But decades later, delving through the basement of their apartment building, Géraldine discovers that her grandfather Karl profited from the forced ‘Aryanisation’ of Jewish businesses – and so she is compelled to investigate her ancestors’ past. On her mother’s side, she delves into the role of her French grandfather, a policeman during the Vichy regime. How guilty were they?
Combining generations of family stories with the history of Europe’s post-war reckoning, Géraldine asks: how did Germans transform their collective guilt into democratic responsibility? And, given rising populism in Europe today, how can we ensure we learn from history?
