The Nazi Housewife of Queens, New York

Written by first-time novelist Stacy Kean, this tale is not for the timorous. It contains extremely detailed and graphic descriptions of the worst type of violence that one human could possibly inflict on another.
The story is well researched and provides the reader with much information they are learning for the first time.
The basic plot line involves a vicious female camp guard, Helma Braun, also known as the Stomping Mare, at two of the most notorious concentration camps, one at Majdanek , Poland and the other at Ravensbrück , located outside Berlin.
Raised by an abusive father, and the victim of bullying at school and a humiliating rape in girlhood, Helma Braun is obsessed throughout the novel with exacting revenge. She does so by wielding absolute power over the defenseless prisoners in the camps and harnessing her rage through appalling violence.
In common with most monsters who served the Hitlerian Reich, she hides successfully for many years, posing as a kind and sympathetic suburban housewife in Queens, New York. When she comes to trial, her justification, in common with most of those who had been tried earlier in Nuremberg, was that she was merely following orders and treating prisoners in a reasonable manner, considering that her duties were to keep them in line.
Hannah Goldberg, the protagonist who survived the prison camp, watched as Helge, whose nickname, the stomping mare, came from her practice of crushing children's’ skulls with her boots., murdered Hannah’s sister in front of her. Helma also killed innumerable babies and old men and women, and was complicit in the dreadful experiments carried out by the prison’s ‘Doctor.’
Hanna’s story follows a steady arc with which the reader can identify completely, as she tries through exhaustive research to track down and bring to justice the stomping mare. Her eventual success comes at a tremendous cost to her marriage and all of those close to her.
The ending involves Hannah deciding to murder Helma Braun, but at the last minute she changes her mind as, at that point, the stomping mare is merely a pathetic one-legged old lady close to death.
It is hard, indeed, to stand out as a raconteur of a World War Two tale, as this is a subject which has been covered exhaustively in the collective biographies and historical fiction of the past decades, and increasingly so in the past few years. It also is an extremely tricky task to bring to life an actual real-life character by attempting to dwell inside her point of view, inside her mind and her thoughts, particularly a character like Helma Braun, who is a psychopathic mass murderer with whom no reader could possibly identify, and whose character has quite literally no redeeming qualities at all. Having a female monster is so rare by convention that is in itself a shock that instantly ups the ante for the reader . One of the concerns always is that tackling a real life character becomes more of a biography and less like a work of true fiction.
However, in contrast to Helma Braun, Hannah Goldberg is the second of the two characters in whose point of view and head we dwell, and is fictional and becomes a genuine character for whom the reader roots. The author has crafted a person who engenders extreme empathy and rage within the reader’s mind.
Some of the other characters in the novel , many of them relatives of the two main characters, are less engaging, and slow down the pace of the action. At times, the character sketches of these people seem to be a bit simplistic and perhaps do not contribute to the main thrust of the novel.
There are several periods when the chapters featuring the simple drive of both the protagonist and antagonist become repetitive, as there are really only two motives and they are described many times over. Another concern is that, quite often, the dialog is replaced by almost biographical descriptions of the characters and their emotions and situations, and sometimes the use of dialog between the characters would better reveal their interior reactions to each situation. An example would be the two full pages where Hannah and her husband at last sail for America and not a word is spoken between them.
Sometimes a major event is skipped over hastily without building up to it. Examples are when Hannah reaches the climax of her dreadful experiences in the camp. ‘As she looked up to the sky, she realized the war was over.’
Also, when she resolves to murder Helma she wonders, out of character, whether she was really prepared to murder Helma?’
Overall, the author tackles an enormously difficult undertaking in bringing to life an actual person in a World War Two setting that has been narrated, both in fiction and biography, in exhaustive detail over the past decades since the end of the war.
Stacy Keane crafts the ending deftly, presenting us with a plot twist that leaves us on the one hand disappointed that Hannah does not kill the stomping mare, and on the other hand leaves us with enormous respect for Hannah’s taking the high road. We wonder if we would have been so lenient.

