Lies of Omission

In 1938, Margarethe von Stahle is desperately trying to practice ethical medicine
despite the Nazi policy of “racial hygiene” that is forcing doctors to collaborate
in the extermination of the handicapped and mentally ill. She has always avoided
politics, but now she must decide whether to remain on the sidelines or to act on
her convictions. At the same time, she is struggling to hold her family together,
despite intrigue, secrecy, and an unforgivable indiscretion. e people she holds
most dear are conspiring against her for their own ends. Neither of Margarethe’s
children are playing to script, frustrating her hopes for the future of the House
of Langenberg-Edelheim. Perhaps the only solution is to face the truth…or tell
more lies of omission.
is timely novel is the third volume of the Passing Rites series, which follows
the aristocratic Stahle family through the 20th century. Set in the last years
before World War II, Lies of Omission addresses the challenge of resistance to
the ird Reich. Despite great danger, some doctors honored their Hippocratic
Oath. Ordinary citizens, working in small groups, came to the aid of the
disenfranchised. A few brave souls managed to keep their moral compass, while
all around them, a nation descended into collective lunacy.
Elena Graf was inspired to write about this period by her father’s war stories. She
fell in love with the city of Berlin while working for a German publisher. She
lives in Maine.