The book relates the inner workings of the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963 and serves an important place in Holocaust related novels. It centers upon a young German translator who is recruited to help in the proceedings.
Her personal relationship with her lover is a sidebar to what I perceived as the book's significance.
The horror and dark side of humanity is so well-described here but the role of personal responsibility is as well. It brings up so many distressing topics of how one would behave in such incomprehensible and unfathomable life experiences and does so in such a thought-provoking way.

Another book about WW2, guilty, but nonetheless, it was quite the story. The story revolved around the owners who operated a restaurant in Germany called 'The German House,' an appropriate title. Upstairs from this restaurant live the owners and their children. Their middle child, Eva, speaks Polish and does translation for work. It's the 1960s when Eva is asked (and then volunteers) to translate for witnesses in a war crimes trial with multiple accused Nazi defenders. Their stories are weaved through Eva's story and how they connect to her family.

I did enjoy the story enough to overlook the sometimes hard to follow segues which are probably due to the book being translated to english.

“We had no choice, child”

The German House is a novel about a young woman who is a professional translator in 1960s Germany. She is called in to translate for a trial for World War II war criminals.

“Because that’s where evil lurks.”

As the story opens, Eva Bruhns is waiting for her boyfriend to arrive at her parents’ restaurant for a first introduction. There’s a complicated backstory for her parents and Jurgen, her boyfriend. All goes well and they seem on the path to marriage. Then she gets a call about the trial.

Through the trial, Eva keeps having moments of deja vu. She really doesn’t have anyone to discuss her emotions while translating horrific concentration camp testimony. She attempts to tell Jurgen, after they’ve become engaged, but he won’t listen and even tries to forbid her from working on the trial. Yet she feels compelled to help the Polish witnesses give their stories and find justice.

“Consolation. They want us to console them.”

You can’t have a novel about post-Holocaust Germany without a discussion of German complicity. This book is by a German writer, translated into English. There is even a character who believes the stories from concentration camps are greatly exaggerated.

In the end, as with any WWII historical fiction, there were immensely difficult passages in the book that are frankly horrifying because they’re 100% based in fact. There are interesting parallels to today, while the setting is many decades ago, it’s not clear the question of how to actively resist has been answered yet. This book doesn’t give an answer (who can?) but it does make you think about how to be a good person when surrounded by evil.

I absolutely LOVED the idea of this book, and although I don't know if it was able to pull off everything I was hoping for, I would still recommend it to those looking for a different take on the WWII genre.

The hardest thing about this novel was how hard it was to connect to any of the characters until almost 3/4 of the way through the book - there was SO much premise in so many of the very interesting characters, but you were kept at arms length throughout and it was frustrating. The most interesting portion of the story was the part that covered the actual trial, and Eva's translations for the witnesses as they told their harrowing stories of life during the Holocaust.

I really liked the parts that detailed what life was like in the 1960s for common German people, and it felt well researched and meticulous. Eva's relationships, once we were fully let into them, were some of the most compelling portions of the book. Eva and her furtive fiance, Jürgen; Eva and her innocent younger brother, Eva and her unscrupulous elder sister, Eva and the prosecutor (who may or may not be unscrupulous himself), and most especially Eva and her parents.

The last quarter of the book was by far the strongest of the entire novel, and there were some incredibly poignant passages throughout. I wish I could have felt the way I did during this part throughout the whole novel - but still, it's well worth the read.

Thank you to Netgalley & Harper Collins for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This is no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

My favorite genre is WWII historical fiction. I really thought The German House would be interesting as it was about the 1963 Frankfurt Auschwitz trials. The main character Eva is 24 and too young to remember details of WWII. She worked as a translator and was asked to translate for the Polish witnesses. There are side plots that do not make sense especially her sister who is a nurse who is giving babies some type of poison...her fiancé who wants Eva to conform to all his wishes.