Alan Collenette

Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Level Best Books, and author Stacy Kean for the advanced reader copy of this book. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

The Nazi Housewife of Queens, New York is a historical fiction book based on the real-life of Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan. Hermine was a guard at several Nazi concentration camps with a terrible reputation. Much like what I learned in Nazis at the Watercooler, she managed to escape punishment for her crimes other than a light prison sentence, until she was tracked down in the 1960s by Simon Wiesenthal, and the true depth of her crimes became known.

In The Nazi Housewife of Queens, New York we meet two women. Both were born in Austria. Helma Braun comes from a Roman Catholic family who resents the Jews in their midst and is eager to embrace the Nazi message. Following the war, she marries an American soldier and becomes an American citizen, living a quiet life in Queens, New York. Hannah Goldberg left Vienna at a young age with her family to live with their grandmother in France, thinking they would be safe. This only delayed the inevitable. Hannah was the only member of her family to survive the war. She, too, is living in Queens, New York with her husband David and their children when she reads a story about a notoriously cruel prison guard from one of the concentration camps she was held in living nearby.

Up until now, Hannah struggled quite a bit in life. Although she and David had managed to build a good life, she takes valium and other medication to deal with anxiety. She feels disconnected from her children. David has always resisted talking about what happened to either of them during the war, preferring to “put it behind them.” Once Hannah reads about Helma Braun, though, she cannot think of anything else.

The book takes the reader through Hannah’s life during the war and what she endured. Although Hannah is a fictional character, what she experiences is based on actual events that came out at the real-life trial. I can’t imagine anyone not being horrified by what she experiences. Once Hannah is able to begin to confront those memories, she decides she needs to tell her story. With the help of a friend who is a lawyer, she makes the acquaintance of a man in the Justice Department and tells her story. Through the years, he works tirelessly to try to bring a case against Helma. It’s an uphill battle as people seem to want to forget about the War and what happened during it. Eventually, however, West Germany decided to prosecute Helma and others who committed atrocities at the camps.

The Nazi Housewife of Queens, New York isn’t an easy book to read. The Holocaust was a dark time in our history and the horrors detailed in this book are mind-numbing. I always find it hard to believe humans can be so cruel to each other, but these days we see how easily people can dehumanize those they don’t like. The book skips back and forth between when Hannah first learns about Helma’s presence in New York, not far from where she lives to the past, and what Hannah went through during the war. It flows very well and I had no problems following it. The characters are portrayed quite well. The guards at the prison aren’t just monsters, they are also people, and they don’t see those they are sending to the gas chambers as being human like them.

Even following the war, Helma does not give up her idea of a master race and that Jews are vermin, even though she’s married to a former American soldier. She has learned to reign in her temper, but she never seems to grasp that her actions were wrong then and the atrocities she committed were against people. Some of what she does would be horrific if it were done to animals as well. Yet she cares about her dogs more than she does the people she sent to their deaths.

Hannah’s story is good as she eventually comes to terms with what happened during the war. She travels to Germany to testify against Helma with her son, and later on learns the truth about what happened to her family home in Vienna as well as her grandmother and her house in France. Is justice served? Maybe, maybe not. Hannah must also come to terms with that.

I highly recommend The Nazi Housewife of Queens, New York. It’s well done as being based on actual events and follows a lot of what actually did happen to Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan. It’s a fascinating story of the lives both of these women led, and how different they were despite coming from the same place. It’s also a lesson in what happens when you dehumanize people, something we could learn a lot from right now.

In this dual point of view novel your immersed into the lives of two very different women tied together by on of the most horrific events in history. We meet Helma a passionate woman dedicated to the rise of the Fatherland and seeing it to fruition. Hannah is a Jewish woman who lost everything in the war including her family. As the war fades and both women are living in New York they both realize the past isn’t buried.

I enjoyed seeing both perspectives. Often it’s hard to fathom what someone who was dedicated to the Reich was thinking. I found myself frustrated and at a loss for words with how Helma thought. Then my heart goes to Hannah and aches for the life she was given. This is a great novel for those interested in World War Two and learning more about the aftermath math and the court trials after.

I found The Nazi Housewife of Queens, NY, to be an interesting book, especially since there are fewer Nazis left to find and prosecute for their crimes during WWII. However, this book is set decades earlier than the present, when there were still many former Nazis left who had lived without fear since the war, only to be discovered and brought to trial. These trials sometimes were more of a show than otherwise, and the sentences often were more like a slap on the hand compared to the offences they committed. This book also shows how even after the war, former concentration camp inmates still suffered from the effects of what they had undergone at the hands of these people, and how these trials were necessary for some measure of closure for them.

