»Ein Haufen Dollarscheine«

Wolfgang Benz in conversation with Esther Dischereit

The difficulty of surviving after the Holocaust is the common thread running through Esther Dischereit's novel "A Pile of Dollar Bills". The family story takes place in Berlin and Rome, Chicago and Heppenheim. The protagonists are the aunt in the flowered dress, who takes a critical look at her Jewishness, Zionism and the political situation, and the nephew, who is searching for his identity as an orthodox Jew. Disputes over restitution form the framework of the plot, while denial of remembrance and the continuity of hostility towards Jews in post-war Germany form the background. In conversation with historian Wolfgang Benz, Esther Dischereit deciphers the message of her novel about the long-lasting consequences of the Jewish catastrophe.