I struggled reading this book. First, there are no chapters and paragraphs were so long without some sort of break. It was hard to tell when the narrator changed. I was glad to see the book end, but I felt nothing was resolved. Thank you Bookish First, NetGalley, and Harper Via for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres to read, but as I was looking at the synopsis for this book, I realized I have read tons about World War 2, but not much about the years after the war. In this novel, Eva is a translator who finds herself thrust into the Frankfurt Nazi trials of the 1960s. As the trial progresses, she starts to feel like maybe people close to her know more than they have let on throughout her life. I was enthralled with this book, from about 25% on. I thought it started a bit slow, and the storyline jumps from character to character without warning, which can be disconcerting, but I adapted to pretty quickly. Overall, a good and enjoyable read. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

4.5 stars. Most novels about World War II are set during the war, so I was intrigued when I came across The German House which is set about twenty years after the war in Germany. The focus of the book is the 1963 Auschwitz Trials in Frankfurt. Eva begins to translate for the trial and quickly become torn between her family, the expectations society has placed on her, and the ever increasing guilt she has for her nation's actions.

I quickly became immersed in this novel, set on the verge of a changing era. Eva feels torn between the life she loves with her family and the life--with all its new and exciting possibilities--that she is drawn to beyond the safety of her home. This is a character driven novel, and they are flawed characters, which I always appreciate. They don't necessarily make the choices I would want them to make, but they reflect the realities of life.

It took me much longer to read this novel than it should have, but only because life got in the way. I was eager to pick it up and would have preferred to read it in a few longer spells than short spurts because it is so very immersive.

Witnessing the trial through Eva's eyes was daunting and emotional, but a reminder that even through the worst, most unimaginable atrocities, the human spirit prevails.

For everyone binging on WWII novels, skip forward to 1963-1965 to read The German House--German author Annette Hess’s insightful debut novel about the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials. Main character Eva Bruhns finds herself pulled into the trial as a translator for Polish witnesses called upon to testify against nearly two dozen defendants charged with war crimes at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

At least one reviewer has labeled Eva’s initial ignorance of the atrocities as unrealistic and unbelievable. However, German, Italian, and Japanese exchange students at the precise time the novel is set (the mid-1960s) told students in my high school American history class that the war was not taught and not talked about in any of their countries. Over the past two years, other German students have told me that the situation has changed, but that the sense of collective guilt remains so pervasive that young Germans hesitate to say they are proud of their country and German families will not think of flying a flag outside their homes out of fear that those seeing it will think them neo-Nazis.

In her fictionalized account of the war crimes trial, Hess deals with the 1960’s desire to keep the past in the past, rather than reopen old wounds, and also with the sense of guilt Eva feels as the trial dispels her naiveté and as early childhood memories resurface and lead her to uncover long-hidden family secrets.

My one suggestion is that Annette Hess add chapter breaks to her next novel. Although each of the four parts builds up to its own climax, the lack of chapter breaks makes it difficult to stop reading, and many readers do not have the luxury of reading as much as 30% of the book in one sitting.

I had no problem with the occasional shifts between characters and the time periods, each of which seem to have bothered some reviewers. To my mind, Hess and her translator clearly accounted for each shift by indicating a changed location or a shift from the story’s present to a character’s distant memory. Only in the earliest pages did a few phrases or sentences confuse me, particularly when Eva’s young brother was showing his toy soldiers to her boyfriend Jürgen. I reread the first few pages after finishing the novel; Jürgen’s thoughts took on meaning that only becomes clear near the end of the book. That is how Hess needed to tell the story because Jürgen, himself, hadn’t yet dealt with those early repressed thoughts.

That said, The German House is, perhaps above all, a novel about the role memories play in our lives. Can we trust our memories? Can we hide them or run from them? To what degree do they shape our lives? At what point might we not be able to live with them? What does it take to accept them and to heal?

The German House is intentionally disturbing, for little can be more disturbing than recognition of the depth of human hatred, evil and suffering. Even if many readers may feel justice partially failed in the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, Hess ultimately offers her home country and most of her characters a chance to move forward rather than to continue living with the guilt of their personal and collective history. The novel's title, The German House, appears not only to name Eva's parents' restaurant, but also to apply to the nation as a whole.

Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing an Advance Reader Copy.

