To the main protagonist of the novel, Hans Frambach, what matters most are the crimes of the Nazi-era that have caused him suffering ever since he can remember. It is because of these concerns that he chose to work as a registrar in the Institute for History Management. To his best friend Graziela too, it is the inconceivability of the past that matters – that is, until she meets a man who covets her. From then on, carnal desires take precedence. As the story progresses, it deals with the extent to which history plays a role in their lives. Can one hold the Nazi past responsible for everything? Is it not simply their inability for happiness that makes Hans and Graziela such strange figures? Iris Hanika shows how the crimes of the Nazi-era still keep a hold on Germans today, while also examining the absurdities of professional commemorations and our helplessness in the face of these crimes.

 

In this novel about the German suffering of the Nazi past, manifestations are diverse. This is also a novel about the midlife, about the time when the certainty has been already lost, about choosing the right path through the world, and  a novel about loneliness and friendship as well.