Random True Stories From Relatives Of SS Officers (10 items)

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  (#3) Monika Hertwig, Amon Göeth's Daughter, Didn't Learn The Truth About Her Father For Years

  Amon Göeth, tried and convicted in 1946 for his actions as a commandant at Płaszów, is known for being Oskar Schindler's foe. Göeth's daughter, Monika, was a young child when her father was executed, but she grew up believing Göeth ran Płaszów kindly. When Monika was a teenager, she confronted her mother, who admitted that Göeth "may have" executed Jewish people. When she asked how many, her mother assaulted her.

  Ultimately, Monika learned the truth about her father by watching the 1993 film Schindler's List, during which she felt as if someone had struck her. She said, "I kept thinking this has to stop... because if it doesn't stop, I'll go crazy right here in this theater." She suffered shock after watching the movie.
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  (#8) Edda Göering, Hermann Göering's Daughter, Never Stopped Loving Her Father

  Edda Göering, daughter of Hermann Göering, never talked much about her father, but was open about how much she loved him. Edda, the Göerings' miracle child and one of Adolf Hitler's favorite godchildren, lived a life of luxury during WWII and became a nurse in its aftermath. She unsuccessfully tried to reclaim her family's fortune in 2015, arguing the state had seized it illegally. 

  Edda has never criticized her father. She said she could not see her father as anything other than the man who doted on her:

  I loved him very much, and it was obvious how much he loved me. My only memories of him are such loving ones; I cannot see him any other way. I actually expect that most everybody has a favorable opinion of my father, except maybe in America. He was a good father to me.
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  (#10) Simon Pasternak Accidentally Discovered His Family's Nazi Past

  When he was a child, Danish author Simon Pasternak found a suitcase full of Nazi paraphernalia, which belonged to his maternal grandmother's brother, "Uncle Dirck." Pasternak discovered the "hodge-podge of enigmatic, dust-covered documents with SS symbols, letters, an SS dagger, and an Iron Cross 2nd Class."

  His family told him Dirck wasn't a Nazi, but had fought communists in Russia. According to Pasternak's grandmother, Dirck wanted out as soon as he knew what was going on in the Nazi state, but they wouldn't let him.

  Pasternak, half-Jewish and tormented by the idea that his relative may have been a Nazi, did his own research. Pasternak found evidence confirming his suspicions. It remains unknown to what extent Dirck was complicit in the party's atrocities.
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  (#2) Katrin Himmler Struggled With Her Great-Uncle's Legacy

  Katrin Himmler's great-uncle, Heinrich Himmler, was the architect of Nazi party ideology and leader of the Nazi police force, second in command to Adolf Hitler. Himmler developed and implemented the "Final Solution," the plan to eliminate people of Jewish heritage within the Third Reich, overseeing and organizing a network of concentration camps. Heinrich was not the only Himmler in the party, however, with his older and younger brothers active in the Third Reich as well.

  Katrin once hid from Himmler's legacy and distanced herself from the actions of her grandfather and great-uncles. But eventually, Katrin, a political scientist, decided to write a book about her great-uncle and his brothers.
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  (#7) Martin Bormann Jr. Left Judgment On His Father To God

  Martin Bormann Jr., the son of Martin Bormann, has never condemned his father's actions. The senior Bormann was a powerful Nazi official who worked closely with Adolf Hitler in the Third Reich. Authorities sentenced Bormann to execution by hanging at Nuremberg. Though rumors said he had escaped to South America, authorities discovered his remains in Berlin during the early 1970s.

  Bormann Jr. was Hitler's godson. He remembered the führer visiting his home on Christmas 1939 and giving him a gift. Bormann Jr. worked as a Catholic missionary and priest before renouncing his vows and becoming a theology teacher.

  Bormann Jr. spoke out about the Holocaust, but never passed judgment on his father. When asked if he felt guilty about the actions of his father, Bormann Jr. said, "No. The sins of the parents are not visited on their children." When asked if he could condemn his father, Bormann Jr. replied, "Condemn him? That’s for God."

  Bormann Jr. faced accusations of sexual assault in 2011, which his attorney blamed on his upbringing. Bormann Jr. perished in 2013.
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  (#5) Niklas Frank, Hans Frank's Son, Thought His Father Was A Coward

  Hans Frank was a lawyer for the Nazi party, and later became the governor-general of Poland. A court tried him at Nuremberg and hanged him for his role in the party in 1946. Hans's son, Niklas, has openly criticized his father, stating Hans was a coward, yet "well-educated and he knew everything about the Holocaust, and he went on and on [about it]." Niklas noted in a 2013 documentary that he resented his parents, especially after extensive research revealed his father had no redeeming qualities. His mother, according to Niklas, never showed him any affection.

  Niklas wrote about his father, determined to condemn his actions, and ended one of his works with an image of biting "into [his father's] heart, and [feeling] him screaming and screaming... until it stops pumping and [he] goes limp."

  Niklas's brother, Norman, similarly detested his father and decided never to have children because "the name of Frank should bid this world farewell."

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