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Implants slash breastfeeding rates

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 05 April 2015 | 23.08

Choices ... women who have breast enlargement surgery are less likely to breastfeed. Picture: Supplied Source: ThinkStock

ONE in five women who have a breast enlargement don't breastfeed and research suggests the mothers fear it will compromise their investment in the surgery.

Researchers at the University of Sydney and the Kolling Institute tracked 378,389 women who gave birth in NSW between 2006 and 2011.

They found while nine in ten women who had not had a breast augmentation were breastfeeding when they were discharged from hospital, only eight in ten women who had a breast enlargement were.

Experts advocate breastfeeding babies because it protects against diarrhoea, respiratory tract infection, asthma, obesity and other health conditions.

"These findings underscore the importance of identifying, supporting and encouraging all women who are vulnerable to a lower likelihood of breast feeding," the researchers say in the study published in the Medical Journal Australia.

Investment ... woman holding silicone implants used in breast augmentation. Picture: Supplied Source: ThinkStock

Of the 378,389 women in the study, 892 had breast surgery that had changed the size, shape and texture of healthy breasts.

The study excluded women who had reconstructive breast surgery following a mastectomy and those who had cosmetic surgery overseas.

Breast augmentation increased by 150 per cent in Australia between 2001 and 2011 and more than 8,000 women a year are undergoing the procedure.

The study found 87 per cent of the women who had one child before their breast enlargement breast fed that child but only 72 per cent breastfed children born after the surgery.

Researchers say this is good evidence that it is not lack of breast milk producing tissue that is the reason women who have breast enlargement don't breastfeed.

They speculate that some women don't breastfeed because they fear transmitting silicone or other breast implant materials into breast milk.

Worries ... women who have had breast implants may fear transmitting silicone in their breast milk, the study says. Picture: Thinkstock Source: News Corp Australia

"They may fear, or have been told by their surgeon, that breastfeeding could undo a satisfactory augmentation result," the study says.

Breast surgery in Australia costs around $10,000, it costs about $4,000 in Thailand and cut price operators are charging about $8,000 on the Gold Coast.

Another explanation could be that ducts and glands in the breast may be damaged during surgery or by pressure from the implants on the breast tissue, the paper says.

Complications of the surgery, infection or pain could be other explanations.

The researchers say women about to undergo breast augmentation should be given the information that one in five women who have the surgery don't breastfeed as part of informed decision making as the contemplate the surgery.

The study found 80 per cent of the women who had a breast augmentation were married or in a de factor relationship.

More than 54 per cent of the mothers who had a breast augmentation were from the advantaged or most advantaged socio-economic groups.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Implants slash breastfeeding rates

Choices ... women who have breast enlargement surgery are less likely to breastfeed. Picture: Supplied Source: ThinkStock

ONE in five women who have a breast enlargement don't breastfeed and research suggests the mothers fear it will compromise their investment in the surgery.

Researchers at the University of Sydney and the Kolling Institute tracked 378,389 women who gave birth in NSW between 2006 and 2011.

They found while nine in ten women who had not had a breast augmentation were breastfeeding when they were discharged from hospital, only eight in ten women who had a breast enlargement were.

Experts advocate breastfeeding babies because it protects against diarrhoea, respiratory tract infection, asthma, obesity and other health conditions.

"These findings underscore the importance of identifying, supporting and encouraging all women who are vulnerable to a lower likelihood of breast feeding," the researchers say in the study published in the Medical Journal Australia.

Investment ... woman holding silicone implants used in breast augmentation. Picture: Supplied Source: ThinkStock

Of the 378,389 women in the study, 892 had breast surgery that had changed the size, shape and texture of healthy breasts.

The study excluded women who had reconstructive breast surgery following a mastectomy and those who had cosmetic surgery overseas.

Breast augmentation increased by 150 per cent in Australia between 2001 and 2011 and more than 8,000 women a year are undergoing the procedure.

The study found 87 per cent of the women who had one child before their breast enlargement breast fed that child but only 72 per cent breastfed children born after the surgery.

