Yes, The Book is Shocking
Stone Majdanek memorial
Some early reviews of the book are coming in, and a few have noted that the book is shocking. There are violent and shocking descriptions of the things Nazi perpetrators did and the horrific conditions at Majdanek concentration camp. These stories are drawn from witness accounts at trials and other descriptions of what went on during the holocaust. My main source was a four-hour documentary from the Majdanek trials in Dusseldorf, Germany from 1976-1981. As you can imagine, the conditions and the brutality of the camps are shocking. I decided to include them in this fictionalized account of a seemingly innocent 1950s housewife who was actually a sadistic camp guard during the war. She stood out for her cruelty in an extremely cruel environment.
I wanted to share this with potential readers because it is part of the book. It’s not the whole book, but it is there. I didn’t skip over or sugarcoat those events in the fictionalized version of the book. There are many reasons I chose to write a novel based on this story - I thought it was fascinating that this woman lived a stereotypical 1950s life and hid her past, and that she lived in a community that included so many survivors, some of whom suffered directly under her. I thought the lack of interest in pursuing this case by the government was interesting because there were former Nazis on the government payroll as intelligence assets and as space race scientists. There are many elements, but the accounts of violence and crimes against humanity are in the book, so if you are looking for a lighter read, this isn’t the book for you.
The sad thing is that inhumanity, cruelty, and mass murder still happen. The holocaust is now nearly 80 years in the past. There continues to be holocaust deniers and a neo-Nazi movement. I hope the book sparks people to learn more about the holocaust, the American activities after the war, the role of women in the 1950s, and how people who survived the severe trauma of the camps before the concept of PTSD or mental health were prominent, but yet went on to build successful lives in America.
