The Pendulum

A Granddaughter's Search for Her Family's Forbidden Nazi Past

By: Julie Lindahl

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

This powerful memoir traces Brazilian-born American Julie Lindahl's journey to uncover her grandparents' role in the Third Reich, as she is driven to understand how and why they became members of Hitler's elite, the SS. Out of the unbearable heart of the story - the unclaimed guilt that devours a family through the generations - emerges an unflinching will to learn the truth.

In a remarkable six-year journey through Germany, Poland, Paraguay, and Brazil, Julie uncovers, among many other discoveries, that her grandfather had been a fanatic member of the SS since 1934. During World War II, he was responsible for enslavement and torture and complicit in murder of the local population on the large estates that he oversaw in occupied Poland, before fleeing to South America to evade a new wave of war-crimes trials.

The pendulum used by Julie's grandmother to divine good from bad and true from false becomes a symbol for the elusiveness of truth and morality, but also for the false securities we cling to when we become unmoored from them. As Julie delves deeper into the abyss of her family's secret, discovering history anew, one precarious step at a time, the compassion of strangers is a growing force that transforms her world and the way that she sees her family - and herself.

©2018 Julie Lindahl (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Well Told and Interesting Theme

Wasn't sure what to expect when I got this audio boo k but found myself immersed in the story. Well written and well told. Kept my interest.

5 stars all around.

Narrator was perfect! Easily could've been Julie herself in my opinion. Excellent writing and fascinating story.

truth, perspective, forgiveness

Incredible story of facing a past no one would talk about, pursuing truth, understanding context and perspectives, and ultimately finding peace and purpose. Very well written and narrated.

Exceptional

This is a fascinating story about a historian’s search for the truth about her family history. I highly recommend this book. If you have ever done any genealogy research on your family, you will be enthralled with this book. Lindahl was born in Brazil where her grandparents had emigrated after World War II. She discovered her grandfather was not only a Nazi but SS. This book will make you stop and think about the rise of fascism and what is happening today in the world. Can history repeat itself?

The book is well written and researched. She tells of her grandparents’ lives but also about her own emotions about her discoveries. Lindahl uses her skills as an academic to research and report on this difficult subject. I found her search techniques to be interesting. Lindahl earned her B.S. from Wellesley and was a Fulbright Scholar to Germany majoring in the German language. She earned a Ph.D. in International Relations from Oxford University. She was a Steven Traveling Fellow 2015-16 at Wellesley College and University College of London. She lives in Sweden.

The book is nine hours. Gabra Zackman does a great job narrating the book. Zackman is an actress and audiobook narrator.

Granddaughter of a Natzi

The story is very enlightening about how the atrocities of a grandfather transfers through the generations.

SS Natzi continues to leave it’s marks. I learned a lot about how the Natzis immigrated to South America.

One of the things that stuck out in the folks that knew the author’s was that they were forgiving toward the granddaughter and said the grandfather was an unhappy man.

Interesting read.

Thought provoking

Interesting story with no big reveal but it generates a thought process that has really stuck with me. Well done and the narrator was wonderful.

Very Thoughtt Provoking

I found this book Very Thoughtt Provoking. The book tells the story of a woman's journey into her family's history, and how she comes to terms with the fact that her grandparents were Nazis. The narrator did a great job. 👍 Highly recommend.

fantastic research

I loved it. the prose, the research, the history and the generational inheritance of past generations. fantastic read.

Brings the past to life

Researching your Nazi grandfather's past seems oddly specific. But, it touches on Universal themes of guilt, shame and family secrets.

Insightful

Kept wondering who her grandfather was. The author only referred to him as opa. It didn't matter in the story but wondered. I had known about the Nazi's fleeing Germany post WW2 to South America and it explained in a way of how the South American governments still struggle with corruption.