Researchers say this is good evidence that it is not lack of breast milk producing tissue that is the reason women who have breast enlargement don't breastfeed.

They speculate that some women don't breastfeed because they fear transmitting silicone or other breast implant materials into breast milk.

Worries ... women who have had breast implants may fear transmitting silicone in their breast milk, the study says. Picture: Thinkstock Source: News Corp Australia

"They may fear, or have been told by their surgeon, that breastfeeding could undo a satisfactory augmentation result," the study says.

Breast surgery in Australia costs around $10,000, it costs about $4,000 in Thailand and cut price operators are charging about $8,000 on the Gold Coast.

Another explanation could be that ducts and glands in the breast may be damaged during surgery or by pressure from the implants on the breast tissue, the paper says.

Complications of the surgery, infection or pain could be other explanations.

The researchers say women about to undergo breast augmentation should be given the information that one in five women who have the surgery don't breastfeed as part of informed decision making as the contemplate the surgery.

The study found 80 per cent of the women who had a breast augmentation were married or in a de factor relationship.

More than 54 per cent of the mothers who had a breast augmentation were from the advantaged or most advantaged socio-economic groups.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Search for Luke to continue at daylight

Luke Shambrook has been missing since Friday morning. Source: Supplied

HELICOPTERS with thermal imaging cameras and dozens of search crews have scoured dense bushland in a search for missing boy Luke Shambrook.

The hunt for the 11-year-old at Lake Eildon will continue tomorrow morning after searchers stopped for the night after 10pm

Emergency services will gather for a meeting at 7.30am on Monday, before resuming the search.

Fresh hope emerged on Sunday after motorists reported seeing a boy matching Luke's description about 5.30pm.

According to the unconfirmed report, the boy seen was crying while sitting on a log off a remote track used by four-wheel-driving enthusiasts, about 20km south of the campsite where he was last seen.

Search crews raced to the location where the boy had been seen, but as the sun set there was still no sign of Luke.

Police speak to family members. Picture: Stuart Walmsley

Relatives have spent three tense days longing to be reunited with their "dear son".

More than 140 volunteers turned out to help find Luke, who has autism, after he went missing at 9.30am on Good Friday at the Devil Cove campground.

Senior Sergeant Ralph Willingham said Luke's parents, Tim and Rachel, had remained hopeful at Candlebark campground.

Sen-Sgt Willingham, himself a grandfather, fought back tears as he read their statement Sunday afternoon: "On this Easter Sunday we are grateful for everyone's compassion and caring. Thank you for the special effort and huge support in trying to locate our son. We just want our dear son Luke found."

Sen-Sgt Willingham said efforts would continue on the same scale today, if needed — the Easter long weekend being fortuitous in having people available to help.

Department of Environment and Primary Industries staff search campsites. Picture: Stuart Walmsley

"The advice I'm getting from our search and rescue experts having regard to the overnight temperatures and the daytime temperatures is that he could well still be out there.

"We've got to be realists but we're positive, the family's positive. We're comfortable that he is still alive. That's what we're working towards, that's what our efforts are focused on.

"Day three is certainly an important day. Tomorrow is going to have a further level of urgency about it."

There were no signs of discarded clothing in Sunday's search.

Sen-Sgt Willingham said while foul play wasn't an active line of inquiry, anything was possible.

State Emergency Service staff search the shallows and Lake Eildon's edge. Picture: Stuart Walmsley

"We're conducting a search for a missing person — that's our focus, but we are turning our mind to other circumstances that may have resulted in his disappearance," he said.

"There is nothing at all to indicate that we need to go down that line; we're ­considering everything we can think of, and our thoughts at this stage is that a young boy has wandered off from the campsite."

All campers in the area were registered but the records were not a priority given the effort was focused on search and rescue, he said.

Park rangers had been searching tents and vehicles, as Luke has a tendency to climb into them because he likes watching DVDs in the car.

wes.hosking@news.

SES workers are briefed by regional officer Steve Schneider before resuming their search on Sunday morning. Picture: Stuart Walmsley

Victorian police say a family driving near Devils River saw a boy matching Luke Shambrook's description.

