Stranger in my own country : a Jewish family in modern Germany / Yascha Mounk.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mounk, Yascha, 1982- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mounk, Yascha, 1982-.

Mounk, Yascha.

Jews--Germany--Biography.

Jews.

Germany.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Influence.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945).

National characteristics, German.

Germany--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

261 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014.

Summary:

"A moving and unsettling exploration of a young man's formative years in a country still struggling with its past As a Jew in postwar Germany, Yascha Mounk felt like a foreigner in his own country. When he mentioned that he is Jewish, some made anti-Semitic jokes or talked about the superiority of the Aryan race. Others, sincerely hoping to atone for the country's past, fawned over him with a forced friendliness he found just as alienating. Vivid and fascinating, Stranger in My Own Country traces the contours of Jewish life in a country still struggling with the legacy of the Third Reich and portrays those who, inevitably, continue to live in its shadow. Marshaling an extraordinary range of material into a lively narrative, Mounk surveys his countrymen's responses to "the Jewish question." Examining history, the story of his family, and his own childhood, he shows that anti-Semitism and far-right extremism have long coexisted with self-conscious philo-Semitism. But of late a new kind of resentment against Jews has come out in the open. Unnoticed by much of the outside world, the desire for a "finish line" that would spell a definitive end to the country's obsession with the past is feeding an emphasis on German victimhood. Mounk shows how, from the government's pursuit of a less "apologetic" foreign policy to the way the country's idea of the "Volk" makes life difficult for its immigrant communities, a troubled nationalism is shaping Germany's future"-- Provided by publisher.

"A young man's story of growing up Jewish in Germany, navigating the fraught cycle of mistrust, guilt, and resentment that troubles a country still struggling with the legacy of the Third Reich"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780374157531

0374157537

OCLC:

856518434

Online:

Cover image