The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

Edith Hahn Beer’s memoir of her life prior to and during World War II in Austria and Germany. The book starts before the war and covers her decision to remain in Austria as well as events that led to her marriage to a Nazi. As conditions for European Jews worsened, and with assistance from others, she made the decision to “hide in plain sight.” This is a riveting story of identity, fear, courage, guilt, and redemption. It provides another slice of history, depicting the personal impact of the Nazi regime. It shows the lengths to which a person needed to go to survive. At times, it seemed she was almost apologizing for what she decided to do to escape Nazi persecution, but who can blame her? The tone of this book is one of candor. show more She does not shy away from addressing difficult subjects. I felt like I was sitting down with the author and listening to her tell me her story. Recommended to those interested in the history of World War II, especially personal experiences of that time period. show less

Edith Hahn Beer’s memoir of her life prior to and during World War II in Austria and Germany. The book starts before the war and covers her decision to remain in Austria as well as events that led to her marriage to a Nazi. As conditions for European Jews worsened, and with assistance from others, she made the decision to “hide in plain sight.” This is a riveting story of identity, fear, courage, guilt, and redemption. It provides another slice of history, depicting the personal impact of the Nazi regime. It shows the lengths to which a person needed to go to survive. At times, it seemed she was almost apologizing for what she decided to do to escape Nazi persecution, but who can blame her? The tone of this book is one of candor. show more She does not shy away from addressing difficult subjects. I felt like I was sitting down with the author and listening to her tell me her story. Recommended to those interested in the history of World War II, especially personal experiences of that time period. show less

I have mostly read novels and only a couple of nonfiction books about WWII but this might be the first memoir. It doesn’t really talk about concentration camps and atrocities committed on the prisoners but about the human side of the survivors and people who helped them on the way.

Edith is from a loving Jewish family in Vienna studying to be a lawyer. When the Nazi’s come, she is denied her degree, forced out of her home into a ghetto and finally sent to labor camp. She works almost eighty hour work weeks while starving and her only hope being the letters and packages that she received from her mom and Pepi. After her mother is deported to Poland, she refuses to report to the authorities and after managing to secure false papers, show more moves to Munich. There she meets a Nazi party member Werner who falls in love with her and they get married.

There were some comments about Edith’s life that demeaned her for surviving as a German Nazi wife. But that’s the whole point of this book. In times of war, when living is the only matter of concern, is it really worth it to judge a woman for setting up a false identity and surviving under the enemy’s nose. Edith is a smart, intelligent woman who is deprived of everything – her education, dignity, a future, even basic food and shelter – and when all doors close for her freedom, she chooses the one way that she finds. She lives in constant fear of being caught, every minute of her existence, but still manages to carve out a life and family for herself. She suppresses her witty intelligent personality to become a meek submissive wife of a Nazi because all she wants is to live; because that’s the only thing she has left. Finally, when the occupation ends, she gets a chance to resume her true identity, even become a lawyer and judge to help the people who have lost everything in the war.

But this book is not just about Edith. It’s about all the people who chose to help her. Her friend Christl, a German who gave Edith her original papers at great peril to herself. Maria Niedarall, another German who provided her all the encouragement and resources to escape. Pepi, her eternal love whose letters provided her great relief and hope during the whole ordeal before her escape. Even Werner in some ways helps her because despite being his aggressive self and knowing Edith’s truth, he never betrays her.

This book is about humanity – how seemingly good people can turn their backs on friends for personal safety and well-being while at the same time, people from unexpected quarters risk their lives to help their fellow citizens. I think this book is a must read for anyone who thinks living in wartime and surviving is a black and white. Because it is most definitely not. show less

This book is a first person narrative from a Jewish woman who hid her identity during Nazi rule, becoming for a time, the wife of a Nazi officer. While her experiences bring to life many of the realities of such an experience, it didn't portray the emotional aspects of the experience to my satisfaction.

I certainly applaud any survivor's willingness to share her story, which must be incredibly difficult. Having to think about and relive trauma for no other benefit than to help readers better understand history is a selfless act. This book, however, is not among the best in relating such stories.

Like many others who experienced the unspeakable terrors of Nazi Germany, Edith Beer admits she didn't talk openly about her experiences for many show more decades and only agreed to tell her story at the insistence of her daughter. Perhaps what I sense is that she was never able to overcome her reticence completely. The facts are there, presented in a clear, chronological way. And the events themselves are interesting -- like the increasingly repressive acts against the Jews, the arbitrary nature of people's fate, the forced labor, and endless shortages of food and supplies. But there's something about the psychological trauma portrayed that feels thin.

It's too bad because I admire the author's story itself -- her bravery and strength. Maybe a more talented writing partner could have brought that story more to life. show less

This was an excellent memoir, written many many years after the fact by a Jewish woman who survived the Nazi takeover of Austria and all the subsequent horrors through luck, unexpected kindnesses, and ingenuity. This is not a story of survival in the concentration camps, or of hiding out in attics, but rather of assuming a false identity and living a life "beneath the surface of society". After the Russian Army defeated the Germans and took over the town where Edith (then known as Grete) was living, an official asked her "From which camp did you come?". Her answer was "I managed without a camp." Not without hardships and nearly constant fear, however. On the eve of obtaining her qualifications as a lawyer and judge, Edith Hahn was told show more that she would not be allowed to take the final exam, and that as a Jew she was forbidden to return to the University of Vienna for any reason. For the next 8 years Edith managed to hide her race from the official world until the Nazi regime fell, at which time she triumphantly resurrected her true identity and became a family court judge for a brief time -- "the one and only time I had even the slightest power to alleviate any of the suffering in this world."

The title is somewhat misleading, since she did not marry a Nazi officer (her husband was nominally a Nazi, but not even in the military when she married him), and her marriage was only one of the factors that kept her alive and under the radar throughout the course of the war. Not only did she and her daughter survive, but so did a fairly extensive archive of letters, photos and official documents she and a former lover each held on to, at considerable risk. Those documents are now in the custody of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The author died in Israel earlier this year (2009). Highly recommended as a revealing look at life in Nazi Europe from a rather unusual perspective. show less

In forthright and concise writing, Beer manages to depict slave camp life on the asparagus farm extremely vividly. The harsh temperatures, the demeaning and difficult work conditions, the extremely long work hours (six and one half days per week), and the verbal abuse received would be enough to quell any hope in most individuals. Beer exercised her strength and courage, and kept a positive outlook. It proved invaluable to her survival.

After working at the asparagus farm, she is transferred to another slave camp working at a different job in a paper factory.

Beer decides to go into hiding. She is given false documents with a false identification, and makes her way to Germany, where she finds room and board in exchange for seamstress show more duties. She has taken on an entirely new identity.

The pages are illuminated with the numbing and defining experiences she has had. She is honest in her telling, and doesn’t necessarily focus on blame. Beer’s desire is instead to bare the truth of her own story and survival, and that she does, in compelling fashion.

I read it straight through, and couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it to everyone. show less

An amazing account of Edith Beer's survival in Austria and Germany during WW II. Although she had it better than many European Jews, her story is hair raising and heart rending all the same. She tells about her pre war existence as a young secular Jewish university student studying law in Vienna. Edith shares valuable insights into Austrian society during and after the Anschluss, being sent to forced labour camps, wearing the Yellow Star of David and her many deprivations. Her story draws you in as she obtains new ID as a Gentile, works with the Red Cross and embarks on her married life and motherhood.

While not the best writing I've read, Edith's story kept me interested and happy when she finally escaped to England and safety.