I received this as an ebook to read from NetGalley; all opinions are mine alone.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Nazi Housewife of Queens New York" and all opinions expressed are my own. I felt that this book was interesting. I like to read about historical events, this one based on a real guard, Hermine Braunsteiner, at the camps. At times it felt like the writing was choppy and disconnected. The book felt long and dragged out. Overall I did like reading the story.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 #𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 #𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘕𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘖𝘧𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.


I had not heard of this book before, but the cover caught my eye, and the beginning of the description drew me in: “𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝟣𝟫𝟧𝟢𝘴 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢—𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘕𝘢𝘻𝘪 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.”

This was both, at times, fascinating and challenging to read. I liked how it featured the two points of view (more than one POV is one of my favorite storytelling methods) and seeing the story from Helma and Hannah’s perspectives – even though one of them was very unlikable for most of the story.

It was difficult to read the descriptions of the camps and especially Helma’s actions, with her nickname of The Stomping Mare being so accurate. The fact that the character was based on a real-life guard makes it even more unsettling.

I enjoyed Hannah’s fresh start and story, but liked that it also seemed to include the realities of what being a survivor could be like day-to-day and over time – both in the earlier chunk of time and later years, after her testimony at the trial was done.

All in all, it is a story worth reading.

🌟🌟🌟🌟


#NetGalley #HistoricalFiction #Mystery #Thriller

There has been a plethora of books over the past few years about the Nazi regime and the effects of the Holocaust both on those who perished and those who survived. This definitely fits into that genre and approaches the topic of the lasting effects of the Holocaust on those who survived despite great loss and emotional devastation. Kean's Nazi Housewife of Queens, New York does an engrossing job of showing us the varied emotional and spiritual impacts of those who were perpetrators and victims of Hitter's final solution. The reader is often made uncomfortable by the emotional damage done to the Jewish survivors and how that emotional damage plays out in their choices related to how they get on with their lives and the lives of their families despite having been able to make it to the US and presumably to safety. It's this concept of safety that Kean really exposes whether it's Hannah's anxiety and fears or the refusal of her husband David'to even share with their children their Holocaust experiences and the fates of their respective families. Likewise Kean's treatment of "the Stomping Mare" and her unrepentant reflections on her family and her role as a concentration camp guard and her ongoing assertion that she was simply a patriotic German and "just following orders" are chilling to read in these times of a rise in antisemitism. For me The Nazi Housewife of Queens, New York reinforced how important it is to look honestly at our history rather than attempt to "forget" uncomfortable truths and the impact they have on our personal and world outlook. It is true that the past is prologue unless we are honest with the lessons of our history and work hard not to let heinous things happen again. I would highly recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I thought this book was about some sort of neo Nazi cell in New York after the war when Nazis were escaping to South America. I have read a number of testimonies and autobiographies about the camps but I always shied away from fiction because I thought it was in poor taste. If I had known that this was fiction I would not have wanted to read it.

However, I would have missed out on a powerful book which treats its awful subject with respect. The book is based on a real life camp guard, one Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan, it does not sensationalise any of the vile things she, does but it does not shy away from them either, some of this is, of course, strong and shocking stuff. Near the end I was struck by something I had not really considered before - the fact that the lovely homes and possessions people "inherited" from their grandparents were often not the grandparents' own things but were rather things looted and "reallocated" from original Jewish owners to the party faithful.

I can now definitely see a place for these books because they provide an introduction to the unspeakable atrocities of the camps and would be a slightly easier read before embarking on the testimonies of survivors.

The story is told with no exaggeration and I think it succeeds in capturing the long term emotional numbness of survivors. Some of the dialogue is perhaps a little stilted but that was no problem for me.

In light of many recent events, I feel afraid that the cruelty of the guards and the sufferings of the camps are being forgotten or played down and if books like these can serve to bring the horrors to a new generation of readers so that we do "Never Forget" then that can only be a good thing.

