The pendulum used by Julie's grandmother to divine good from bad and true from false becomes a symbol for the elusiveness of truth and morality, but also for the false securities we cling to when we become unmoored. He eventually fled to South America to evade a new wave of war-crimes trials. During World War II, he was responsible for enslavement and torture and was complicit in the murder of the local population on the large estates he oversaw in occupied Poland. In a remarkable six-year journey through Germany, Poland, Paraguay, and Brazil, Julie uncovers, among many other discoveries, that her grandfather had been a fanatic member of the SS since 1934.

Out of the unbearable heart of the storythe unclaimed guilt that devours a family through the generationsemerges an unflinching will to learn the truth. Called poetic and heartfelt and powerful by a Publisher's Weekly starred review, read about Julie Lindahls journey to uncover the truth about her grandfather's history as a member of Hitlers SS elite.This gripping memoir traces Brazilian-born American Julie Lindahl's journey to uncover her grandparents' roles in the Third Reich as she is driven to understand how and why they became members of Hitler's elite, the SS.

Out of the unbearable heart of the story-the unclaimed guilt that devours a family through generations-emerges an unflinching will to learn the truth. This powerful memoir traces Brazilian-born American Julie Lindahl’s journey to uncover her grandparents’ role in WWII as she is driven to understand why they became members of Hitler’s elite, the SS.

Cecil beaton queen portrait