THE HEALING WOUND: Experiences and Reflections, Germany, 1938–2001

A Vienna-born WWII refugee, Sereny has spent more than two decades examining the lingering effects of Nazism and the Holocaust. After a few essays describing her own experiences during the war (and after, when she worked in the displaced persons camps set up by the Allies), Sereny ruminates with curiosity, insight and clarity on wide-ranging, controversial topics: how individuals like Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and former Austrian chancellor Kurt Waldheim (both of whom she interviewed) have dealt psychologically with the Holocaust; the Israeli trial of alleged Nazi John Demjanjuk; varying perspectives and experiences of the children of Nazis, including "Hitler's favourite godson," a teacher who travels to various schools speaking about the Holocaust's horrors. What distinguishes the writings is Sereny's ability to humanize her subjects without exonerating them. A piece on Franz Stangl, the former commander of Treblinka—who was serving a life sentence in a West German prison when Sereny interviewed him—chillingly conveys Stangl's reflections on his wartime years. Stangl's intelligence is evident, at the same time that holes are revealed in his claims of having had no choices during the war. In the face of her calm, unrelenting questions, he struggles between admitting and denying responsibility for the hundreds of thousands of Jews gassed under his command. Sereny's ability to probe behind the headlines, both in her interview questions and her prose, makes for an astonishing, subtle study of many Holocaust perpetrators and participants. 32 photos. (Oct.)

Forecast:This book presents an overview of a long and highly respected career. It will be widely reviewed, and with Sereny touring New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., it should get considerable press coverage and achieve broad sales.