This book takes the familiar backdrop of WWII and presents it through a lens that feels completely new and unexplored. The author has crafted a narrative that's incredibly engaging. This is not your average war story; it delves into two overlapping stories from woment in WW2. The pacing is perfect, and I was completely swept away by the characters and their journeys. If you're looking for a WWII story that will hold your attention this is a good read.

This book did not pull any punches, as it was gut-wrenching from the very first chapter. The Nazi Housewife of Queens will undoubtedly evoke a range of emotions, from anger to sadness and everything in between. It will leave you reflecting on your own morals and stance on what is going on in the world today.

Based on actual events, the research that Stacy Kean put into this book was evident and much appreciated. After reading a bit about the woman this story was based on, I found it to be quite close to historically accurate.

Despite being deeply appalled by Helma's POV, I appreciated the duality of the POVs.
Although overall it was a good story, I felt the storytelling was a bit simplistic for my liking. The dialogue often felt elementary and made it a bit hard to digest.

Overall I thought it served its purpose and would read another book by Stacy Kean.

This book started off with a BANG!!!!! Wow!!! I don't know what i would have done if I was in her place. I had never thought about the women who got away with war crimes until this book. It was eye opening to me.

Thank you so much Netgalley & Level Best Books for a copy of this book.in exchange for my honest review.
First of all, I am surprised that this is a debut book for this author. I really liked this book a lot. Of course, the subject matter is horrific, but I thought the author did a great job showing both perspectives of the two women. I really like the way the author went back and forth between the 2 women and overlapped their stories. I cringed at the graphic scenes of the torture and violence, but I didn't feel that it was overboard. I felt myself rooting for Helma to get her comeuppance, and was surprised by her husband's turning a blind eye to the atrocies committed. I really felt for Hannah and would try to put myself in her shoes, but you just can't. I loved all the characters in this book, especially David (Hannah's husband). I would say if you like historical fiction about WWII, the you should read this book. It is based on the true story of Hermine Braunsteiner, the first Nazi war criminal to be extradited from the United States back to West Germany. I would give this book 4.5 stars, and would read this author again.

I’m unsure where to start with this review, so I’ll list the good points first:

The premise is very interesting and somewhat unique, and makes for an interesting perspective on this period of history, about which there are a great many fiction novels. It is evident that the author has a real interest in history/historical fiction. I feel like she has poured her heart into writing this.

The best parts of this book were the beginning and the end - the middle felt like a lot of unnecessary filler information about the years in between the camps and the trial. The scenes in the hospital towards the end truly brought tears to my eyes. They were very well-written and the author has done a great job of creating the characters. The author has also done a fantastic job here of capturing the animosity that can grow between a mother and daughter, although it would have been good to learn more about why the relationship was this way.

I have so much respect for anyone who takes the time and effort to write a whole book. However, some things I did not enjoy whilst reading:

It was a bold move to write chapters from Helma’s perspective. One can infer that the author meant for us to be shocked by the Nazi viewpoint and opinions on Jews in particular, or Helma’s thirst for violence. However, it would be easy for a reader to be influenced by the language they’re reading. I really did not enjoy reading the chapters about Helma. As much as I wanted to know her backstory and how things turned out for her, I don’t feel it was necessary to read so many derogatory comments about Jews and the glorification of Nazism. I suppose this is why you won’t find many books written from this perspective. The way Helma talks about Jews, Jewish influence and post-war propaganda is something I have seen echoed in many social media posts, particularly since October 7. These attitudes have not gone away. They’re not just something from the past. I felt sick reading these parts, and I hope anyone who reads this book isn’t influenced into that way of thinking.

Some parts of the story were just a little bit unbelievable. I can’t say which parts as they could spoil the plot, but there is a very difficult moment for Hannah where her reaction is just not believable at all. Later in the book, a male character’s comments about sexual experiences in the camp when speaking to a 17 year old girl just didn’t sit right with me.

The way the time passed in some of the chapters was confusing. One minute, there is a newborn baby, and in the next paragraph he’s a toddler, with no indication that any time has passed. It’s often unclear what year it is and how old the characters are. The book has tried to cover so much over so many years that it speeds through them in a really confusing way.

