Rating: 
Summary: Enough Already
Review: This book is nothing more than another anti-German hate book ! I am so sick of these pathetic self hating "Germans". Please explain to me how a young German is responsible for something that happened 30 or 40 years before they were born. WWII has been over for more than fifty years now,isn't it about time we called of the hate war we have been waging against the Germans since 1914 ?!
Rating: 
Summary: Enlightening.
Review: This is an engrossing, enlightening book. To Paul Forster: I think you needed to read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: A very important book
Review: This is not "another German hating book" because its testimonies are universal and are valid for all. This book not only relates the experiences of Germans and their feelings of guilt but leads the reader to the most important question: What is the responsibility of each person who knows about the Holocaust? It is important to remember the Holocaust and it is even more important to make sure that it NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN. But what is it that each one of us can DO to prevent history from repeating itself? We can turn the lessons of the Holocaust into action if we not just preach tolerance but practice tolerance. When we see people suffering hunger, homelessness, persecution and discrimination do we step in and feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and help those who are persecuted? If more individuals had acted on those humane impulses, the Holocaust would have never happended. Has the world learned the lessons? We see bigotry, hatred and prejudice all around us, not just in Rwanda, Kosovo and Ireland. Do we act?? We can all be part of "repairing the world". This book reminds us to act. Thank you Ursula Hegi.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Oral History of Germans Born Late Living in US
Review: Ursula Hegi does a great service by examining the feelings of the "2nd generation" of Germans who were too young to have participated in the Nazi horror, but who have had to deal with it nonetheless. It is also an examination of what it is like to be a German immigrant in the US, and deal with American Christians and Jews and their feelings towards Germans and the Holocaust. As a child of Holocaust survivors from Poland who has read much of the "2nd generation" children of survivors literature, as well as other interviews with Germans of the "2nd generation" (Sabine Reichel's "What Did You Do in the War Daddy" comes to mind), I believe this book contributes greatly to creating an understanding among all of us who have been so heavily effected by the Holocaust. It was also an eyeopener for me to read the descriptions of the relationships these people had with their parents, and compare them to the issues Holocaust survivors and their children deal with. Very well written and hard to put down. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Understanding both sides of the story
Review: Ursula Hegi does a great service by examining the feelings of the "2nd generation" of Germans who were too young to have participated in the Nazi horror, but who have had to deal with it nonetheless. It is also an examination of what it is like to be a German immigrant in the US, and deal with American Christians and Jews and their feelings towards Germans and the Holocaust. As a child of Holocaust survivors from Poland who has read much of the "2nd generation" children of survivors literature, as well as other interviews with Germans of the "2nd generation" (Sabine Reichel's "What Did You Do in the War Daddy" comes to mind), I believe this book contributes greatly to creating an understanding among all of us who have been so heavily effected by the Holocaust. It was also an eyeopener for me to read the descriptions of the relationships these people had with their parents, and compare them to the issues Holocaust survivors and their children deal with. Very well written and hard to put down. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Oral History of Germans Born Late Living in US
Review: Ursula Hegi does a great service by examining the feelings of the "2nd generation" of Germans who were too young to have participated in the Nazi horror, but who have had to deal with it nonetheless. It is also an examination of what it is like to be a German immigrant in the US, and deal with American Christians and Jews and their feelings towards Germans and the Holocaust. As a child of Holocaust survivors from Poland who has read much of the "2nd generation" children of survivors literature, as well as other interviews with Germans of the "2nd generation" (Sabine Reichel's "What Did You Do in the War Daddy" comes to mind), I believe this book contributes greatly to creating an understanding among all of us who have been so heavily effected by the Holocaust. It was also an eyeopener for me to read the descriptions of the relationships these people had with their parents, and compare them to the issues Holocaust survivors and their children deal with. Very well written and hard to put down. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking collection
Review: Ursula Hegi moved to the US from Germany at the age of 18. She was born one year after the war ended, and she remembers vividly what her elders told her about those years. In her Introduction to _Tearing the Silence_, she states why she wrote this book, and how it helped her identify with her cultural heritage. With the title _Tearing the Silence_ she makes her point very clear: Post-war German immigrants have stories to tell.Hegi conducted interviews with post-war German immigrants in the US. Most of the stories were similar to her own: born and raised in Germany during, or after, World War II, and immigration to the United States before age 20. Some are children of SS officers, others are children of privates. Some live happy lives and do not focus on the past, others are haunted by what happened. There are some great stories in the book--very thought-provoking. I was amazed at how some of the same phrases were repeated in all of the stories--even though the interviewees never met each other. Many were told that there parents "...never knew about the Holocaust", and others said "Germans suffered too..." With _Tearing the Silence_, Hegi provided a much-needed contribution to World War II history, and biography.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking collection
Review: Ursula Hegi moved to the US from Germany at the age of 18. She was born one year after the war ended, and she remembers vividly what her elders told her about those years. In her Introduction to _Tearing the Silence_, she states why she wrote this book, and how it helped her identify with her cultural heritage. With the title _Tearing the Silence_ she makes her point very clear: Post-war German immigrants have stories to tell. Hegi conducted interviews with post-war German immigrants in the US. Most of the stories were similar to her own: born and raised in Germany during, or after, World War II, and immigration to the United States before age 20. Some are children of SS officers, others are children of privates. Some live happy lives and do not focus on the past, others are haunted by what happened. There are some great stories in the book--very thought-provoking. I was amazed at how some of the same phrases were repeated in all of the stories--even though the interviewees never met each other. Many were told that there parents "...never knew about the Holocaust", and others said "Germans suffered too..." With _Tearing the Silence_, Hegi provided a much-needed contribution to World War II history, and biography.
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