They Were Good Germans Once
My Jewish Émigré Family
Evelyn Toynton
- “This
- priceless
- recapturing
- of
- darkened
- history
- .
- .
- .
- [is]
- stunningly
- intelligent
- and
- elegantly
- written
- .
- .
- .
- Utterly
- engrossing.”
- —Phillip
- Lopate,
- author
- of
- To
- Show
- and
- to
- Tell:
- The
- Craft
- of
- Literary
- NonfictionIn
- this
- moving
- collection
- of
- essays,
- Evelyn
- Toynton,
- “a
- wordsmith
- of
- the
- highest
- order”
- traces
- her
- family
- history,
- from
- her
- mother
- who
- left
- Germany
- as
- Hitler
- came
- to
- power
- to
- her
- relatives
- who
- escaped
- after
- suffering
- persecution
- and
- internment
- at
- the
- hands
- of
- the
- Nazis
- (Library
- Journal,
- starred
- review).
- Toynton
- only
- fully
- understood
- her
- harrowing
- genealogy
- as
- an
- adult
- living
- in
- New
- York,
- where
- she
- first
- came
- to
- terms
- with
- her
- connection
- to
- other
- Jews
- in
- America.
- Growing
- up,
- her
- family
- was
- German
- first,
- retaining
- the
- attitudes
- and
- the
- characteristics
- of
- the
- homeland
- they
- still
- loved
- and
- longed
- for,
- even
- as
- they
- built
- new
- lives
- in
- America,
- Israel,
- and
- England.
- Some,
- like
- her
- father,
- appeared
- to
- assimilate
- easily,
- while
- others
- never
- lost
- the
- feeling
- that
- they
- were
- living
- in
- exile.
- Powerfully
- rendered
- by
- an
- acclaimed
- author,
- They
- Were
- Good
- Germans
- Once
- is
- a
- remarkable
- account
- of
- survival,
- starting
- over,
- and
- the
- search
- for
- meaning
- and
- hope
- in
- a
- world
- forever
- altered.“A
- poignant
- memoir
- .
- .
- .
- The
- author’s
- tone
- is
- often
- elegiac.
- .
- .
- .
- A
- thoughtful,
- notable
- addition
- to
- the
- literature
- of
- the
- Holocaust.”
- —Kirkus
- Reviews“With
- Toynton’s
- signature
- intelligence,
- subtlety
- and
- wit,
- she
- describes
- members
- of
- her
- family—deracinated
- through
- no
- fault
- of
- their
- own—in
- portraits
- that
- are
- by
- turns
- surprising,
- hilarious
- and
- heartbreaking.”
- —Lynn
- Freed,
- author
- of
- The
- Romance
- of
- Elsewhere“[A]
- tragic,
- comic,
- sharply
- observed
- memoir.”
- —Carole
- Angier,
- author
- of
- Speak,
- Silence:
- In
- Search
- of
- W.G. Sebald
