Angel Of Oblivion
by Maja Haderlap
Award: PEN/Translation Winner 2017
Date Read: July 17, 2022
In Carinthia, at the southern border of Slovenia, the people there are considered neither Slovenian nor Yugoslavian. They are in a no-man’s land where neither country claims them. During WWII, most of the people there were partisans, fighting against Germany and were often imprisoned and tortured for their efforts. Grandmother was interned in a concentration camp.
Angel Of Oblivion is a heartbreaking novel that shows the suffering caused by war through a child’s eyes. The grandmother was sent to a concentration camp as a young woman, her son, the Father, was tortured by German police before he even turned 12. The repercussions last for generations.
Still, grandmother is a force to behold. While she’s strict and lives her life by religious and historic rules that often make no sense, she is also unprecedentedly kind. Strangers turn up and the girl is never shocked when they say they lived with her Grandmother at some point.
The mother and father are ghost-like presences in the girl’s life. While her mother sings when doing chores, this is perhaps the only time she slightly epitomizes joy. She resents her life, particularly her marriage and feels that none of her efforts are appreciated.
The father is haunted by his past and is a raging alcoholic. He is verbally abusive to his wife and kids and leaves not a lot for anyone to like. He lives his life like a ghost, often threatening to kill himself, clearly of unsound mind most of the time.
When the grandmother dies, the funeral they conduct in the home is beautiful. I realize how removed we have all become to death. It’s taken elsewhere, handled by strangers, rather than keeping it personal. Is this a byproduct of capitalism or shifting cultural norms? I would want to have a vigil for those I love happening in my living room. It’s beautiful and personal.
Haderlap’s novel, based on her own family’s ordeals, paints a first-hand picture of what life was like to endure WWII for those who were clearly not on either side but simply wanted to be left alone to live their lives in peace.
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