The Trauma of the Christian Aryan Disguise in The Nazi officer’s Wife by Edith H. Beer This Jewish autobiographical study will analyze the trauma of the Christian disguise during WWII that Edith Hahn had to endure in The Nazi officer’s Wife by Edith H. Beer. Edith Hahn was a Jewish woman that had to disguise her Jewish identity by pretending to be a Christian Aryan woman by the name of “Grete.” Two examples of Edith’s most fearful incidents revolve around (1) being interrogated by German officers for identity cards, and (2) not taking an anesthetic at childbirth when giving birth to her daughter. These fearful scenes define the characteristics of the Christian Aryan lifestyle that Edith had to endure when pretending to be a Nazi officer’s wife during …show more content…
In this manner, “Grete” was able to appear as a faithful Christian wife to a Christian Nazi officer. In this manner, the Christian identity would serve as the perfect disguise, so that Edith could live amongst the enemy and survive the Holocaust. Historically Edith also understands how many Jews pretended to be Christian throughout history in order to avoid being imprisoned: “We all thought about converting to Christianity. Perhaps, I could pretend to be Christian” (Beer 98). This is an important part of the Christian disguise that Edith had to present, but it also involved being identified as an Aryan in the Third Reich,. This form of racial identity would have to be amalgamated into the Christian them that she used in her daily life. Certainly, the Christian Aryan disguise would be the primary characteristic of Edith’s survival when living with a Nazi officer during WWII. Also, Edith’s truly personality was a compassionate and understanding individual, which greatly contrasted the cruel and racist personality she brought forth as “Grete” when living amongst the