SS officer's armchair: in search of a hidden life

The story of a surprise discovery of a stash of personal documents covered in swastikas that had been sewn into the cushion of an armchair. This book follows the trail of cold calls, documents, coincidences and family secrets, to uncover the life of Dr Robert Griesinger from Stuttgart. It reveals the strange life of a man whose ambition propelled him to become part of the Nazi machinery of terror. Discovers unexpected ancestors in New Orleans, untold stories of SS life and family fragmentation. As Lee delves deeper, Griesinger’s responsibility as an active participant in Nazi crimes becomes clearer. Reveals how Griesinger’s choices reverberate into present-day Germany, and among descendants of perpetrators, Lee raises potent questions about blame, manipulation and responsibility. The SS Officer’s Armchair is at once a unique addition to our understanding of Nazi Germany and a chilling reminder of how such regimes are made not by monsters, but by ordinary people.