Originally published as Search for Luke to continue at daylight
23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Killer Knight asks Governor for mercy

Julian Knight has written to the Governor to ask for mercy. Source: News Limited

HODDLE St mass murderer Julian Knight has penned a petition of mercy to the Governor of Victoria.

Knight wrote the letter to Alex Chernov asking him to step in to release him from Port Phillip Prison after a series­ of failed legal bids for freedom.

Knight, 47, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 27 years for murdering seven people and wounding 19 others in the 1987 massacre.

In his letter Knight argues many factors point to a low chance of him reoffending if he is ever released from jail.

"My offences occurred in a set of unique circumstances that are impossible to reconstruct," Knight's letter states.

"On 16 March, forensic psychiatrist Professor Paul E. Mullen submitted a report to Corrections Victoria regarding his psychiatric evaluation of me... he (also) stated that 'the chances, in my opinion, of Mr Knight repeating a massacre like that at Hoddle Street are remote'."

Knight also refers to a report by forensic psychologist Professor James R.P. Ogloff, who said: "Mr Knight does not exhibit any symptoms of major mental illness."

For much of the past year Knight has been using a controversial website to communicate with the outside world.

The site, iexpress.org.au, dubbed "Facebook for criminals", has poems, photos and anecdotes about Knight's time spent behind bars.

Prisoner advocacy group Justice Action set up the website and uploads information and images for prisoners and aids their contact with the public.

Victims of crime advocates have blasted the website and Corrections Victoria has said it does not support it.

Crime Victims Support Association­ spokesman Noel McNamara said: "Why would you give somebody like that mercy?

"He killed and injured those people in cold blood and for all that misery he caused he deserves­ no mercy. He deserves to die in jail for what he did."

In his letter to the Governor, Knight also questions why the parole board has not explained how his case differs from other murderers.

Knight concluded his 21-page plea by writing: "In the event that Your Excellency is not minded to grant me mercy, I ask that Your Excellency provide me with the reasons for Your Excellency's decision, not simply a one-­sentence notification."

david.hurley@news.com.au

@davidhurleyHS

Originally published as Killer Knight asks Governor for mercy
23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Housewives’ Pettifleur slams Gina: ‘She’s a racist’

Real Housewives of Melbourne, episode 7 recap: Thriller in Manila as Pettifleur and Gina clash Source: Foxtel

This week the ladies all head to the Philippines, because sometimes it's just nice to get drunk and fight with your friends in a different country.

First though, we're with Jackie and Pettifleur, as Lydia takes them to her favourite clothing store: she's been shopping there since she was 18, she says.

"Oh wow … that's a long time," is Pettifleur's super-shady reply.

Perusing the store, Jackie refers to different outfits as being "very couture" no less than four times. Brace yourselves: We've got a new Jackie Gillies catchphrase on our hands. Resistance is futile.

While they're browsing, Pettifleur pulls them aside for a serious chat about Gina, saying she feels she's been making an awful lot of mean jokes at her expense.

At this point it would be remiss of us not to highlight Jackie's 'Oh-ok-we're-having-a-serious-talk-now' Concentration Face, which has made several appearances this season:

A very couture expression. Source: Foxtel

Across town, Gamble has entered her beloved Pomeranian Cash into a dog show. She's feeling a little underprepared — or as she puts it, "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"I haven't practiced with Cash at all, so we're sort of going in blind. But we've got a few moves: He can walk." Indeed, he can:

dogswholookliketheirowners.com Source: Foxtel

Soon the announcer utters the words this recapper has waited a lifetime to hear: "Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, welcome to the POMERANIAN CHALLENGE."

Gamble's BFF Gina is in the audience, of course, looking for all the world like a proud stage mum:

"THAT'S IT GAMBLE, DO IT FOR MUMMY, JUST LIKE WE PRACTISED" Source: Foxtel

Gamble has to lead Cash through a variety of simple tricks, but this Pomeranian is richer than you or I and he's not about to debase himself with menial tasks like this. At one point he goes off-leash and runs around the ground while Gamble chases him frantically — all that's missing is the Benny Hill music. The judges don't look too impressed:

So THAT'S what happened to Roxette. Source: Foxtel

Somehow, despite doing everything short of regurgitating the remains of a dead bird at the judges' feet, Cash comes third. How did this miracle happen? Gamble takes most of the credit:

"I think we got it because the woman in fourth place forgot to blow-dry her hair in the morning, and it must have a bit more to do with the full presentation of your team."

