At age 38, Jennifer Teege happened upon a horrifying fact by complete chance: Her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi commandant depicted in Schindler’s List. The more Teege learned about him, the more certain she became: If her grandfather had met her—a black woman—he would have killed her.
Jennifer Teege recounts her harrowing journey of self-discovery in the internationally bestselling memoir, My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me. Hailed as “haunting” (Washington Post), “unforgettable” (Publishers Weekly), and “stunning” (Booklist), My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me is a chilling reflection on family, identity, and the sobering weight of history. This memoir traces the steps of Teege’s personal search for truth, which leads to the possibility of liberation and understanding.
We believe in the value of spreading a deeper awareness and understanding, and Teege’s haunting story has the potential to do exactly that. We want it reach as wide an audience as possible, which is why we are offering the ebook on sale for only $1.99 through July 18. Click here to find out where to purchase the ebook, or to learn more about the new paperback edition of Teege’s book. Click here to see the hardcover.
To learn more about this incredible author, check out her exclusive Q&A with The Experiment. If you are planning on delving into Teege’s story as part of a reading group or with friends, you may want to consult our official Reader’s Guide, which features questions that cut into the deeper themes and implications of Teege’s writing. Both the Q&A and the Reader’s Guide are included in the most recent edition of My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me.
We are profoundly excited to be offering this exceptional story as an ebook for only $1.99. We hope that you will help us in spreading the word, and in ensuring that Jennifer’s important words touch as many readers as possible.
PRAISE FOR MY GRANDFATHER WOULD HAVE SHOT ME
“A stunning memoir of cultural trauma and personal identity.”—Booklist, starred review
“An important addition to narratives written by descendants of war criminals. A gripping read, highly recommended for anyone interested in history, memoirs, and biography.”—Library Journal, starred review
“[Jennifer Teege’s] memoir has much to teach us about the ordinary, intimate conditions in which political violence—and the reckoning that follows—take place.”—Public Books
“The high quality of the writing helps to convey this incredible but amazingly true story.”
—Association of Jewish Libraries
“This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is fascinating and fair. There are no easy answers to the issues raised in this book, but they exist for both groups of descendants. Readers will be challenged to think about a major event in world history from a perspective that is rare but surely significant.”—History Book Club
“In honest, direct, and absorbing prose, Teege and coauthor Nikola Sellmair confront highly personal repercussions of the Holocaust. . . . The book’s real triumph is in its nuanced, universally appealing portrait of an individual searching for her place in the world. Just as Teege’s chance encounter with a library book led her to question the fundamental assumptions of her life, so too the reader. . . will be forced to reconsider the wide-ranging impact of past injustices on present-day relationships.”—The Jewish Book Council
“A discomfiting but clear-eyed journey of self-discovery and identity reconciliation that first-time author Teege relates with admirable straightforwardness and equanimity.”
—In These Times
“The alternating narrative between Teege and co-author Sellmair offers a refreshing and ultimately impartial analysis. Teege’s heartfelt commentary and Sellmair’s objective narrative produce a layer of balanced interpretation and insight.”—New York Journal of Books
“Teege’s story is at times heart wrenching, and yet, full of her own stark honesty and surprising wisdom as she ponders the impacts of one’s family history.”
—Manhattan Book Review
“A powerful account of Teege’s struggle for resolution and redemption, the book [is] itself a therapeutic working-through of her history, as well as a meditation on family.”—The Independent
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Jennifer Teege has worked in advertising since 1999. She lived for four years in Israel, where she became fluent in Hebrew. She holds a degree from Tel Aviv University in Middle Eastern and African studies. Teege lives in Germany with her husband and two sons. This is her first book.
Nikola Sellmair graduated from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and has worked in Hong Kong, Washington, D.C., Israel, and Palestine. She has been a reporter in Hamburg at Germany’s Stern magazine since 2000. Her work has received many awards, including the German-Polish Journalist Award, for the first-ever article about Jennifer Teege’s singular story.
