and a highly dedicated approach towards understanding one of the most complex area's in modern history: the Third Reich. Anyone intending to read Sereny should start here, an extremely stimulating overview that raises significant questions essential to those studying the Nazi period. Although, anyone looking for in depth analysis on certain personalities (i.e. Speer/Stangl)should read her earlier works. Overall, I could not put the book down!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Compelling. Addresses the 'Why' of behaviour. 18 Oct 2000

By M. M. O'dee

This book is enlightening in many ways. She expresses facts objectively but in a manner that is inevitably thought provoking. Sereny tries to understand the 'Why?' of behaviour, not just the 'What?', both in terms of individuals, groups and nations. She argues that to try and understand is not to condone nor forgive. Occasionally difficult to ascertain the period when she is writing the particular essays - despite headings (perhaps it's just me). At times riveting - I've just ordered her other books concerning this period. This book reiterates some of her philosophy and mode of writing that is apparent in her book 'Cries Unheard'- sensitivity without sensationalism. The first sentence in her Introduction 'How does one describe, not one's circumstances or what one did at any particular time of one's life, but what one was?' is a clear indicator of what the reader is asked to consider throughout the book. I found it interesting that whilst there are many references to 'guilt', there are few to remorse. She concludes the work with some thoughts for readers to consider as we live in a time where racism is clearly on the rise in parts of Europe. Without attempting to understand the 'Why?', we are in danger of similar horrors occurring in Europe (as they have in other parts of Asia and Africa).