Clearly, Helma is based on the real-life Hermine Braunsteiner. So many of the details of Helma’s life mirror Braunsteiner’s, but several details do not, including the names of Helma and her husband, yet later in the book we meet Gudrun Berwitz, who was a real person. Part of the chapter about Helma from 1939-1941 mentions her being mentored at Ravensbrück by “Irma”, which although not confirmed, seems to refer to Irma Grese, who became a guard at Ravensbrück in 1942. If Irma Grese is the inspiration behind this character, then the timeline might be slightly off. There’s also a moment with the daughter of “Heidrich Himmler”. It’s unclear whether the author has intentionally changed this name (Heinrich Himmler) slightly, or whether this is a mistake. The author should also note that “Holocaust” should be capitalised, which it is not throughout the book. It feels inconsistent to take some details of a real person’s life and create new characters based on them, but that’s just my opinion.

Finally, there are a lot of editing oversights throughout the ARC. Line breaks in the middle of sentences, question marks at the end of a statement, misplaced or missing commas, and just general grammatical errors. These interrupted the flow of the story. I even noted one sentence which said, “The old woman just stood their shaking”. Simple spelling mistakes shouldn’t be seen in published novels.

I really enjoyed this book. Set before, during and after ww2, this book follows the life of two women ~ a Jewish women who survived the horrors of the concentration camps and a German woman who was an evil nazi guard at one of the concentration camps. I found it so interesting to read from both POVs and the mindset of both characters. It’s interesting to read about the minds of the evil Nazi concentration camp guards who took part in the horrors and killings of the camps. Most historical fiction books set during this time don’t include much after the war which this book does include.
It was interesting to read about the trauma and ptsd concentration camp survivors experienced even 20 years later. The send half of this book includes the Nazi trials, which was super interesting to read and horrific to learn that the majority of these nazis had no regrets during the war.
The writing style flowed, very descriptive and overall was an enjoyable read which I would definitely recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book, all opinions expressed are my own.

The fall of the carefully constructed lives of the American housewives.

A different perspective on WW2 historical fictions that I've read before.
Even though the material is extremely emotional I didn't feel connected or emotionally involved until the later chapters.

Hannah survived the Holocaust and rebuilt her life in New York. Helma, a cruel concentration camp guard who killed Hannah's sister as well as countless others, also rebuilds a life in New York after the war. They end up living in the same neighborhood, and Hannah eventually testifies against Helma's war crimes.

This book was well researched, but the writing fell flat for me. It rambled a bit too much, and seemed disjointed at times. Helma's characterization was not as deep as I would have liked for it to have been. It was almost a DNF, but there was enough plot to keep me going.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was enthralled from the beginning to the end of this book. The subject matter is difficult, but the story is very well told. It has a good mix of history and fiction which keeps the reader engaged. I would definitely read more books by the author and have recommended this book to others.

Story about the survivors of a Nazi concentration camp, Hannah and David, and a guard, Helma, at a camp. Set in 1950's Queens, New York. Such emotional insight into the lives after the war and Holocaust. It is hard to imagine moving on from there and the bravery it took. Such great historical fiction.

This is a well researched book about the Holocaust and the fate of some of the participants on both sides of events in the subsequent years, namely the 1950s.

Survivors of a concentration camp, Hannah and David decide that they will put the past behind them, at any cost. Unfortunately the cost for Hannah turns out to be a kind of emotional frigidity.

Meanwhile, having been a cruel Nazi camp guard during the war, Helma is keeping her secrets close to her chest in her new life in America, in an attempt to whitewash the past - not least for herself.

The story is interesting, but feels as though it lacks a certain emotional depth, which is strange given how emotional the subject matter is. I would recommend it for readers who are interested in World War II because it provides a different kind of insight into the events of that period.

This book presents a vivid picture of the way a person can allow their past to cripple them. When David and Hannah decided to never tell anyone, or even talk to each other, about their experiences in the concentration camps, Hannah practically locked herself away from love. This book explores her life and feelings (or lack thereof). It also explores Helma’s life and why she became the sadistic, feared guard at various camps—and how a person can delude themselves about their own innocence. I appreciated this exploration of what makes people into who they are. What I did not enjoy was the graphic descriptions of violence at the camps—although I know it was real. It is not pleasant to read about—but probably good to see at times. I also noticed a number of instances of language I don’t like. For a secular book, I found this one fairly clean, with only veiled references to marital intimacy—and one near-affair.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.