Remembering Nazi Germany: Grandpa takes a stand against the right
Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- Bernhard Esser, 82, has spent decades sharing his family’s Second World War stories with young people and is now telling them in a novel.
- Esser grew up in Hamburg but was born in Schneverdingen after his pregnant mother left the city during the 1944 bombing raids.
- He sees parallels between present-day right-wing slogans and the past, a connection that has left him worried.
Bernhard Esser has spent decades making his family’s wartime memories accessible to young people. Now, at 82, he is also preserving those stories in a novel, while worrying about the return of political language that reminds him of the past.
Esser lives in Hamburg-Wandsbek and grew up in the city’s Schanzenviertel. He knows its streets and their names, and his distinctly northern German accent marks him as a Hamburger. Yet his friends still tease him about one technicality: he was born outside the city.
Berni, you’re a shack-born Hamburger!
In 1944, while Esser’s mother was heavily pregnant, she was sent to the Lüneburg Heath for protection from air raids. As a result, his birthplace is Schneverdingen rather than Hamburg. “Berni, you’re a shack-born Hamburger,” his friends joke. “You were born outside the city.”
The personal detail reflects the way Esser approaches history. His family’s experiences during the Second World War are not distant textbook material, but stories he has carried and retold for years. He now sees current right-wing slogans as echoing earlier rhetoric, which has made him increasingly concerned about the political climate.
You were born outside the city!
About this summary
Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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