Public Libraries of Suffolk County, New York

Storm in the land of rain, a mother's dying wish becomes her daughter's nightmare, Silvia Foti

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-367) and index

individual biography

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Storm in the land of rain

bibliography

Silvia Foti

a mother's dying wish becomes her daughter's nightmare

"An award-winning journalist discovers that her grandfather, the legendary and heroic Lithiuanian "General Storm" who survived a Nazi concentration camp only to later be executed by the Russians, may also have been a Jew-killing antisemite. A fascinating story of bravery, betrayal, and the transformative power of seeking and finding the truth at whatever the cost. Hero-or Nazi? Silvia Foti was raised on reverent stories about her hero grandfather, a martyr for Lithuanian independence and an unblemished patriot. Jonas Noreika, remembered as "General Storm," had resisted his country's German and Soviet occupiers in World War II, surviving two years in a Nazi concentration camp only to be executed in 1947 by the KGB. His granddaughter, growing up in Chicago, was treated like royalty in her tightly knit Lithuanian community. But in 2000, when Silvia traveled to Lithuania for a ceremony honoring her grandfather, she heard a very different story--a "rumor" that her grandfather had been a "Jew-killer." Storm in the Land of Rain is Silvia's account of her wrenching twenty-year quest for the truth, from a beautiful house confiscated from its Jewish owners, to familial confessions and the Holocaust tour guide who believed that her grandfather had murdered members of his family. A heartbreaking and dramatic story based on exhaustive documentary research and soul-baring interviews, Storm in the Land of Rain is an unforgettable journey into World War II history, intensely personal but filled with universal lessons about courage, faith, memory, and justice. Previously published as The Nazi's Granddaughter."--Amazon.com

Preface to the Lithuanian edition -- Introduction: Long, long, long after the beginning -- part I. Deathbed promise: Not nearly as long after the beginning ; A daunting legacy ; Confronting the shrine ; The imprisonment and trial of Jonas Norieka ; The last letter ; The Blue Danube -- part II. A troubling rumor: Ghosts ; Fatherless ; A tarnished halo ; The arrest of Jonas Noreika ; Tender letters and a dark fairy tale ; KGB transcripts ; Beginning the dreaded search ; Fault lines -- part III. Layers of truth: An unreliable witness ; Groundwork for a rebellion ; A slaughter of innocents ; A maze of alibis ; Lost credit ; Murder and celebration ; The blood libel ; A privileged status in hell ; A torrent of questions ; The candle that went out ; Pilgrimage ; A desperate rationale ; Exile ; Playing for power ; Germany's fifth column ; The death of denial ; A Holocaust map ; Interview at the Museum of Genocide Victims ; The mud pits ; Killing ground ; A stolen house ; Acts of remembrance ; Storm in the fatherland -- Appendix: Jonas Noreika's unfinished fairy tale, 1944

Storm in the land of rain, a memoir