(PHOTOS) SHOCKING: Author Jennifer Teege, a German-Nigerian and grand-daughter of Amon Goeth, the ‘Butcher of Plaszow’, notorious Nazi concentration camp killer says; ‘My grandfather would have shot me’ as she reveals her connection to the Schindler’s List butcher…

The black granddaughter of a notorious Nazi concentration camp killer has penned a searing memoir about how he would have killed her because of her race.

Jennifer Teege, a German-Nigerian author, was shocked to discover that her grandfather was Amon Goeth, commandant of the Plaszow concentration camp during the Second World War, who was played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List.

Her book, Amon: My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me, documents her torment over the link with her bloodthirsty relative who would have regarded her as ‘subhuman’.

Jennifer Teege
Amon Goeth
 Relatives: Jennifer Teege, top, is the granddaughter of Nazi concentration camp boss Amon Goeth, bottom
Notorious: Goeth was played by Ralph Fiennes, right, in 1993 blockbuster Schindler's List

Notorious: Goeth was played by Ralph Fiennes, right, in 1993 blockbuster Schindler’s List

Goeth was a sadist who revelled in the misery of inmates at the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland – in the film Fiennes portrays him shooting at prisoners on their way to forced labour just for fun, while he also drank wine while watching guard dogs tear people to pieces.

Ms Teege, 43, is the daughter of a Nigerian student and the German daughter of Goeth, who was hanged for war crimes in 1946 but went to his death declaring his loyalty to the Nazi cause.

She was given away shortly after birth – her mother Monika had only enjoyed a ‘fling’ with her father – and after being fostered she was eventually adopted by a wealthy couple in Munich.

Later she stumbled upon a book her mother had written about Goeth, known as the ‘Butcher of Plaszow’, and decided to explore her own family history.

Jennifer Teege

Jennifer Teege

Mother: Goeth's daughter Monika, pictured, gave birth to Ms Teege after an affair with a Nigerian student

Mother: Goeth’s daughter Monika, pictured, gave birth to Ms Teege after an affair with a Nigerian student

Family: Monika pictured as a small child with her mother, Goeth's mistress Ruth Irene

Family: Monika pictured as a small child with her mother, Goeth’s mistress Ruth Irene

‘It was like the carpet was ripped out beneath my feet,’ Ms Teege said. ‘I had to go and lie down on a bench. I called my husband and told him I couldn’t drive and needed to be picked up.

‘Then I said to my family that I did not want to be disturbed, went to bed and read the book cover to cover.’

She had seen Schindler’s List – the story about a German businessman based near Plaszow who rescued Jews working for him during the war – while studying in Israel and made no connection then to Goeth.

She said: ‘Even though my birth name is Goeth, it wasn’t written out on the screen so when I heard it in the film it didn’t even occur to me that there could be a link.’

Amon Goeth
Ralph Fiennes
 Cruel: The real-life Goeth, top, and his fictional counterpart played by Ralph Fiennes, bottom
Trial: Goeth was executed after being convicted of war crimes but remained devoted to the Nazi cause

Trial: Goeth was executed after being convicted of war crimes but remained devoted to the Nazi cause

Mother-of-two Jennifer was visited by her grandmother Ruth – Goeth’s former secretary who gave birth to Monika in 1945 – as she was growing up. ‘Now I know that, as I have black skin, he would have seen me a subhuman like the Jews he killed,’ she said.

Since embarking on her journey of discovery she has visited the ruins of Plaszow, outside Krakow, and seen the house which still stands outside it where her grandfather lived as master of life and death.

She is estranged from her mother, now known as Monika Hertwig, who gave interviews to an Israeli documentary team in 2010 in a film about the lives of children of Nazi killers.

Ms Hertwig stood outside the house where her father lived and said: ‘My Nazi father shot women with babies in their arms from this balcony, I am tormented by how much of him is in me.’

Childhood: Monika Goeth with her grandmother, Agnes Irene

Childhood: Monika Goeth with her grandmother, Agnes Irene

Monika Goeth
Ruth Irene Goeth

Ancestors: Mrs Teege’s mother aged 18, top, and her grandmother, bottom, at Plaszow concentration camp

Ms Teege added: ‘My mother was absolutely unable to cope with her own history. And she wanted to protect me by keeping me in the dark about it.

‘Once I learned about my family’s past, I had to make a conscious decision to live in the here and now.’

