HERC November Book Club

November’s book choice is MY GRANDFATHER WOULD HAVE SHOT ME. Pick up this thought provoking book at Midtown Reader at 10% off, and join us on November 8th for a discussion.

“I am the granddaughter of Amon Goeth, who shot hundreds
of people – and for being black, he would have shot me, too.”

In an instant, Jennifer Teege’s life turns upside down; the
shock of discovering her ancestry shatters her sense of self.
Teege is 38 – married, with two small children – when by
chance she finds a library book about her grandfather, Amon
Goeth. Millions of people worldwide know of him through
Ralph Fiennes’ chilling portrayal in Steven Spielberg’s
film Schindler’s List. Goeth was the brutal commandant of the
Plaszów concentration camp – Oskar Schindler’s drinking
buddy, and yet his adversary. Responsible for the deaths of
thousands, Amon Goeth was hanged in 1946.

Goeth’s partner Ruth, Teege’s much-loved grandmother,
committed suicide in 1983. Teege is their daughter’s daughter;
her father is Nigerian. Raised by foster parents, she grew up
with no knowledge of the family secret. Now, it unsettles her
profoundly. What can she say to her Jewish friends, or to her
own children? Who is she – truly?

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me is Teege’s searing
chronicle of grappling with her haunted past. Her research into
her family takes her to Poland and to Israel. Award-winning
journalist Nikola Sellmair supplies historical context in a
separate, interwoven narrative. Step by step, horrified by her
family’s dark history, Teege builds the story of her own
liberation.” (From Goodreads