While World War II era fiction is abundant, I haven't seen as many stories written about the long lasting reaches of the war in the decades after. The German House focuses on the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963, and it's absolutely fascinating (and heartbreaking) to read about the attitudes of the Germans towards the trial and the actions of Germans in World War II in general. Reading about Eva's awakening to the role those close to her played in the war, and the true impact of the Holocaust, was an interesting character exploration. As she'd been a small child during the war, her memories had been formed more by what she'd been told than by what she experienced. It's infuriating to read at times as characters try to deny, minimize, or twist their role or the impact.

I had very high hopes for this book since I love WWII novels and this seemed like a take on them you don't always see, but i had a very hard time getting through it. The fact that there were no chapters/breaks in the formatting, made it really hard for me to follow and get into the story. Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

So I have been in such a historical fiction mood lately and I saw this one and I was looking for a wonderful insight into the trials after the Auschwitz camps. What happened during this time was so tragic and to read about it should elicit emotions from me and unfortunately this book didn't do that for me. Reading about the horrors I feel like they were kind of glossed over at least in comparison to some of the other books involving the death camps that I have read in the past.

The writing in this book was so dry, it felt like it took me a long time to read it. The formatting on the book is weird. there aren't any chapters it takes place in 4 different parts. Also jumping from character to character without notice is very jarring. Which sometimes made the story to so difficult to follow. I do believe that this is a translated work which I could see as being why the voices seemed so stilted. Overall It was an ok book and I may try something else from the author in the future.

Many books are written about World War II and I read many of them. Not as much has been written about Germany after the war. Years after, how did individuals react as the truth became known of the horrible atrocities that were committed? How did individuals who participated manage to return to everyday life? The German House by Annette Hess fills this void and answers some of these questions.

Already an international bestseller, The German House is an emotional journey of a young German woman named Eva. Her memories of the war are minimal as she was a small child and it was years ago. Her parents run a fairly successful restaurant in Frankfurt and her knowledge of Polish provides her with a job translating documents for businesses. Soon her translating skills are called upon for the Auschwitz Trials. While she finds this work important and worthwhile, others in her life--especially her parents and her fiance--do not wish for her to continue. Day after day of testimony begin to trigger Eva's memories and soon she is faced with her own family's participation in World War II crimes. Sorting through her memories and the extent to which normal, everyday people took part in these atrocities provides numerous opportunities for the reader to contemplate the choices they might have made in these circumstances.

I found the story sluggish at first but encourage readers to stick with it. After the stage is set and Eva becomes involved with the trial, the story picks up quite a bit and is quite intriguing. While fiction, this truly is the story of so many from this time period. It is also a reminder of how opinions and viewpoints can change within a generation. In addition to the main story line, there are several smaller plots as well that provide narrative interest and help move the story along. I recommend The German House with some reservations. I found it to be a good book with a thought provoking story but not a book that makes a lasting impression.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received The German House via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

I love historical fiction, especially WWII fiction, so it was easy to see why this one would grab my attention. I like the fact that it gives a different view of all the other stories you've read before which are mostly written from the perspective of the allies. This story however, is told from a young German woman's perspective as she translates for the Auschwitz trials and learns of all the horrible things the German soldiers did to people during the war (she was just a young child during the war). It shows you into the souls of the German officers, who continuously deny that they ever did anything wrong, as well as the soul of a German woman finally understanding how horrible things were during the war.

While I did enjoy the story behind this book, I did have somewhat of a hard time reading it. Instead of being written in chapters, it is told in 4 parts, all which are very lengthy. While there are stopping points sprinkled throughout each part, I am one of those people who like to stop at a chapter when I put down my book, so that was a little bit of a drawback for me. I was interested to keep going in each part to discover what would happen, but wish it could have been in chapter format however.

All in all, I liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves to read WWII historical fiction.

I started reading this story by reading an excerpt from Bookish First and knew that i had to keep reading. I have never read anything about the trials of nazi soldiers and the toll those trials took on so many who had done their best to move on with their lives, for better or worse.

There is a lot this author/translator did well in this story, but some moments were a little off. This story was fast-paced and i read the bulk of it in one sitting. However, it could have been plumped up to give more padding to some of the break-neck shifts which took place between scenes and in extremely sparse and awkward dialogue. There were moments when i think my head was actually shaking because of how fast something had been breezed through.

