First published in Germany in 1979, Gauch's memoir of his relationship with his Nazi father was the first of many post-World War II accounts by the children of war criminals. He tells it quietly, in clear, short vignettes that mix memory with his present-tense reflections. As he arranges his father's funeral, Gauch remembers a caring dad and a frail old man. The telling is part of the meaning; it's as if he can't bear to confront what the reader wants to know--what did his dad do for the Nazis? Every now and then, a fact erupts. The honorable physician was once a "desk murderer" whose eugenic theories supported the slaughter of the Jews. He admired Hitler. He was Himmler's personal physician. Until his death he was an unrepentant anti-Semite who denied the Holocaust ever happened. Is the son guilty by proxy? Could he love his father but be horrified by what he did? There's neither self-righteousness nor resolution. What this wrenching story shows and tells is that the son can never free himself of his father's guilt.
Hazel Rochman

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