IN MY GRANDFATHER’S SHADOW

‘So many themes close to my heart and always deeply enriching to hear them discussed with sensitivity and that all important word - nuance.’

Audience Member

‘Highly educational, thought provoking on many levels, as well as being more relevant than ever.’

Audience Member

‘Until today, I had no idea that the lasting trauma of conflict was something universal… Hearing you speak has given me a lot more to think about.’

Audience Member

IN MY GRANDFATHER’S SHADOW

Working through Germany’s legacy of war, trauma and silence

or

Talking about Painful Pasts to Heal the Present

(Available in English and German)

Can we as individuals untangle ourselves from a past that binds us to the suffering and deeds of our predecessors? This profound question is at the heart of Angela’s book In My Grandfather's Shadow published by Penguin Transworld in July 2022.

In a powerful investigation into the individual personal cost that results from wider history, it tells the story of Angela’s quest for the truth about her German family, particularly her grandfather, a decorated Wehrmacht general who served on the Eastern Front. Carefully breaking the silence surrounding so many of World War Two’s perpetrators, she challenges widespread binary narratives, examines the lesser-known history of the war's losers, and offers a way forward that allows us all to grasp the urgent lessons of history.

In this illustrated talk, Angela looks at the ways in which unresolved experiences of trauma, shame and legacies of silence can leave wounds across generations and asks the questions:

How should you – as an individual or a nation – deal with a difficult past?

Can trauma to be handed down the generations?

Are we imprisoned by the past or can the scars of history be healed?

Audiences include:

Action Trauma Network
Arvon Foundation – Turning pain into prose
British and Irish Association for Holocaust Studies (BIAHS) Annual Conferences
Buchhandlung Leporello, Berlin
Chelsea History Festival, London
Cheltenham German Club
Donnerstag Forum, Frauenkirche, Dresden
Double X Club, London
Ebeneza Presents, Somerset
First Thursday, Painswick
German-British Society Rhein-Main and GBS Rhein-Neckar, Frankfurt and Heidelberg
Goldmiths University of London
Kunstforum Laubach
Literaturhaus, Berlin
MADNICITY, Venice
National Army Museum, London
Nienstedtenerkirche, Hamburg
St Margaret’s Institute, Oxford
Summertown Library Talks, Oxford
The Forgiveness Project – Developing a Shame Informed Approach
Literary Festivals – Bradford, Cuckfield, Mere, Nailsworth, Oxford, Stroud