After the Holocaust, hate was a term fresh in the minds of survivors. Hate for the German bystanders, hate for the Nazis, and hate and resentment for the country itself. Whether the survivors discussed their hatred for the country or not, many survivors refused to buy German products and instilled this German hatred and fear in their children. This was the case in the home of Lev Raphael, author of the new book “My Germany.”

“It was more something taboo that I didn’t even want to touch,” Raphael said. “I didn’t want to approach it. I had absolutely no interest in it whatsoever.”

These feelings of indifference faded as Raphael grew up and began to study the Holocaust (eventually teaching a course on it) and find out all the details and facts that were off limits in his home growing up.

It wasn’t until after his mother’s death that Raphael decided to dig deep into his mother’s past during the war and face Germany head on. This trip to Germany inevitably forced him to face a ghost that was as present in his house growing up as the concentration camp uniform that hung in his mother’s closet.

In Raphael’s book “My Germany,” which is both a memoir and a travelogue, Raphael takes the reader with him on his journey to Germany (a place he never wanted to visit) to explore his mother’s vivid holocaust past and to mend some of the wounds of his own childhood.  

One of the most fascinating experiences Raphael had on his trip was his encounter with the Germans. He made a connection with a group of second or third generation Germans, who had parents or grandparents who were once perpetrators. He then realized they both shared growing up in houses of silence and secrets, even though the silence and secrets were very different.

“I was glad to be a child of Holocaust survivors,” he said.  “It made me realize that there were actually worse legacies to live with.”

Through Raphael’s experience he has opened his eyes and heart to Germany. He now studies German every day and he has destroyed the dark fantasy about Germany that was placed in his mind growing up. He now knows in reality that Germany has changed since the Holocaust. He says it is a country like many others except that it has a deep connection to Jewish history.   

“My Germany” is a book for all baby boomers, all second and third generation Holocaust children, and a book for everyone dealing with all kinds of difficult family legacies, Jewish or not. Raphael’s journey is an incredibly moving experience that allows the reader to learn and grow with him on his travels. He not only created peace with Germany in his own mind, but through his book, which he thinks might be his best book yet, he allows his readers in some way to make a connection and possibly come to peace in their own minds with Germany.