There are some really despicable characters in this book. Like, almost all of them. There are also some things that i don’t think i understand, like what had really gone on with Walter.

I do think this story is important, and it’s my hope that the problems i noted in this advanced readers copy have been smoothed over in the final version of the book. Although this is another WWII book in a long line of them, i think the story told here is different enough to make it worth reading.

The German House by Annette Hess is a translated historical fiction. It’s through the eyes of a young adult German girl learning of the horrific Auschwitz camp that happened during her childhood. She is hired as the Polish translator during a trial in the 60’s.
The book does not have chapters, but divided in to 4 parts. I found the reading to be easy and never found myself in a lull. Yet, there were several disturbing parts to the story and I can’t say I ended up liking any of the characters.
I really wanted to love the book and I really don’t know how to best review or rate the book. As I started I thought it was going to be 5 star, but it went down hill for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this arc copy!
3.75⭐️

Annette Hess’ The German House (expertly translated by Elisabeth Lauffer) is a deeply uncomfortable read. It’s supposed to be. As protagonist Eva Bruhns works as a translator at a trial modeled on the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, she finds that the very human impulse to avoid conflict, to let bygones be bygones, has become a national pathology. But, unlike so many of the people if her life, Eva finds that she can’t let history be swept under the rug anymore…especially when she finds her own direct connection to the Holocaust.

I’ve read both fiction and nonfiction about the historical failure for survivors and victims of the Holocaust to find justice. The Allies geared up to fight the Cold War almost before the end of World War II. Programs like Operation Paperclip and Vatican ratlines allowed dozens, even hundreds, of war criminals to escape. Some were allowed to stay in Germany, to take up their civilian lives as if nothing had ever happened. Post-war tribunals were under pressure to wrap up quickly and sentences could be outrageously short for criminals who weren’t in the top tier. When a new wave of trials began in the 1960s, I’m sure it felt like a shock to people who thought they had successfully escaped justice and for their children, who had never been told what their parents did during the war.

Eva Bruhns did not know what her parents did during the war. Her biggest concern at the beginning of The German House is trying to get her boyfriend to finally propose. After yet another disappointing evening in which said boyfriend once more fails to ask the question, Eva is asked to translate for Polish witnesses at a trial. When she takes the job, everyone tries to talk her out of it. Her parents tell her to let things go and not dig up the past. Her fiancé (after he finally does pop the question) tells her to quit because it’s “not good for her nerves.” I took a strong dislike to the fiancé after he went to Eva’s boss and asked him to fire her. Thankfully, Eva turns out to be braver than anyone else in The German House. She keeps working. And when she discovers her own connection to the crimes of Auschwitz, I admired her all the more because learning about these secrets spurred Eva to consider how far the blame might go. Is the next generation guilty for keeping their parents’ secrets?

As if this weren’t enough plot, there is also a very disturbing subplot involving Eva’s older sister. (At times, the book seems overstuffed.) The just thing to do in this plot, as with the larger story, would be to clear the air, to punish the criminal, and to make sure the crime never happens again. But the embarrassment, the questions about how this could have happened, the emotional discomfort all conspire to keep things quiet. The German House is an infuriating read. To an outsider, who doesn’t have any emotional or historical baggage, it is incomprehensible to think that justice would lose out to the feeling of not making a fuss. But then, I can think of people in my own country who don’t want to consider the idea of slavery reparations or who don’t want to discuss the genocides of indigenous people in the Americas because it makes them uncomfortable.

There are no easy answers in The German House. It’s true that the crimes of the Holocaust are so monumental that there is no adequate punishment or redress for them. It’s true that a lot of time had passed. It’s also true that it is hard to take responsibility for unprecedented crimes against humanity. Even though all of that is true, The German House is a stark portrayal of the evil that ostensibly good people can do when they can’t bring themselves to do the difficult but just thing of exposing criminals in their midst and seeing to the punishment of those criminals. The ending of this novel is the perfect last slap in the face to make sure the lesson sinks in.

