El cuarto oscuro cuenta la historia de tres alemanes corrientes del siglo XX: la de Helmut, un joven fotógrafo que, en el Berlín de los años treinta, utiliza su oficio para expresar su fervor patriótico; la de Lore, una muchacha de doce años que en 1945 tiene que conducir a sus hermanos pequeños por toda Alemania después de que los aliados encarcelen a sus padres nazis; y, cincuenta años después, la de Micha, un joven profesor obsesionado por lo que su abuelo hizo durante la guerra, y que lucha por hacer frente al pasado de su familia y al de su país.

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Took a while to see it as a novel and make the connections between the three stories but a breathtaking commentary on living in Germany during the war and what it meant to be identified as a Nazi or to have it in your family history. It does not blame but helps to explain and understand. Also some fantastic writing and some great one-liners. ( )

I kind of disliked the writing style, once someone pointed it out to me, but the stories were fine. I read it in a trauma theory class, and I'm kind of highly critical about its resonance as history and historical fiction, but I like what it tries to accomplish and I think it does what it wants to do. Helmut was by far the best story, but the other ones weren't bad. All in all, a decent read. ( )

There are many books which were written about World War II and the effects of it on the second and third generation of survivors: from missing relatives to the secrets surrounding the families. "The Dark Room" written by Rachel Seiffert, a daughter of a German mother and an Austrian father, presents a new perspective. This book is composed of three novellas and introduces the reader to the effects of the Second World War on the Germans and their descendants. Particular emphasis placed on the murder of the Jews as part of the war - the Holocaust.

The book confronts the progeny and the reader with the question of the responsibility of the offspring for the actions of their parents. The book raises the question of how much the children and grandchildren of the Germans should bear responsibility and the consequences of actions they didn't commit themselves. The book exposes the reader to the guilt and confusion of those who discovered that their loved ones were involved in terrible deeds.

The "dark room" and the family photos presented during the three novellas and the book's construction play an essential role for the reader. These pictures displayed along a timeline: during the war, a little later and in our later days.

This is a fascinating and challenging book, the writing is beautiful and attractive, and despite its complex issue, it's difficult not to break away from the problematic context sometimes and sail in a terrible imagination as if it were a story that didn't happen.

***It's important to remember that the debate over intergenerational responsibility for actions that cannot have influence or responsibility can still take place in contemporary contexts. Bloody conflicts all over the world raise the question of whether those who were children during the war should pay for their parents' actions. ( )