18. Pasternak’s Frustration With His Countrymen’s Refusal to Address Their Nazi Past
If Pasternak’s uncle Dirck had survived the war, he would probably have denied having participated in war crimes, and those around him would have probably leaned over backward to believe him. As Pasternak discovered during his research, people had no interest in closely examining sensitive questions. Especially questions concerning their own relatives, as Pasternak had experienced with his own grandmother, who paradoxically defended her brother, Dirck, even though he probably would have killed her Jewish husband if given a chance.