My Wounded Heart

"The objectivity of these letters immediately gives them historical significance. And an impact which no work of fiction could ever have. And a meaningfulness which a historian's account would never attain. For the reader, the lasting impression is of utter credibility . . . No account of Germany during the Nazi era could be more precise. The character of the dictatorship is made completely clear through its effect on this one family."—Süddeutsche Zeitung

"After the diaries of Anne Frank and Victor Klemperer . . . it seems that nothing could shock us. Now, with the letters of Lilli Jahn and her children, a testimony has come to light which moves us like scarcely any other. You don't have to be a prophet to predict that this book will earn a significant place in the literature of the holocaust."—Die Zeit

"My Wounded Heart is a real discovery, a huge, moving document about a private catastrophe in the midst of a political one."—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"It is the spontaneity with which these children of a German-Jewish family present the 'normality' of their lives during the last years of the war which brings the reader, or this reader at least, to tears of despair. The effect of this unforgettable book is augmented and intensified through the exemplary reserve of its author. Without a trace of sentimentality, he supplies us with the necessary context and facts to supplement the letters themselves."—Die Welt

"A glimpse of everyday life under circumstances so surreal as to be almost incomprehensible, described with distressing immediacy."—Kirkus Reviews

"The letters convey a graphic picture of the stigmatization, isolation, and persecution to which [Lilli Jahn] and her children were gradually subjected. Their correspondence also reveals the human indifference in wartime and bears witness to devotion and the courage of one's convictions. A chilling reminder of Jewish suffering at the hands of the Nazis."—Booklist

"Its graphic depiction of the fate of Jews in so-called 'privileged' mixed marriages and the way national politics affected domestic life make this a valuable addition to the Holocaust canon . . . A heartbreaking story that powerfully illustrates love's power to wound—and to heal."—Publishers Weekly

"These letters show a vibrant intellectual who struggled to keep her family together through political and personal tragedy. In the introduction, the author asks why, with the many Holocaust memoirs already published, Lilli's story should be told at all. In fact, the letters offer a view into everyday life in Germany both before and during the war, including the effect of German racial laws on individuals and their families. Most important, this book puts a human face on what many of those in the German-Jewish bourgeoisie experienced during the Nazi regime: loss of profession, freedom, identity, hope, and finally life itself. An essential purchase for all Holocaust collections in public and academic libraries."—Library Journal