I was looking forward to reading this book as I had very recently watched The Devil Next Door on Netflix which is also about a Nazi war criminal being brought to "justice." Unfortunately I didn't end up finishing this book, I really struggled with the prose which I felt was overwritten. There were elements of the book that did make me think such as I did wonder when reading how much pain is inherited and when our families have gone through so much is pain our legacy? However, I didn't expect this book to be so much of a memoir of the writer, having expected more on the trial (perhaps I would have got there if I'd read on further) but life is too short to waste time on books you are not enjoying.

Called to Testify
The Big Story in My Small Life
by Judith Kalman
Pub Date 17 May 2022 | Archive Date 30 Jun 2022
Sutherland House
Biographies & Memoirs | Nonfiction (Adult) | Religion & Spirituality


How is it that a secular non practicing Jew who has lived most of her life outside the Jewish community suddenly find herself in the front rows of a Nazi war crimes tribunal?


In 2015 award winning author Judith Kalman was invited to Lüneburg to testify at the trial of Oskar Gröning, accused of facilitating 300,000 murders at Auschwitz. She appeared on behalf of a relative she had never met, a child of her father’s first marriage, who died in the camp.


Kalman found herself in the unaccustomed company of survivors who had built their identities and missions out of Holocaust remembrance, but were also grappling with profound questions of loss, guilt, and restitution.






Revisiting her parents’ tragic past, she saw how it had confounded her own sense of who she wanted to be: “Broken friendships, missed expectations, difficult family relationships, and a problematic marriage were all forged in the heritage of loss.”






Called to Jesus is a beautiful and heartfelt memoir thoughtful memoir about the meaning of life in the wake of traumatic events, coming to terms with your identity, and understanding the magnitude of what can never be restored.





If you’re looking for a heartfelt memoir about one women coming to terms with her parents tragic past, I highly recommend Called To Testify.



Five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

An interesting memoir from a daughter of Holocaust survivors. Frankly, I thought it was going to be primarily about her testimony that she gave for a half-sister that she never met, but it was almost all about her life leading up to that moment. Perhaps the synopsis gave me a mistaken presumption.
Readers interested in Jewish history and inherited trauma will no doubt find this a fascinating read. The writing style is flowery and almost overly descriptive in nature. But if offers a detailed portrait of one Canadian family and how they lived their lives after unspeakable tragedy.