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

Now in paperback: The New York Times bestselling memoir hailed as unforgettable (Publishers Weekly) and a stunning memoir of cultural trauma and personal identity (Booklist).

At age 38, Jennifer Teege happened to pluck a library book from the shelf and discovered a horrifying fact: Her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi commandant depicted in Schindler s List. Reviled as the butcher of P asz w, Goeth was executed in 1946. The more Teege learned about him, the more certain she became: If her grandfather had met her a black woman he would have killed her.

Teege s discovery sends her into a severe depression and fills her with questions: Why did her birth mother withhold this chilling secret? How could her grandmother have loved a mass murderer? Can evil be inherited?

Teege s story is cowritten by Nikola Sellmair, who also adds historical context and insight from Teege s family and friends, in an interwoven narrative. Ultimately, Teege s search for the truth leads her, step by step, to the possibility of her own liberation.