Next we're with Janet, who is in a dress that makes her appear as though her breasts are smiling widely:

It's important to present a happy face to the world — even if it is on your norks. Source: Foxtel

Janet's meeting a few of the other Housewives to give them an update on the tea business she's launching with her son. She's heading off on a work trip to the Philippines to meet with a local 'tea master', and she's inviting them all along. HOLIDAY! What could possibly go wrong?

Gamble's not there, as she's brought sister Tempest — breakout star of last week's episode — down from Sydney for some emergency plastic surgery. Sitting down to lunch with her more surgically enhanced sister, Tempest runs through the procedures she's having done: eye lift, chin tuck, gallons of Botox. Gamble interjects with totally unbiased words of encouragement like "Oh yes, you DEFINITELY need to have that done," and "I mean, it's just a little bit of liposuction."

Seeing as last week we said she was mad as a cut snake, let's balance things out with a compliment: Tempest, at 10 years older than your sister you're in very good nick. Don't feel you have to turn yourself into a neutral mask in a party wig just because of a few wrinkles.

"The doctor assures me that removing my ears, eyes and nose will really just open my face right up" Source: Foxtel

In amongst all her wise words of encouragement, Gamble casually mentions that she herself has spent "about $90,000 on cosmetic surgery — but $20,000 of that was to fix some bad work that I had done."

RUN FOR THE HILLS, TEMPEST.

Next up, Jackie and Chyka continue to take their jobs as co-planners of Gamble's hen's night very seriously. Jackie's taking Chyka to scout a venue, and once they arrive, she's got a surprise: BEEFCAKE.

All of these guys look like they'd be named Chad … or Ched … or Chud. Source: Foxtel

The strippers take it in turns to impress the girls. Surprisingly, given she previously nixed the possibility of strippers, Chyka is far more 'up for it' than Jackie.

At one point, one of the men squirts whipped cream onto his nipple and has Chyka lick it off.

Last week she was in a tizzy about her decorative tea towels, now she's sucking a stranger's nips — Chyka, you got layers, girl.

Chyka, we fully support breastfeeding in public but this is ridiculous. Source: Foxtel

"Wow … cream for breakfast," she announces, licking her lips with a post-coital smile. BAN THIS FILTH etc.

Stripper number two ups the ante, having Chyka lay on the floor while he mounts her, then sitting her on a chair while he shakes his basketball-esque tanned butt cheeks in her face.

"I was slightly nervous … but ready to see it all," she says. How Chyka Got Her Groove Back.

Please, someone get the woman a mop and a decorative tea towel. Source: Foxtel

It's almost time to head to the Philippines, so we check in with a few of the girls as they pack — with the help of their respective staff members. Pettifleur is shown barking at long-suffering housekeeper Lia, insisting that each of her items of clothing must be individually wrapped in tissue paper before packing, while Lia silently dreams of a Kimmy Schmidt-style escape from this house of torment.

"When I travel, I think about where I'm going and what I'm doing, and I select my outfits accordingly," Packing Expert Pettifleur tells us, as if she's divulging some earth-shattering life-hack.

Lydia's packing with the help of her housefriend (for it is she), Joanna. Joanna's parents live back in the Philippines, and she hands Lydia a handwritten letter to give them. Lydia is moved.

"Oh Joanna that's beautiful! I've got goosebumps! I would love to do that," she says.

"Joanna you're my best friend in the whole wide world" "Unhand me, white devil" Source: Foxtel

Her follow-up caveat rather spoils the moment, though:

"…and If I don't see them I'll just post it."

The ladies arrive in Manila and check into their glam hotel. While the others have brought mountains of luggage, Jackie's one-upped them all by bringing an actual human person: her stylist, Ian.

