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Nov 14, 2005GingerKaren rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
What attracts me to these books, I cannot say. I do enjoy historical reads and this small book is a memoir of a time period that I am interested in, to a point. But this book turns into one of those situations where you cannot look away no matter how bad it gets. A visit to a Vienna nursing home by a daughter to see a mother she does not know or understand is part of a story that is a compelling read. The other part is the fact that the mother was a guard in Auschwitz-Birkenau and Ravensbruck which came as a big surprise to her now grown daughter. In fact the shock of finding this out was only eclipsed by hearing that her mother was very good at her job. But very bad at being a mother. Abandoning her two children, she now insists they are dead even though her daughter is standing in front of her. Her behavior suggests some kind of mental disorder, but her thoughtful answers to her daughter''s probing questions only make her look sane. The strength of her daughter to bring this record to life is as astounding as her justifications and adherence to the Nazi ideology that are the only proof of her involvement in mass murder.