It is 17 October 2019, the opening day of a trial in Hamburg's
imposing criminal justice building that is historic in more ways
than one. Bruno Dey is accused of being an accessory to a crime
that took place more than seven decades ago: the murder of at least
5,230 inmates at Stutthof, a Nazi concentration camp in present-day
Poland. He was seventeen at the time, and a member of the SS unit
charged with administering and guarding the camps. Dey admits he
served as a guard at Stutthof from August 1944 to April 1945, but
he denies the accusation that he had any role in the murders, even
as an accessory. The trial of Bruno Dey comes at a poignant moment
for modern Germany. After fifteen years of stable government, the
Merkel era is coming to an end and support for the AFD is
ever-growing. The last members of the war generation - victims and
perpetrators alike - are disappearing, and with them all first-hand
knowledge of how the Holocaust came to pass. Against that backdrop,
what is the significance - and the legacy - of the trial? Yet Dey's
trial raises questions that touch not just on German history,
politics and memory culture, but also on Buck's own family history.
During childhood visits to see his German grandparents, those dark
years were never spoken of, but he remembers the old wedding photo
on the mantelpiece in their bedroom, his grandfather in uniform
with a swastika armband. He knows little else about his record
during the war. Why did he never ask? Through the prism of this
gripping and complex courtroom drama Buck explores its wider
significance, both political and personal. In Final Verdict he
interrogates the questions: is it right to punish Bruno Dey more
than seven decades after he stood guard at Stutthof concentration
camp? And what would I have done in his place?
General
Imprint: |
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
March 2024 |
Authors: |
Tobias Buck
|
Dimensions: |
240 x 156mm (L x W) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
320 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-399-60425-3 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-399-60425-2 |
Barcode: |
9781399604253 |
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