"He's someone I can't live without …. ECKSPESHALLY when I'm travelling," she says.

As Ian runs Jackie through the outfits he's packed for her, she again says that each and every one looks "very couture."

"Sometimes in the morning, I'll even say 'I'm having a very couture breakfast,'" she admits.

The girls split into two groups for a day of shopping, and Chyka at one point asks Gina for some legal advice. She's been doing a bit of digging about Pettifleur's book, Switch the Bitch, and she's found there's already been a very similar book written by US ex-Apprentice contestant Omarosa:

Is 'Switch the Bitch' similar to 'The Bitch Switch'? Yes, in that both are genuinely terrible Source: Foxtel

Gina says that yes, Pettifleur's probably on shaky legal ground should Omarosa decide to pursue legal action over the similarities in their titles. As Gina sees it, this would be the perfect opportunity for Pettifleur to remove the controversial 'bitch' from the book's title once and for all.

'Well its not exactly a fenemist title," Gamble says. Say it with us: Fen. Em. Ist. Ohhhh Gamble … we love you.

Off on a separate shopping trip with Janet and Lydia, Pettifleur once again says that Gina's jokes at her expense are starting to grate — and she can't help but feel there are racist overtones to Gina's sly digs about her accent. The others encourage her to confront Gina about it — as Janet says, "Hopefully I'm there to watch it!" Selfless, that one.

Before dinner, the girls head to the roof of their luxury hotel for a sunset champagne or two.

"Simba, everything the light touches is ours" Source: Foxtel

Looking out over the densely populated city, the Housewives can't help but notice the slums dotted throughout.

"What about when we came in from the airport — did you see all the kids playing in the rubbish? But they're happy and they love it," Chyka says. Stop what you're doing, Bob Geldof — KIDZ LUV POVERTY.

The women sit down to a very fancy dinner with a view, on the 71st floor of a building towering above Manila. Or as Lydia puts it: "the restaurant was on the seventy-oneth floor, so it was extremely high."

SEVENTY-ONETH. FENEMIST. ECKSPESHALLY. I'm sorry, what's going on here? Is there a carbon monoxide leak on set?

At dinner, Chyka and Gina raise their concerns with Pettifleur about her book — namely, that a book with an almost identical title has already been released.

"Won't people get confused?" Gina asks, quite reasonably.

Pettifleur's immediately on the defensive. She already knew about the other book — her verdict? "Completely different. Not interested. DON'T CARE," she insists.

"Gina's comment, about people getting confused by the title, is goobley-gosh."

As the dinner wears on, the pair, sat next to each other, continue sniping.

"I hear you, constantly bitching," Pettifleur mutters, at which point Gina gets all up in her face.

"You can back RIGHT OFF, I'm not interested in your opinion and you can keep it to yourself. I wouldn't read your book, especially now cos I know you."

Gina finishes with a not-entirely-flattering impersonation of Pettifleur:

Maybe not your classiest move, but lolz Gina. LOLZ. Source: Foxtel

NEXT WEEK: Dinner continues — and turns into an all-out slanging match. In the 20-second sneak peek we're treated to no less than three F-bombs, and this pearler from Jackie to Gina: "When's the last time you had a shaaaaag? That's what you need, a f*cken' good root."

The Real Housewives of Melbourne screens 8:30pm Sundays on Foxtel's Arena Channel.

Check back here right after each show to read our weekly recap.

In the meantime, join recapper and proud fenemist Nick Bond over on Twitter (@bondnickbond).


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Armed police negotiate with man in Southbank cafe

Heavily armed police gather at Southbank. Picture: Monique Hore Source: HeraldSun

ARMED police continue negotiations with a man who has barricaded himself inside a Southbank restaurant with a woman, as the standoff enters its fourth hour.

Police have extended the exclusion zone around the siege, pushing people off the public square near the site.

Twi angle grinders have been carried by police into the cordoned-off area.

They have closed Riverside Quay to traffic and pedestrians between Cook St and Southgate Ave.

Authorities were called to Riverside Quay about 10pm.

It is not clear whether the man has any weapons, or whether the pair know each other.

The incident is not believed to be ideologically motivated.

