The Nazi Officer's Wife

Title: The Nazi Officer's Wife

Author: Edith Hahn Beer

Number of Pages: 305 pages

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Hiding in plain sight. A term used when the obvious was right in front of them. Maybe a teacher couldn’t find the dry erase marker that was in his own hand. Maybe the cashier couldn’t find her name tag sitting on the counter in front of her. Maybe a group full of Nazis came in contact with a determined intelligent Jewish woman but still couldn’t find the impurity in her supposedly racially unclean heart. Maybe?...definitely.

Edith Hahn Beer shares her incredibly unique experience during World War II in Germany as a Jew in her book The Nazi Officer’s Wife. She steals the identity of an Aryan in order to avoid anti-Semitic abuse from the Nazis. She eventually meets a Nazi Party member who falls in love with her, so much so that he helps Edith keep her secret and marries her. She must find the bravery within herself to become someone she’s not in order to protect not only herself but her family and friends. Though she puts many at risk of being caught by the Nazi’s, she does anything she can to finds ways to take care of the ones she loves.

There are numerous testimonies from the Holocaust and World War II in general but none like this that I’ve ever read before. Edith doesn’t hide behind a bookcase or recall nightmares from concentration camps (both extraordinarily honorable survivor stories) but instead tells the story of her life as a Jew out in the open. Though she is reserved and constantly worried her identity might be revealed, she lives with the respect of the Aryan race.

Edith is very colloquial in her writing. Often times her explanations seem blunt or understated but truly, it just helps to create her authentic story she feels obligated to share. Although Edith refrains from adding extra sparks to impress the reader, her writing is still compelling and intriguing. There are numerous quotable thoughts Edith shares as she recalls her previous life revealing her true intellect academically and rhetorically.

The most pivotal moment of the book is Edith’s death and Grete’s birth. Edith and Grete’s personalities I mean. Edith describes her transformation as “from a butterfly back into a caterpillar” (Beer 157). With everything in her except physically, Edith recreated herself to become Grete who helped save many.

I truly enjoyed this book. Personally, I don’t like reading; it’s somewhat exhausting to me. This book however, is constructed in a way that flows nicely, and that’s what was most appealing to me. This book has historical value, an emotional connection, and anticipation unlike no other. Edith had the ability to engross a non reader like me. To someone who is interested in World War II history, or just tragedy, I recommend this enticing book. I learned a lot about how the Third Reich evolved from Edith Hahn Beer’s Jewish perspective as well as other Nazi perspectives. Without a doubt, 5 stars for Edith Hahn Beer’s book The Nazi Officer’s Wife.