The Broken House

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A major rediscovery of a forgotten masterpiece, this literary memoir recounts a youth in Nazi Germany. In 1965, journalist Horst Krüger attended the Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, where 22 former camp guards faced justice for the systematic murder of over a million individuals. This trial marked the first confrontation for the German public with the horrific realities of the Holocaust, committed by 'ordinary men' living among them. Reflecting on his childhood in 1930s Berlin, Krüger sought to understand that incomprehensible time. He grew up in a suburban community of decent, lower-middle-class homeowners, far removed from the spectacle of Nazi rallies. These were people who lived ordinary lives, believed in God, and obeyed the law, yet were gradually seduced by Nazism's promises. Krüger recognized himself as a typical child of innocuous Germans who were not Nazis, yet whose complicity enabled the regime's atrocities. The family's world began to unravel when tragedy struck, as Krüger's sister took her own life, leaving their parents to grapple with the loss. His teenage rebellion led him to join an anti-Nazi resistance group, narrowly escaping imprisonment before being sent to war. The narrative unfolds as a family succumbs to the destructive influence of Nazism. Written with lingering beauty, this moving coming-of-age story offers an unforgettable portrait of life under the Nazis and resonates with contemporary themes of popul