The Critical Incident Response Team and the dog squad are among police blocking the promenade between the 'love lock' bridge at Southbank and the Othello restaurant.

Witnesses said they saw police storm the area with shields about 10.40pm.

Paramedics with a stretcher remained on standby at the scene as a crowd of concerned passersby watched on.

A group of people believed to know those inside the restaurant watched on.

Police, both uniformed and in plain clothes, huddled near an entrance to a Riverside Quay building.

Cristina Grimaldi, who lives five minutes walk from the promenade, described the scene as like "a movie".

"We were walking home and we saw the cops and we wondered what happened.

"It is the first time we have seen so many police."

Police at the scene are diverting people away from the area saying a crime is currently being committed.

Picture: Brendan Francis Source: HeraldSun

Picture: Brendan Francis Source: HeraldSun

Picture: Twitter / @nathan28423118 Source: Supplied

MORE TO COME

Originally published as Police continue negotiations with man in Southbank siege
23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gunman a ‘brilliant upcoming lawyer’

Crowds gather at a Garissa mortuary to see the bodies of the al Shabaab gunmen behind the deadly Kenya university attack, as families search for loved ones who went missing after the bloody assault. Pavithra George reports.

Grim display ... Kenya Defence Forces soldiers arrive at a hospital to escort the bodies of the attackers, to be put on public view in Garissa. Picture: AP Photo/Ben Curtis Source: AP

AUTHORITIES in Kenya say they have identified one of the four dead al-Shabab gunmen who massacred nearly 150 people at Garissa University as an ethnic-Somali Kenyan national and law graduate.

Interior ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka on Sunday named one of the attackers as Abdirahim Abdullahi, saying he was "a university of Nairobi law graduate and described by a person who knows him well as a brilliant upcoming lawyer."

Terrible loss ... a man is overcome with grief after learning a relative was killed by Somalia's Shebab Islamists during the siege on the Garissa Campus University. Picture: AFP/Nichole Sobecki Source: AFP

The spokesman said Abdullahi's father, a local official in the north-eastern county of Mandera, had "reported to the authorities that his son had gone missing and suspected the boy had gone to Somalia".

Describing Abdullahi as a high-flying A-grade student, Mr Njoka said it was "critical that parents whose children go missing or show tendencies of having been exposed to violent extremism report to authorities."

Spectators ... members of the public gather outside a hospital mortuary, waiting to view the bodies of the alleged attackers in Garissa. Picture: AP/Ben Curtis Source: AP

Somalia's al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab militants claimed responsibility for Thursday's massacre at Garissa University, during which non-Muslim students were lined up and executed.

The massacre, which was the deadliest attack on Kenyan soil since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, claimed the lives of 142 students, three police officers and three soldiers.

Evacuation ... an injured man is assisted aboard a bus, taking surviving students to their respective home counties after Al-Shabab gunmen rampaged through a university in north-eastern Kenya. Picture: AP Source: AP

Although losing ground in Somalia, al-Shabab have stepped up attacks inside Kenya as well as its recruitment of Muslim youth in the country's north-eastern and coastal regions.


23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

‘My grandfather would have shot me’

Closure ... author Jennifer Teege says her most significant exchanges are with Holocaust survivors. Picture: AP/Dan Balilty Source: Supplied

ONE summer afternoon six years ago, Jennifer Teege was killing time in her local library in Hamburg, Germany, when she came across a striking title: 'I Have to Love My Father, Don't I?'

She pulled the book from the shelf. On the cover was a photo of a weary-looking woman, and there, too, was the subtitle: The Life Story of Monika Goeth, Daughter of the Concentration Camp Commandant from 'Schindler's List.'

Teege couldn't believe it. Monika was her mother.

Estranged ... a screengrab shows Teege's mother, Monika Goeth, whose father was a Nazi. Picture: YouTube/POV Source: Supplied

At 38, Teege, half-black, was just discovering an improbable truth: Her grandfather was a Nazi.

"The very moment when I found the book, it was as if, from within, that I realised something exceptional was happening," Teege tells The New York Post. "I was very, very silent. It was like giving birth: You go into yourself, and the outer world disappears."

