
The Nazi’s Granddaughter
How I Discovered My Grandfather Was a War Criminal
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Narrated by:
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Gabrielle de Cuir
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Stefan Rudnicki
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By:
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Silvia Foti
About this listen
A deathbed promise leads a daughter on an incredible journey to write about her grandfather who was a famous war hero. But this journey had a terrible destination: the discovery that he was a Nazi war criminal.
Silvia Foti’s mother was dying. Wanting to preserve family history, Silvia’s mother asks her to write a book about Foti’s grandfather, Jonas Noreika, a famous WWII hero. Foti’s grandmother tries to intervene - begging her granddaughter not to write about her husband. “Just let history lie”, she whispered.
Foti had no idea that in keeping her promise to her mother, her discoveries would bring her to a personal crisis, unearth Holocaust denial, and expose an official cover-up by the Lithuanian government that resulted in an internationally followed lawsuit.
Jonas Noreika was a Lithuanian known as General Storm. He led an uprising that won the country of Lithuania back from the communists, only to have it fall under Nazi control. He was an official during the Holocaust and chief of the second largest region in the country during the Nazi occupation, yet he became a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. Foti set out to write a heroic biography about her famous grandfather. But as she dug ever deeper, she “encountered so much evidence proving my flesh and blood ‘hero’ was a Jew-killer, even I could no longer believe the lie”.
The Nazi’s Granddaughter is Foti’s firsthand account of her journey, which began as an act of family pride and ended with uncovering the secret her family, and an entire nation, had kept hidden for 79 years. It addresses:
- How should our family’s past, shameful or noble, shape our identity?
- How could one man be revered as a hero, having a grammar school named after him, and yet be a villain responsible for the deaths of thousands?
- Why are some European countries still in denial about their role in the Holocaust?
- How was this kept secret until now?
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Courage in Her Search for Truth
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Interesting, but repetitive
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So riveting, I finished in 2 days!
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In summary, war is Hell, and to have been caught in Eastern Europe between the forces of both Hitler and Stalin during the war and its aftermath was probably as hellish a circumstance as any in history.
Kudos to the author for sharing her uncomfortable personal journey of discovery. It’s not a cheery tale, but you wouldn’t expect anything with “Nazi” in the title to be cheerful, now, would you?
About that- I don’t think the author’s grandfather was really a Nazi, but rather a collaborator. I’m not sure why he’s called a Nazi in the title, except maybe to draw attention. (It worked- I came upon this book after using “Nazi” in a keyword search,)
Those were dark days indeed, and I feel the author has done her best to come to terms with the ghosts of the past. It was an interesting read.
Gets pretty dark, as you can imagine.
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More WW II History I Didn't Know
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I highly recommend this audio version of a gripping story well told.
A Compelling Story Well Told
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This POV a First For Me
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To be told your Grandfather was a hero but to be the only one willing to disclose the truth was brave and courageous.
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interesting historical info
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Bravely groundbreaking
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