A Family’s Story in Nazi Europe: A Conversation with Géraldine Schwarz

In her memoir Those Who Forget, German-French author Géraldine Schwarz confronts her own family history during the Second World War and unsparingly describes the entanglement and complicity of her ancestors. Her German grandparents benefited directly from the expulsion of Jews in their hometown and the Aryanization of their businesses, homes and estates, while her French grandfather served as a police officer in the Vichy regime, which collaborated closely with Nazi Germany. Géraldine Schwarz faces the question: what responsibility arises for her generation from the complicity of their grandparents? She finds answers by looking at the role descendants of the perpetrators have to play in a united and democratic Europe.

Moderated by Sam Grayck, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of German at Georgetown University.