What happened after that, Teege can't quite remember. She knows she checked the book out, knows she called her husband to get her, knows she asked him to pick up their two children, but the details are lost to her. She hadn't even fully absorbed the meaning of the book — that her grandfather was Amon Goeth, "the butcher of Plaszow," his atrocities immortalised by Steven Spielberg.

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past is Teege's attempt to understand her ancestry and herself. First published in Europe in 2013, the book is being released in English next week.

She knows her story, and the way she feels about her grandfather, will surprise people. She's repulsed by him, but as a direct descendant, needs to believe that he wasn't genetically, irredeemably depraved.

"My grandfather was not pure evil," Teege says. "He was a human being. He often made wrong decisions, but he was someone who was once a child. You can't divide people into 'good' and 'bad.' "

After Teege found her mother's book, she went straight to her bedroom, closed the door, and read it in one sitting. When she emerged, she was in denial.

"It was such a huge amount of information," she says. "At that moment, I thought, 'I have to verify this. Who knows if it's the truth?' "

She went online. "For hours," she says. "I was reading everything I could find. Everything. Information about my mother, my grandfather, the Nazi Party."

Teege learned that the next night, German TV would broadcast Inheritance, a documentary about her mother and one of her grandfather's abused servants. The existence of this film, too, was a shock. Teege was long estranged from her mother, who had never told her of her disgraced lineage.

"I felt like, 'This is too much. Everything is beyond my control. I don't know what's happening, but it can't go on like this,' " she says.

Teege watched with her husband. When it was over, neither said anything. Teege was traumatised but fixated on the footage of her grandfather's execution, by hanging, in Krakow in 1946.

It took three tries. Goeth's last words were, "Heil Hitler."

"The scene where he was executed, and the rope was too short and they started to redo it — I thought, 'This is crazy,' " Teege says. "And then they did it again. I thought, 'I can't take it anymore.' "

Amon Goeth ... Teege is repulsed by him, but needs to believe that he wasn't genetically, irredeemably depraved. Picture: YouTube/POV Source: Supplied

Teege, who had suffered from depression since her mid-20s, felt on the verge of a breakdown. She couldn't get out of bed, couldn't stop crying. She had a miscarriage.

"I was thinking in circles," she says. "I couldn't function. I couldn't hold it together." She was petrified she had too much of her grandfather in herself.

Teege found a therapist, one who specialises in children and grandchildren of Nazi perpetrators. She began reading memoirs by other descendants of Nazis — a small genre in Germany — and began to dive into her past.

"I thought, 'It won't help anyone if I continue to live like this,' " Teege says. "I saw how much my mother was haunted by her past. I know the toxic power of a family secret."

And so Teege set out for Krakow, for the house where her grandparents lived — the one next to the Plaszow concentration camp Goeth ran, the one with the balcony where, for fun, he would fire his rifle at women with babies. He had trained his dogs, Rolf and Ralf, to tear people apart.

According to Yad Vashem, the World Center for Holocaust Research, 8000 people were murdered at Plaszow, most under Goeth's rule from February 1943 to September 1944.

"I want to see where my grandfather committed his murders," Teege writes. "I want to get close to him — and then put some distance between him and me."

Quickly, however, it was her grandmother who came to dominate her thoughts. Ruth Irene Kalder was a glamorous young woman, the daughter of a Nazi. She was 25 when she met the married Amon Goeth and was smitten.

"My grandmother, as I write about her, is the closest I let the reader look inside myself," Teege says. "She played a big role in my life."

It was her grandmother who took the most and best care of Teege, whose mother had abandoned her after giving birth. In 1970s Germany, it was common for struggling mothers to turn their children over to orphanages, which allowed liberal parental visitation. Monika herself was only 24 when she met Teege's father, a student from Nigeria.

The relationship didn't last, and Monika soon took up with a man who beat her brutally. "My first husband," Monika later said, "was just like Amon. I must have chosen him to punish myself."

Monika never knew her father. She was 10 months old when he was executed. But such is the torment of descendants of Nazi perpetrators, many of whom toggle between revulsion and love for their parents and grandparents. It was Ruth who stepped in.

