Quitting the Master Race
A Daughter's Journey to Break the Bonds of Hate
by Barbara Leimsner

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How do otherwise decent people become mesmerized by a doctrine of hate? How can its grip be broken? In seeking answers to these pressing questions for our times, Barbara Leimsner confronts the past to discover how one ordinary man—her adored German papa—became thoroughly indoctrinated with Nazi ideology during the Hitler years. Its hateful tentacles reached into her young life as he filled her head with beliefs about Aryan superiority, racist stereotypes, and conspiracy theories. Leimsner sweeps the reader from immigrant working-class life in 1960s suburban Ontario, back to fascism’s rise in her father’s former Sudeten homeland and into war. As she weaves together the roots of her shameful inheritance, she also discovers deeper truths about herself—and the cure for hate. This thoughtful, compelling story will appeal to anyone concerned about the resurgence of racism, nationalism, and far-right ideologies today, and those interested in the Nazi legacy and Second World War. It will speak to all readers with German ancestry grappling with the past, and those interested in the immigrant experience, issues of inter-generational memory, identity, and trauma.

www.barbaraleimsner.com

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“Touching. Enraging. Inspiring. … a powerful story of self-discovery, as a daughter courageously examines the criminal machinery of fascism that enmeshed her parents … More than a personal memoir, this story of a daughter’s journey beyond hate is also a siren call for justice and human solidarity. We would do well to listen.” —David McNally, Cullen Distinguished Professor of History & Business, University of Houston “… a moving story … it alerts us to the growing dangers of our own time.” —David Camfield, Associate Professor, Labour Studies & Sociology and Criminology, University of Manitoba “… an honest account of a woman’s encounter with her family’s past … a compelling addition to the literature of the postwar immigrant experience.” —Mark Langer, Retired Associate Professor, School for Studies in Art and Culture, Carleton University “I highly recommend this fascinating and thought-provoking memoir.” —Elinor Florence, author of the bestselling wartime novel Bird’s Eye View “… Powerful … This rich and cautionary story reminds us that lived politics are at once rational and emotional." —Alan Sears, Professor, Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan University “ … a well-told story, part memoir, part historical and psychological investigation … also the story of a woman who liberates herself from the shadows of the past and learns to face them on her own terms.” —Axel Fair-Schulz, Associate Professor, History, Potsdam State University, New York

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Barbara Leimsner is a writer with degrees in Journalism, Political Science, and Canadian Studies. An award-winning national magazine editor and executive speechwriter, she worked as a senior communications professional for many years. She is also a long-time social justice activist. Quitting the Master Race is her first work of non-fiction. Leimsner lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her partner. http://www.barbaraleimsner.com// 

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Author

Barbara Leimsner

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