Somewhere in Germany

Review contains spoilers for both books of the series

The first book of this autobiographical duology, "Nowhere in Africa", tells the story of the Redlich family's time in Kenya. While most of the names were changed, it is very similar to the author's own life story.
The Redlich family are a Jewish family from Silesia who fled the Nazi terror to Kenya. While the parents feel lost and helpless, worry for the safety of the family members and friends who were not able to leave Germany, and cannot feel at home in Kenya, their daughter Regina has almost no memory of life in Germany. She speaks Swahili and Kikuyu, loves the landscape and wilderness of the farm, and feels at home with the Kikuyu people. Her mother, Jettel, finally gets used to show more their new life when she spends more time in Nairobi and makes friends, but her father, Walter, remains homesick. In the end of the novel, after the war has ended, he secures a position in Frankfurt as a judge. Although it's her biggest wish to stay in Kenya, Regina has to bid farewell.

"Irgendwo in Deutschland" starts with the family's arrival in Frankfurt. The beginning of their new life there is not as they hoped for: The city is in ruins, it is very hard to find even the smallest or simplest lodgings, they suffer from hunger and there is still antisemitism which they encounter on the streets.
It was interesting and emotional for me to read about these early days after the war and the hardships the family faced. While I don't want to liken my own family's plight to them in any way, I still thought of the stories my grandparents and parents told me. One aspect of this is the hostility against the people who were displaced from the east, such as my family. The Redlich family, being Jewish and from Silesia, were thus doubly affected by discrimination and it made their lives all the more difficult.
There are a few lengthy parts in this and some events are told very extensively while other things, that would have interested me more, are only mentioned hastily. Some chapters deal heavily with Walter's job, although to me it would have been much more interesting to learn more about Regina's experiences at school. But it gets more interesting again in the second part of the novel.
While Walter finds fulfillment in his occupation and is able to help other Jewish and displaced people, it is much harder for Jettel who did not want to return to the country of the people who killed her mother and sister. Every time she encounters an antisemitic slur, all the wounds start to bleed again.
Thus, the story continues: With a lot of heartbreak, but also with hopeful and even happy moments - finding new and bigger lodgings, being able to finally buy a house, the first trips to the Harz Mountains and later to Austria and Switzerland. People turning up who they thought they would never see again. Spending evenings with old friends from Silesia and revelling in memories. Gaining a victory when finally being brave enough to stand up to a Nazi insulting them.
This is how Regina grows up, but inside her, there are the memories of Kenya, ever present and ever calling to her. Because of that, it's ultimately a novel about belonging, about what makes a home and about how you deal with the past and how it shapes your identity.
I cannot remember the last time I cried so hard over the pages of a book, but I am so thankful to Stefanie Zweig for sharing her story. show less

Unfortunately, the sequel to the story in Africa, Irgendwo in Deutschland, lacks the freshness of the first book. It describes the harsh reality of the family's return to Germany. Some features of this story are interesting, notably the description of the difficulties of living in Frankfurt, right after the end of the war, before the Waerungsreform, the years of scarcity, the solidarity between Jewish families, and the aggression of some Germans to Jewish people and the preferential treatment they received in those years. While Irgendwo in Deutschland in shorter than the story set in Africa, I felt it was too long. The repeated reminiscences about the time in Africa and the iteration of the use of expressions in Swahili created the show more sense that the story was dragged out too much. show less

Much quicker to read than the first. The translation seemed to flow better. Good book!