Jennifer Teege, "My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me" 

"You can inherit responsibility, but you can't inherit guilt." Very insightful.

When I met my best friend in Berlin Germany many years ago, there was that awkward moment when I asked him about the Nazi Holocaust. He cried. I shall never forget that moment, and I shall always love him because of it.

Amazing story and amazing young woman. She is very articulate and well spoken, and has a unique opportunity to raise awareness that most people don't have. She is doing a great thing.

This is a healing process of the family tree . The perpetrators are like dead wood , but young shoots like Jennifer are taking up the steps to heal and regenerate a broken world .

The fact that you find a number of nazi troll comments here is just further proof that Ms Teege's book touches a nerve. Unless you're one of them you might find it worth reading.

Wow what a amazing woman! They should make a movie on this

One of the most remarkable interviews I ever watched.

Thank you Jennifer for sharing your story .It's so touching . God bless you and everyone who suffered ....

Jennifer is a true gem. She's extremely brilliant and true.

Powerful and revealing!

My great grandfather was an officer in the red army and died at the front line. My grandfather survived and hated it. Sleeping in the mud and eating crap food for 4 years was not good for your body. Also lack of bullets was also not great to experience he told me. Most of time he was fighting with rocks sticks and knives against Nazis with frikkin guns. Horrible he told me. Also when the war ended Stalin send him to a gulag for being an intellectual (he was a mathematics student at University and distant relative of a rich land owner)

God has prepared you for such a path. Your graciousness and integrity shines through. God's bless you

My mother is from Germany - born in Heidelberg and orphaned shortly there after in 1950. The context behind her adoption is largely unknown. Only knowledge is that her mother was ethnically German and protestant (according to adoption records), and her father was probably a Black man because she herself appears biracial. She died when I was a teenager; her adoptive mother (my grandmother) first revealed this history to me not long after she passed. One could surmise that such rates of orphaning and adopting of children in Germany within the first few years and decades after WWII (or the start of the Cold War) correlate to the country being totally fractured and adrift - culturally, economically, socially. Lord knows that it wasn't safe in many places at the time for a number of reasons, and to be a Black person in Germany at a time of when any remaining traces of Nazism went into underground was quite chancy for sure. I'm currently on a mission to investigate my mother's past for this reason, because I want to understand all of the parts about her origins and how that informs me as a human. Reading and listing to Mrs. Teege's story and seeing some similarity there is extremely encouraging; there are conscious people in the world who don't want to be prisoners of the past and choose to be a force of positive progress. I appreciate P&P for sharing this lecture for all to see!

Such a gentle and meaningful delivery, as her quiet poise conveyed; yet, retelling what-many would have rather forever-buried.💖

Building up relationship with the survivors of the Holocaust , is a very positive process for a holistic healing . Thank you Jennifer .

Her book is really really good A MUST READ

Politics and Prose seldom disappoints...👏👏👏👏

What a perfect and poised lady. Bless you, Jennifer!

Thank you for sharing your life story. I appreciate you stating, “It doesn’t define me. “ I believe it touched my spirit. 🙏🏽

This is just such a fascinating story about identity and what makes us who we are.

She is lovely and so intelligent!

Jennifer Teege, you have helped me to closely identify with you in so many facets of my life. Thank you.

Hello dear Jennifer Teege. Tonight, I stumbled on the interview you granted DW, about nine years ago. T hen, found this very one again. In the interviews, you look rather sober or sad, you smiled maybe only once. You didn't say anything about your Nigerian father. We love you, precious Jennifer Teege. Love from Nigeria.

Such a thoughtful, articulate person.

This the best.we need this.

she is beautiful and so humble and intelligent,, thank you. Jennifer Teege is a miracle of love, grace and beauty. And she is mixed race. She is neither her grand father nor her mother she should not carry history and her grand father's evil in herself

Jennifer I too am a German ancestry that goes back to 1709 but that's not what I want to say you are a very special human being and you are very intelligent and very beautiful may God bless you too your life as you bless other people in facing these tough cenacle questions as to who we are is the German people. God bless you and your two boys and your husband and your family and peace always be in your heart

God Bless you, Jennifer Teege. 💜🌹 I’m sorry about your grandfather having been a monster. 😔💔

She looks so like him as well

I am quite amazed how stupid and asinine most of the comments here are. To anyone who is not twisted and sick in their mind yet: I highly recommend this woman's book which is courageous, thoughtful and has a lot to offer at a time when racism seems on the rise - as some comments here seem to suggest as well!

