Barbara Cherish is a child of the SS, and the burden lies heavily upon her.
She knew early in her life that her German father, Arthur Liebehenschel, was involved in something terrible, something the family did not discuss.
Only later, as an adult, did she discover he had run part of the Auschwitz concentration camp for five months during World War II.
"I do have mixed feelings because he was a complex person. Here's this good person that really tried everything he could to help the prisoners" - Barbara Cherish
Read more here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hi
I am puzzled by this woman. I heard her talking on the radio yesterday and have read a little about her online.
My grandparents died in one of the camps and my father escaped from the Nazis - hiding inbetween two walls of a brick factory with another 6 people, finally rescued as such by the Russians... He is still alive at 88 and still much scarred by what happened.
The story Cherish tells is sad from her own point of view, but I don;t buy that that her father was some sort of good guy. It may be a failing in me but I can't bear to think about what was done to people there - I have read too much to think anyone connected with Auschwitz could have anything remotely redeeming about them.
Am I too bitter? I don't know. I am 58 and still trying to make sense of the whole mess and trying to find out, before my dad dies,all the facts of his escape. He never spoke about any of it when we were younger as he was so traumatised by it.
Nice to find your blog. I wish I knew how to put such tidy links on mine!! I am such a klutz when it comes to techno stuff!!
Take care.
Sara
I wonder how many books could be written by people who were German and have their own stories to tell but won't because of the stigma. Seems to me that Germany had two agendas, first being expansion which would result in war. Erasing the Jewish threat as they saw it, hence the death camps. Both endeavors were supported by millions of Germans, are they or their children all bad people, I think not. We praise the Kommander on the front line for being a brave warrior but hiss at anyone who was involved with the camps. Does this include the truck drivers who brought supplies, or the ultilty guy who hooked up the power lines, the accountant who wrote the paychecks. We watch the movie but ask little about all the other stories, what a shame there is so much to learn. I fear we have scared them into not talking for fear of offending.
I have read her book. I found it well written. This is a women who only after raising her two children did the research into her past. She lost both her parents because of WWII. Adopted from a childrens home years after the war and never allowed to ask any questions about her family. Only after raising her two children did she start her research for her children and now this book. Read her book before making a judgement. I am glad I did.
Post a Comment