Passing: Growing up in Hitler's Germany

Born in 1929, Anita Witt grew up during one of the most tumultuous eras in history. Adolph Hitler came to power in 1933, and a second world war was brewing.

From an early age, young Anita was taught to keep family history and conversations to herself—information that could threaten her own safety and that of the people she loved most. She was, in fact, the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Aryan father, a point that had the potential to draw criticism, or much worse, during this most dangerous period of time in German history.

In Passing, Witt recounts in candid detail her daily life with her family before and during World War II, and the sometimes extreme measures they needed to take to ensure their safety. In particular, a single lie that was imperative to the family’s survival in 1942, but so painful that Witt’s mother initially asked her not to write about it.

You’ll see the author’s sorrow as she says good-bye to Jewish family members and friends, as well as the help her family received from some surprising sources—people without whom she would not have been able to write this compelling, true story.