She calls her story ‘gripping and original,’ and says she hopes that people weighed down with guilt about their family pasts will draw inspiration from it.

‘My story is about the fact that it’s possible to move beyond repression to gain a kind of personal freedom from the past by finding out who you really are,’ she said.

By ALLAN HALL

8 Comments

  1. Erin says:

    I recently got the book and have read a few pages, and am really excited to finish it! My mim and another friend want to “borrow it” when I am finished lol. Anyway, I’m so glad to hear your story, kind of a modern take on history all these years later and how it still affects future generations. Also, I agree with some other posters, research your father’s side too 🙂 -Erin from TX

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  2. Peanutgallery says:

    ..’here and now’… was the decision, huh? Sounds rather confusing or shall I say hypocritical, or even ironic that a woman who is now grown and having to support herself (audience takes for granted, right?) after she escaped the horrible mansion she was chained to till 35 by a wealthy German couple; She dismissed her own mother because SHE ..’could not cope’.. and had herself, a deep impact from her past to bear so she told the story to her daughter and the world by writing a book which her daughter despises because she ‘lives in the past’. So, this author has summoned the courage (;) herself to look down at her mother for what she herself is doing in the ..’here and now’.. (which her mother is blamed for; but this SOMEHOW is different, right?) and mocking her mother’s life by trying to turn a profit from a past that keeps on doing nothing for anyone but the author…Seeing her age when she saw her movie epiphany, now inspired, clearly makes sense she is better than her mother and even denying her of her own past, she’s decided to make ends meet by writing ANOTHER book about a mass murderer from 71 years ago.. like mom did, got it. Now, by her living in the ..’here and now’.. that her mother cannot because the AUTHOR of new is to be the hero…the author is special because she is still blaming HER mother (sound familiar?) for a past she had nothing to do with? Yet, the author is on a ..journey of discovery’.. (what a grind..lol) to re-live a past her mother was martyrd for so this author can do what on her own?.. well, I get it! My comment is simple- ‘Call your Mother princess’! Absolutely hilarious- Seriously, enjoy your ..’here and now’.. stories which should in the future, be about your OWN feats, accomplishments, victories and discoveries and not others.. UNLESS your advance and percentage proceeds went to the families of those ancestors butchered by the name you are summoning… just us at the peanutgallery…
    – Or, for the suffering your mother went through for/because of someone that abandoned her because of ‘her’ trauma and pain… Actually this story is more real than the author realized when writing it I’m sure… pfffft.

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  3. Ajibike says:

    Trust Nija men with their confidence and donations. I agreed with Segun that she needs to research her father’s side. She may get more joy from this but first need to forgive for being given away. I assure her that her father did not mean to abandon her as this is not the nature of Africans especially Nigerians.
    She is automatically our queen if she reaches out to us.
    Need assistance on this please let me know. My name is Dr Ajibike Salako-Akande. I am a physician researcher and a business woman in the US.
    Good luck.

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    1. Taiwo Adebisi says:

      Please do not generalize it. Of cause some Nigerian men do abandon their kids, they only surface when the child/children they’ve abandoned becomes great in life. Most of their common say is that the child will look for them when he/she or even them grows up.That is when you will hear them saying it’s the devil’s work. May the almighty God give peace to anyone that have passed or are still passing through this.

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  4. Alfred Steves says:

    Dear Jen I seen your interview on Deutschland TV here in the US. Not only are you Beautiful but also a very brave women. I seen the movie Schindler’s List by mistake. What I mean is that I went to the movies because I was bored and pick out that one to see. It was frightening. I might be wrong about it being a mistake. I geuss I wanted to see it but not really. Anyway I spent time in the US Army and at the Cooke Barracks in the town of Gerp. I don’t know the correct spelling of the town, but I had always felt close to the German people. I hope you find peace. It’s Not Your Fault! GOD BLESS/ Bro. AL Morman Church

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  5. domil says:

    She looks more like Goeth than her mother.

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  6. Segun Oyedeji says:

    I think Jennifer should find out who her father was.At least she has her mother family history,she may found out that the good nature and kindness she has comes from her father side.This would give her finally closure and some joy that after all,something good may come from bad things.

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  7. Robinson A Onyema says:

    What about jennifer father? Only little was said about him. Did jen make any effort to find out about him? Is he dead or alive? Please jen try and investigate your dad side. After reading your story i was touch by what you went through. I see you as my sister. You are one of us. My name is Robinson A Onyema. Nigerian.

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