4/5 Stars
To Look a Nazi in the Eye by Kathy Kacer and Jordana Lebowitz is Jordana’s account of the Oskar Groening’s trial. Groening was a SS officer stationed at Auschwitz and was tried for aiding and abetting in the murders of 300,000 Jews.
The Good:
The best part of this book is the message it provides. It directly confronts the fact that “we bravely said ‘never again’ in 1945, but the world is full of hate” (Kacer). This book provides a touching story that pushes the fact that unless we accept what happened in the past, we will be helpless to stop it in the future. One of my favorite lines from the book was, “We can never be at peace with the pain in the past. However, we must transform the suffering into meaning so that we may take these tools and build a better tomorrow,” (Kacer). I think this line sums up the message written in this book, as well as why the message is so important to hear.
This story is a mix of Jordana’s own writing, narrations of her thoughts during the trial, and stories of survivors of Auschwitz presented during the trial. The stories of the survivors were hard hitting and provided a very personal touch to stories some people never get to hear from the source. Oftentimes people only hear stories of the holocaust from detached textbooks or teachers, but To Look a Nazi in the Eye provided accounts that felt very personal. One quote from the book describes this sentiment perfectly. While on a trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau Kacer states, “Before she came on this trip, these places has simply been names in text books.”
The story told in this book is not only a very important book, but also a very engaging one. It provides a critical, honest message in a way that keeps the reader wanting more. I found myself wanting to read more of the story during my volleyball tryouts, and then later while I was belaying my sister who was rock climbing. Since I very rarely read non-fiction, and even less often reports of trial, I was very surprised to find myself so engaged.
One of my favorite things about this book was that Kacer worked with Jordana and the survivors mentioned in the story to put forth an honest story which, due to the lack of transcripts from the trial, cannot be fully heard anywhere else.
The Bad:
The only downside of this book was that I personally didn’t like the writing. I found it to be less descriptive and more straightforward. While I didn’t like Kacer’s style, it presented the story in a manner I believe a trial should be told in.
TL/DR:
This is an engaging and touching story. It carries a very important message, and I believe it is a story everyone needs to hear.
I received a copy of this story from Second Story Press (via Netgalley) in return for an honest review.
https://www.amazon.com/Look-Nazi-Eye-Account-Criminal/dp/1772600407
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34415918-to-look-a-nazi-in-the-eye
In Between Pages 