I’ve been through the war during the ‘90s, been a refugee, lost all contact with many family members for over a year, fortunately out of our whole family only one person was wounded by a shrapnel, not even in the line of duty, but in a civilian area and everybody survived. We’ve lost friends, neighbors,colleagues. No criminals in my family and no slaughtered, yet everybody not just in my family, but everybody around me would avoid totaly the subject of war or would just tell the funny anecdotes in some rare occasions. I don’t think that who hadn’t been trough it can understand how traumatizing the war experience really is for any human being, and there are more or less dramatic moments for everybody, even those we could define “lucky”. I know people who still have Occasional nightmares almost 30 years later and they didn’t kill anybody, nor had they ever been locked up in a camp or tortured. The trauma of the WW II is of far bigger proportions and even more so leaves you speechless and silent, aspecially right after the war and it’s not always an act of denial or a guilty conscience that attempts to hide everything under the rug, but also the fact that the war is over, you’re alive and have to move on and focus on everyday life and living and looking back all the time is hurtful, emotionally destabilizing and distracting, so you just keep the focus on what’s in front of you and avoid looking back as much as you can. In many cases it’s just about plain necessity on one hand and the desire on the other to simply move on. On the other hand we see it as the living witnesses of the holocaust almost got extinct or got too old and in the recent years with the international rise of neo-nazi or neo-fascist movements and some other negationist declarations, other witnesses stood up, that never ever spoke of their experience before and at the time being were children. They had it totaly conceiled for their whole existance and never told it even to their spouse or children.

Had to Google a picture of Goth.. She has alot of his features. There is no denying that they are related

So she's the daughter of Monika Hertwig and a Nigerian student? In addition to his two marriages, Goeth had a two-year relationship with Ruth Irene Kalder (his mistress and Teege's grand-mother). Kalder first met Goeth in 1942 or early 1943, when she worked as a secretary at Oskar Schindler's enamelware factory in Kraków. She soon moved in with Goeth and the two had an affair. She took Goeth's name shortly after his death. Goeth's last child was a daughter, Monika Hertwig, whom he had by Kalder. Monika was born in November 1945 in Bad Tölz.

I have been so inspired by this story that i just bought the book..

I saw an interview with her mother in a documentary about Amon Goeth. She was speaking about her mother, the wife of Amon Goeth, who she didn't seem to have a good relationship with. It seemed to be a bg shock to her when she found out and it's clearly affected her own relationship with her daughter, Jennifer Teege.

Good mindsets for the whole world: "We all have a responsibility, just as humans, it's something we all need to do to look after the other one", "We need transparency", and "Hope".

Some of the comments down below just shows we have an long way to go towards completely getting rid of hate in the west and around the world.

Its frightening that she resembles him in facial structure too.

Unfortunately the audio is poor

I think we also have to remember that people in general have many layers and each one comes into situations bringing with it their mental state, personality, environment, history and their beliefs surrounding all of that. It's this reason that our choices are not always good and why our choices can be good. There are people out in the world that have made very dangerous choices, only to find out (through education) that perhaps they were wrong about their beliefs and make every effort to change their ideas. Jennifer is correct to say that ultimately, it's not who you came from, but a choice. Her choice is to bring to light that we are living in the present, functioning with choices to do good. I like her.

I actually wondered....if people knew about her background....would they fear her assuming erroneously that evil could be passed from one generation to the next in DNA. Oddly many people DO think it happens. But clearly she explained how this couldn't be. Why she thought it can't be. A good important question from the interviewer that was worth asking. Which helps educate us. Hearing her side of her story. Again. The power of RU-vid.

Such an amazing woman with an extraordinary story,

At 27 minutes the question was overbroad.

Jennifer have been very brave to research her true identity despite the bad, good and indifferent, to put it in book, prose and entertaining to many. Hail to Jennifer, I love her personality.

How extraordinary!

wow. Incredible. Im getting this book.

Why do mothers do this to their children. "You are just like your damned father!" My mother told me this once too many times and I cut all contact with her for over 20 years now. I loved my mother but I do not like the cruel manipulative person she is.

How sad that her mother cut ties again.

