For Buttlar, memory became a source ( Quelle) of strength from which Silesians should ladle and drink – always with sober recognition that the remembered Heimat was endangered. Even though many families tried to pass on customs of Heimat to the children, time would make even this lived tradition “vanish more and more and only live on in nostalgic ( wehmütig) memories.” She knew her imaginary journeys were only accessible to the intimate circle of those who had known Silesia before the rupture of 1945. When her generation died, imaginary journeys would cease.

Towards the end of her book and investigation into her maternal grandfather's activities during WWII, Krug ruminates on which outcome would be preferable. Would she rather discover that her father actively opposed the Nazis, even going so far as to hide a Jewish man in his shed?Von Unwerth has a peculiar talent for getting famous and beautiful women (Claudia Schiffer, Madonna, Naomi Campbell, Rihanna, Kate Moss) to remove their inhibitions – and frequently their underwear – while retaining control. Her images are often provocatively sexual, but it’s usually her subjects who are doing the provoking. “I always give them something to do,” she confides. “When somebody’s not moving I get bored. I take two pictures and I say: ‘Great, I have it now.’ But I love the body in movement. I like the nude body in movement.” It's an idea that has helped bankroll many religions, including Christianity, which tells us that thanks to "original sin" (Adam and Eve's initial act of eating those bad apples) we all now need salvation.

The author describes her quest as an attempt to find the Heimat she had lost, hoping that asking the questions that were painful to deal with would allow her "to move beyond the abstract shame."It is an amazing book. When the Americans came and saw what had happened in the concentration camps, they forced the citizens to not only look on the dead, but to transport them and give them decent burials. Krug's journey to discover the extent of her family members' involvement in Nazi atrocities is revelatory, for me at least. I was surprised to learn just how extensive (but not always effective) the Allies investigation of, it seems, every German's crimes was. I was even more impressed by how deliberate and systematic is German's education of their own citizens of the crimes of the past. On the other hand, it made me wonder if it goes too far maybe. Krug's pain at inability to love any part of her homeland or being proud for anything German whatsoever is quite palpable. It's no surprise really that the nationalist movement is on the rise in Germany. Nora Krug grew up as a second-generation German after the end of the Second World War, struggling with a profound ambivalence towards her country's recent past. Travelling as a teenager, her accent alone evoked raw emotions in the people she met, an anger she understood, and shared. Heimat is an incredibly personal and moving book. Nora shares a lot of intimate information and makes herself very vulnerable through that. I admire that bravery. The honesty and the fact that she doesn't sugercoat anything deserves respect. By confronting her own fears and biases, by looking at her own education (and comparing it to the education of her elders), Nora slowly but surely manages to piece the picture together.

I had expected it to be a more scholarly approach to how the Germans dealt with their Nazi past, but this is definitely not scholarly. It is a personal, almost diary-like examination of Nora Krug’s own history and her search to understand relatives who had been part of the Nazi regime. She herself is two generations removed from World War II; her parents were born after the war and she in 1977. For me the most interesting part of the book was the description of her childhood, growing up not fully understanding why some topics could not be discussed, and some words could be used only in reference to animals, never to people. Nora Krug created something completely new by inventing a new medium. (...) And with every new form of visual representation she uses, she is able to gain a new perspective on herself and on her history. -- Ijoma Mangold, literary critic at Die Zeit A highly original and powerful graphic novel that works on many levels...an unflinching examination of what we mean when we think of identity, of history and home. The result is a book that is as informative as a history and as touching as a novel. The Financial Times And last fall in the Austrian Alps, watching lederhosen-clad young men herd elaborately decorated cows down from mountain pastures during the annual Almabtrieb ceremony, I better understood the sorts of images politicians from Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) evoke when they speak about preserving Austrian Heimat and traditions. BelongingÂis an astoundingly honest book that conducts a devastating–and irresistible–investigation into one’s family struggle with the forces of history. I could not stop reading it and when I as done, I could not stop thinking about it. By going so deeply into her family’s history, Krug has in some ways written about us all.”Started yesterday, finished this morning: this is the first adult picture book I've wanted to read, and as anticipated, I couldn't put it down. It's also a good little piece of investigative journalism, though nowhere near as dispassionate as that sounds. Krug finds herself asking the difficult questions that no one in her family seems willing to ask. She wants to know - she has to know - what role her grandparents played in the Nazi atrocities. Also, I don't like that holocaust is sort of a crutch to the personal story. Yes, I know it's not really a book about holocaust. But it annoys me. Ultimately, though, it's not that easy and Krug knows it all too well. Most Germans were complicit in some way; the true "good guys" didn't live to tell the tale. Despite an extensive investigation, many answers remain out of reach. Extraordinary . . . The curious appeal of Krug's graphic memoir is that it never fully loses itself in the act of storytelling but constantly stops to turn over and reassess the means at its disposal. The Guardian