Three Tearless Histories

By Erich HacklTranslated by Mike Mitchell 2017. Hardcover. 216 pages. Ebook also available.$24.95 | 9780997003437 A master of German non-fiction and literature, Erich Hackl humanizes tragedies of epic proportions in three stirring and poignant stories of individuals affected by mid-century fascism.  Inspired by photographs, but going beyond them, Hackl excavates three evocative personal histories. “Tschofenig: The Name Behind the Street” recounts the improbable wedding at Dachau of resistance fighters Gisela and Pepe Tschofenig and attempts to resurrect Gisela’s accomplishments amidst a family squabble that threatens to bury her forever. In “The Photographer of Auschwitz,” Hackl offers a fragmented biography of Wilhelm Brasse (1917–2012), who photographed Auschwitz prisoners and saved evidence of Mengele’s crimes. “The Klagsbrunn Family” traces the multi-generational story of the Klagsbrunns, who emigrated from Vienna to Brazil, where their grandson and his wife were tortured during th