Las ironías de la vida! Felicito a esta joven por conciliar

It so resonated with me that Jennifer did not see herself a 'black woman.' I think this really shines a light month

I have a strange mix. I am a grandson of Japanese and German descent who came to Colombia in the 50's. very rare no?

I think you have a very healthy approach to the ethnic color question, I wish more people would look at it from your perspective!!

There is a possible reason why this happens to children of parents who survived World war II. Our parents didn't talk about it, especially if they were the victims. There is a justifiable need to bury their painful past and us children can spend a lifetime trying to dig our way out.

What a beautiful soul!

She is the representative of that hope. It is love, forgiveness, empathy and understanding. That is the hope manifested. Thats why all lives matter.

She speaks 5 languages! Amazing her English is very good

i wanna know more about her mom.. monika and her relationship with the Nigerian and etc

How ironic this life is.

you have to take some audio guy to Your videofilming...

I Love this woman!!!!

She's not guilty of what her grandfather did. Nor am I guilty for racism, having no connection to it in my family at all. Right?

My parents were military, my childhood years were on military bases. I had a friend whos mother was german. We became best friends, in those day being a pen pal was popular. When our fathers were transfered to other duty stations we wrote to each other. Years later we met again via facebook. He told me his family had hid a family secret for years his grandfather was SS and also hung for war crimes. His fear was being blamed or retaliated against by those whos familiy were victims of the Nazis. I think being biracial gives her a level of disconnect that the children of nazis who are (white) can't have because being (white) brings those painful sorrowful days into the present. I dont mean this in a mean way. I know my friend could never do what she is.

It's difficult to know what to make of this, unfortunately for the Germans they have to live with their history.

I appreciate this woman's courage and intelligence. I am not so sure of her statement,however, as to the fact that physical resemblance does not entail any psychological affinity....in my experience, people who look alike very often have similar personalities. That being said, whatever resemblance she bears to her grandfather has, in her case, not contaminated her strong moral character. She has come sanely through a great, a catastrophic awakening that could have driven her crazy . .

I'd like to address the audience member's comment that suggests Poland promotes holocaust memorials purely for financial gain. While I've never been there, I've never seen any evidence of an overly commercial or 'touristy' holocaust memorial that's been turned into a theme park in any part of the world. That would be truly disgraceful, but everything I've seen in documentaries has been very respectful. I'm just left wondering what led this person to draw such a conclusion? It takes money to preserve history, to keep the grounds and protect the area but that doesn't mean they're out to make a million dollars from exploiting people's pain.

At least Brutus had not Ceaser's blood in his veins.

It would have been much better if her mic was working instead of relying on his mic.

Find out something like that would turn your world upside down. It would cause havoc on identity and make how genetics play in human behavior an immediate concern, not something just to muse on. I know it happened in my family, It's important to share her story.. many people are adrift when something happens to cause a rift in identity. A lot of shame they don't know what to do with as there is fear others reaction. Not sure if people can empathize with that struggle much unless they been there... and there is no where to go with it. I am happy she speaks out on it so powerfully and eloquently. She is a treasure of a human being.

By way of her Nigerian father's lineage, she could very well be an authentic Judean and I believe she is. She speaks fluent Hebrew. Isn't that all extraordinary and significant for our time?

45? She's aging well.I liked the interview she did in the German language.

I was a soldier in Germany almost forty years ago most of the young was very educated but they were not educated about what happened in World War Two as far as war crimes. The older generation had no guilt as to what happened. For the most part they denied the whole thing.

The power of RU-vid. I would never have found out about Jennifer Teage and her horrific history or that one aspect...(no fault of her own OFC). Without RU-vid we wouldn't have access to this interview and others like it. Without it...we wouldn't see what it was like for family of perpetrators. That they are people like us. That they feel guilt and shame. We only see the Hollywood movie idea of what happened..are rarely are Hollywood versions accurate. They always take liberties..for the sake of entertainment. Jennifer Teage, could have been the opposite of what we see. Unable to speak English. Not educated. Not an advertising person. What if she couldn't express her feelings? She could have been a high school drop out....etc. Clearly she is well educated. And it's interesting this interview took place in a synagogue. To show what people are willing to listen and not there to crucify her for her past. WE just don't know how German's like Jennifer feel and go through. Now those of us that have seen her interviews have a sort of simple understanding. Brief.

I am a Maori from New Zealand. I have cousins who were tormented by their german history way back in the 70s

Can't hear it

I wonder if she has ever watched Schindler's List

I saw she was adopted at 7 years old. Which is it?

