Books that Hook: The Nazi Officer’s Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

Our senior book reviews are written with the understanding that mature, sensible, premium-aged people may not want the bother of searching for well-written, sleaze-free reading materials—that’s why we’ve done the searching for you. We hope you enjoy this month’s pick.

This Month’s NonFiction Selection: The Nazi Officer’s Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

Author: Edith Hahn Beer with Susan Dworkin

Publisher: William Morrow

Length: 336

Edith Hahn was a young Jewish law student whose life changed forever in 1938. On March 12, her native country, Austria, was annexed by Nazi Germany, and within a few months, she was forced out of school and sent to a labor camp in Germany. When she returned to Austria in search of her mother, she found the Jewish community in Austria decimated and realized her life was in grave danger. With the help of a few trusted Gentile friends, Edith went underground and re-emerged as Grete Denner, a Christian German working for the Red Cross.

Edith lived in mortal fear that her false identity would be discovered. She hid her education by acting like a dullard and disguised her appearance, hoping to appear nondescript. Her every act was designed to avert attention, but she did not escape the notice and affections of Werner Vetter, a Nazi Party member. When he proposed, she did the unthinkable and confessed her true identity. Werner responded by marrying her.

Edith’s survivor story provides totally new and fascinating perspective of the war since she was a Jew posing as a German, married to a Nazi Party member, living in the heart of Germany in the middle of World War II. Far from being easy, her daily existence was one of constant fear because at any moment, her true identity could be discovered. Later, she would discover she was one of a small group of survivors known as “U-Boats,” Jews who attempted to survive the war by hiding from the Third Reich.

The Nazi Officer’s wife is a memoir complete with pictures and source documents, but it is far from dry. It reads like a captivating novel, complete with gripping scenes and action. Amazingly, Edith almost never told her story until she was prevailed upon late in her life by her daughter Angela to reveal how she survived the war. She did, and The Nazi Officer’s Wife was the result.

Following the publication of her memoir, at age 90, Edith Hahn Beer starred in a documentary titled The Nazi Officer’s Wife, directed by Liz Garbus and narrated by Susan Sarandon and Julia Ormond. The documentary, which aired on A&E in 2003, was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Edith’s story is a record of our history and a must-read. Her personal collection of papers was sold at auction for nearly $170,000 and is now known as the Edith Hahn Archive and can be viewed in the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum. Add The Nazi Officer’s Wife to your reading list today.

You can borrow The Nazi Officer’s Wife from your local library. Purchase it from a local bookseller or at www.amazon.com. Also available in e-book and audio book format. At the time of this printing, the Kindle version is just $2.99.