Teege, Jennifer; Sellmair, Nikola

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past

ISBN: 9781615192533
New York, NY, USA: The Experiment, 2015. First American Edition. Hardcover. Signed by Jennifer Teege to Barbara & Irving Nusbaum. "When Jennifer Teege, a German-Nigerian woman, happened to pluck a library book from the shelf, she had no idea that her life would be irrevocably altered. Recognizing photos of her mother and grandmother in the book, she discovers a horrifying fact: Her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi commandant chillingly depicted by Ralph Feinnes in Schindler's List- a man known and reviled the world over. Although raised in an orphanage and eventually adopted, Teege had some contact with her biological mother and grandmother as a child. Yet neither revealed that Teege's grandfather was the Nazi "butcher of Plaszow," executed for crimes against humanity in 1946. The more Teege reads about Amon Goeth, the more certain she becomes: If her grandfather had met her- a black woman- he would have killed her." The stranger-than-fiction personal-familial memoir by Jennifer Teege (b. 1970), a German-Nigerian author who discovered at age 38 that her mother was the product of a liason between her German grandmother & the infamous Amon Goeth, among the most heineous Nazi murderers. This shocking discovery "sends her...into a severe depression- and on a quest to unearth and fully comprehend her family's haunted history." (from front flap) Originally published in Germany during 2013, we here offer the first american edition, hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, "First printing April 2015" as stated at copyright page & as indicated by number sequence thereon. Co-written with the German journalist Nikola Sellmair, & translated into English for this edition by Carolin Sommer. At shorter title page, Teege has hand-written & signed in bold black felt-tip ink: "To Barbara/ & Irving./ (first name signed in Hebrew)/ flourish." "Barbara & Irving" are Barbara (1935-2023) & Irving (1933-2018) Nusbaum, world travellers, connoisseurs, eminent collectors of art & books- the dearly missed mother & father of this still-grieving writer. The Nusbaums were very proud & accomplished Jewish-Americans who must have been deeply touched by meeting Teege & hearing/reading her incredible-but-true story. We found & have retained, between pgs. 90-91, a beautiful & colorful bookmark of the Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, A Michigna benevolent organization that my parents supported, & which became of service to them both in their last days- the very antithesis of Teege's unknowing grandfather's life & legacy. A singularly significant, beyond-ironic work of memoir & history in its rarest contemporary English-language form, greatly enriched by Teege's inscription & signature (in Hebrew!), & with most-distinguished, appropriate provenance. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of wear, fading & a few tiny bumps at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; some bleeding of inscription & signature onto blank verso of shorter title page; otherwise appearing substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only very slight rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; a bit of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same & flaps. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #9033]

Price: $40.00