Never knew Amon ... a screengrab from the documentary 'Inheritance' shows Monika Goeth as a child. Picture: YouTube/POV Source: Supplied

"Not only did I like my grandmother's character," Teege says, "but she gave me a safe place." Her grandmother was her idol: well-dressed, an ever-present cigarette in her hand, her apartment filled with books. Ruth wasn't affectionate with her granddaughter — no hugs and kisses — but Teege felt loved and secure with her, until the day she was adopted by another family.

Teege was 7, and she never saw her grandmother again. Her deepest wish had been that her grandmother would adopt her. She doesn't know why she didn't, yet doesn't harbour anger. She mainly feels love.

"She was not a grandmother who would have gotten on the floor and played with me," Teege says. "But she would always hold my hand. I'm addicted to that to this day, and I think that's why."

This is the same woman who, as documented in Teege's own book, saw 250 children torn from their parents at Plaszow, undressed and piled onto a truck for execution at Auschwitz; who, much later, said the Jews "weren't really people like us; they were so filthy"; who lounged around the house with a cucumber-and-yoghurt face mask, turning up her music so as not to hear Amon shooting and torturing his prisoners; who used the barracks and barbed wire of the camp as a backdrop for personal portraits, posing as if for Vogue.

After Goeth's execution, Ruth kept a photo of him over her bed for the rest of her life. She said she was never as happy again. "It was a wonderful time," she said. "My Amon was king. I was his queen." Her only regret? That those days at the concentration camp had come to an end.

In the early 1980s, Ruth sat for an interview with documentarian Jon Blair, who was working with Spielberg. She continued to defend herself, claiming little to no knowledge of what was going on.

Sadistic ... actor Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in the 1993 film 'Schindler's List'. Picture: Supplied Source: News Corp Australia

As for Amon, she said: "He was no brutal murderer. No more than the others. He was like everybody else in the SS. He killed a few Jews, yes, but not many. The camp was no fun park, of course."

The day after, Ruth, already ill, committed suicide. She overdosed on sleeping pills and left a self-pitying note. Teege has watched the interview over and over.

"When I found out who she was — who she also was, I would say — there was this feeling of love," Teege says. "What made it more complicated for me was that my mother always compared us.

She'd say, 'You're so similar.' It's not just good taste in clothes. It's also: How would I behave during the war? Who am I? What are my moral values?"

It's a question that pervades Teege's everyday life. Not much research has been done on the children and grandchildren of Nazi perpetrators, though some have intentionally remained childless.

Hermann Goering's grand-niece Bettina had herself sterilised; she was afraid to continue the bloodline of a "monster."

Others immerse themselves in Judaism, or Jewish culture, as Teege's mother did. She took up ancient Hebrew, as penance.

Curiously, long before she ever knew the truth, Teege moved to Tel Aviv in her 20s. She fell in love with the city and its inhabitants, and it was there she saw Schindler's List for the first time, never realising the sadistic Nazi played by Ralph Fiennes was her own grandfather.

The film itself had not much impact on her. "Of course, it was touching and moving," Teege says. "But I had no — I felt not connected to the movie."

Her mother remains haunted by her family legacy, and while she has sat for interviews, she refuses to speak to her daughter. Teege says she has no idea why.

As for her grandfather, Teege remains ambivalent. She doesn't believe Amon Goeth was among the worst of the Nazis.

"If you look in books, his name does not appear as frequently as Himmler's," she says. "The importance he got is because of Schindler's List, so he became, besides Hitler, the face of the perpetrators."

Yet, she admits, Spielberg got his sadism right. "My grandfather was not someone who gave orders," she says. "He was someone who enjoyed killing people."

Today, Teege travels the world, speaking about her experience. She says her most impactful exchanges are with Holocaust survivors. She believes the book, and her story, has brought closure. "Not only for me," she says. "It's closure for them."

And if her grandfather were alive today, Teege says, she would sit with him. "I am a person who believes in dialogue," she says. "And that even if you have different positions, one could at least listen."


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