Eva Bruhns is a 24 year old resident of Frankfurt, Germany in 1963. The daughter of restaurant owners, she works as a translator for Polish economic contracts and court cases as she awaits a proposal from her boyfriend, the son of a wealthy mail-order catalog operator. During Advent, she spends an evening translating testimony for a court case about the mass murder of 850 people in one night. She has never heard of the Holocaust, and no one is willing to discuss it with her, preferring to leave it in the past. Defying her family and suitor’s wishes, Eva becomes a translator for the Auschwitz war crimes trials. The novel does not focus on the details of the Holocaust, but rather on Eva's experience of discovery and growth.

Contemporary Germany, at least as I understand it, is very aware of the Holocaust and takes ownership of the horrors committed during the war. I had not thought about a period when this wouldn’t be the case. Eva’s struggle to come to terms with what happened and the evil that people are capable of feels authentic, and marks a coming-of-age for the character. There are side plots that involve Eva's siblings, and while I think that they emphasize the denial of reality in the face of guilt, I was always ready to jump back to the main plot. The German House is a translation of a novel written in German, and at times it feels as though some nuance has been lost in moving to English, where particular words or phrases simply don't feel right. I am very glad that the work has been translated into English and think that it is an excellent book, and a timely reminder of what can happen when people look away from the truth.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Any historical fiction based on the German ideology during WWII grabs my attention. I keep thinking that the more I read from the different aspects, the more likely I will be to finally understand what makes a large mass of people do the unthinkable to another large mass, when just weeks earlier the two entities laughed, shared, loved and cried together. So far, the answer still eludes me.
But this new debut novel by Annette Hess shines a spotlight on the tender subject from a new angle: a full-blooded blonde-haired German girl must sit through the Auschwitz trial and serve as a translator. At the end of her workday, she returns to her very proud and dedicated German family who runs one of the best restaurants in Frankfurt. Fighting to keep physical control of her emotions throughout the day, Eva Bruhns must come home each evening to a family that refuses to believe the stories, making excuses and belittling Eva for being so gullible. Eva can no longer find solace in her fiancé, Jurgen, as she realizes he’s at the beck and call of his shallow and haughty parents, who are ashamed of Eva because of her job.
The plot of this story is beautiful. We already know who’s guilty of what and how the trial ends, but we become entrenched in the warfare of emotions Eva must fight in order to survive and do what she knows in her heart must be the right thing. I will say the book didn’t end like I thought it would, which to me makes it a fabulous story reflective of the true human spirit.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much to HarperCollins and NetGalley for making it available.)

I read a lot of historical fiction. As a history teacher and an avid reader, these novels are in my sweet spot for being engaging and educational. With that being said, there is no shortage of WWII historical fiction novels to choose from, but The German House sets itself apart in that regard. Annette Hess looks at the atrocities of the Holocaust through the lens of West Germany in the early 1960's. The main character, Eva, is a young German woman who works as a translator. She is selected to help with at trial that will examine the roles of nearly 20 German men in the horrors that occurred at Auschwitz. Eva has been living her life in a post-war world, too young to truly consider what happened during that time period. The trial forces her to examine the role that the citizens around her, and even her family, played during the Holocaust. While all of this is happening, Eva is also juggling her relationships with Jurgen, a man from a wealthy family who does not agree with her participation in the trial. Annette Hess takes us to the years following WWII and asks powerful questions, how do people return to their normal lives? Which members of the Nazi organization will escape punishment? Is that fair? There is so much to consider in this book and I found myself thinking about the time period even when I had finished reading.

What happened to people after the holocaust? Not the Jewish people. The Germans. Some denied . Some hid things. Some never recovered. Cities were rebuilt. Justice took a long time.
Eva becomes a translator for a Nazi trial. She begins to remember her childhood at Auschwitz living with her parents who worked as cooks for the Nazi commanders.
She also begins to question her fiance and future role as a wife and woman.
I liked how she stood up against what she did not agree with in her family. I didn't understand David Miller. He left too many unanswered questions. Her sister was also odd. I found her affair with the doctor unbelievable.