A wonderful topic but the discussion is inaudible

Got the book as a Christmas present. Gonna save it for my Black History Month reading assignment❌⭕️❌⭕️❌

She is so pretty. She has become extremely wealthy by traveling the world telling her story as well as selling her book.

What is the Grandfather’s Full name???!!!

Such an inspiring person. Sadly she is one of few. When it comes to contemporary witnesses, it is always the victims point of view - and that solely. The perpetrators side is just 1% lies and 99% silence. That mixture in blend with contemporary ignorance (let the past be the past ... draw a line under ...) is dangerous and destructive. My point is summed up by a riposte Michel Friedman, as he told in german TV, made, as a member of Central Council of Jews in Germany he was asked by a german teacher to arrange a contact for his class with a contemporary witness of nazi germany and the holocaust: "You want to ask questions to a contemporary witness? So why don't you ask your father?" And the Silence of the Perpetrators is, what should frighten us.

Blimey, Can anyone else see the family resemblance ? Especially the face shape.

She looks like Amon.

I haven't read the book. But, I wonder if she states why she thinks her grandfather would have shot her.

That Amon Goeth's daughter had a child with a black man is a hell of a poetic fuck you to the Nazis, I approve.

when you see people of mixed race , you normally look to see the black attributes in the person , what strikes me as interesting as a mixed race person myself is with Jennifer is her white attributes strike you immediately from her germanic profile , her classic german beauty , from her nose , cheek bones , beautiful to behold , devoid of african facial features except for perhaps her lips , which give her exotic appearance a easy sensuality , many women pay through cosmetic surgery to achieve , the kardassians come to mind . Her lithe physique oozes sexuality!! Also what becomes apparent is Jennifers intelligence, also upon examination of her background is from her father(intelligence) . Being a writer myself i found the non existance of the spiritual conection a opportunity lost in this account for Jennifer , hopefully she will recognise it in the future because it is a invaluable componant in ones identity , which she obviously desired for herself and her children , recognising the importance of identity to nourish self esteem , self worth , confidence being intrinsic in health ! I see sadness where her Maternal Mother is concerned for there would be alot of elements of shame , guilt abandonment , dishonesty , self deception and many other emotional blockages for her Mother to overcome . If there wasnt a significant emotional bond with her Father , her Mother would find the relationship almost impossible to reconcile , hence the need for spiritual identity to not only reconcile all relationships in peace but to move forward in health , happiness and love !!! now and for eternity !!!

871👍🏻 very appreciate, greetings from Kraków✋

So is her mother Monica?

This is why I have RU-vid. Amazingly poignant and yet hopeful.

me personally i loved germany and only met wonderful people in Germany.

Maybe maybe not,who knows what Goeth's reaction would be as an individual to a bi-racial relative.The fact of the matter is blacks in Germany enjoyed the privilege of being accepted as germans,weather citizens or in service including the weirmacht,where black german nationals fought along side the white germans in commradery,where as in America during WW2 balck soilders were segregated into separate units.

Thing is why would her birth mother knowing about her father's genocidal nazi atrocities, give this mixed race child or any child this inheritance then leave her to adoption fending for herself; this is the most evil thing any parent could do only the birth mother could help guide her through this, I hope it doesn't run in the bloodline..

I'm half Aryan . My grandfather was a Scotsman who fought for Australia against Rommels forces and was captured at Tobruk and actually saw Rommel. My father's side is Sicilian. Through my Scottish grandfather my DNA is about 10 per cent German and I'm Damn proud of it. Over everyone being Anti Germanic.

So , that means monika hartwig was her mother ? But in the documentary the inheritance where the monika meets the maid , monika has a child who is around 2 years of age does she not?

The sins of the GRANDFATHER !

I don’t know, she could have changed her grandfather profoundly. I come from the Deep South in Alabama and I’ve seen it happen a million times.. Racist fathers down here have a daughter which ends up procreating with a black man and the grandchild will often more than not change the hearts of these hard men and they finally, for the first time in their life see the wrong in the way of their thinking and it changes them for the better It’s a profoundly beautiful thing

God spared her to give us the story.

I wonder if she has ever watched execution of Amon Goeth, he was hanged 13 September 1946 (aged 37) Kraków, Poland

Her book is good.

Beautiful biracial woman. .why did her mother put her up for adoption