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Auschwitz

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Superb book. Of the many dozen that I have read on the Holocaust, if you are only going to read one book, this is the book to read. Brilliantly researched, using new material available from German and Russian archives, as well as British and U.S. archives. The book is also helped immeasurably by the author asking the right questions of the victims, perpetrators and bystanders at precisely the right time in history. That is, as they all enter advanced old age, none of them really have anything left to lose in speaking candidly. Memories, recollections, and events, all suppressed or hidden, are now spoken of openly. This enabled Rees to write perhaps the most concise and penetrating history yet of the Holocaust. Thus, when reading this book, you should not skip the introduction--it is vitally centric to understanding the methodology of the work as a whole.

The author also admits to having to confront rather virulent anti-Semitism, and not just from the generations of World War II, but today's young adults as well. This was far more widespread, he says, than "just" the willing members of German guard and execution squads. Indeed, Rees seems to at least imply that German, Nazi, units and policies led where many others were happy to follow. As Rees states "Goebbels believed that it was always preferable to reinforce the existing prejudice of the audience rather than try to change someone's mind." This crucial examination of the existing pre-conditions is important as you read the rest of the book.

The first chapter, "Surprising beginnings" expertly integrates much of the work done by other scholars, especially Robert Jan van Pelt, to show how a sleepy former Austrian barracks became the center of mass exploitation and murder in the Final Solution. It coincides perfectly with Hoss' own memoirs. Rees also expertly weaves in the different roles of Dachau, as well as the role of the Einsatzgruppen and the importance of Barbarossa and the Battle of Britain (tactical events) that shaped the evolution of Final Solution policy.

Chapter 2, "Orders and Initiatives" is seminal in understanding the evolution of the Holocaust. Rees rightfully focuses on the Nazi leadership culture built around "Vollmacht" that emphasized personal initiative to achieve overarching goals. Rather, there was a common language and understanding that allowed liberal interpretation of policy missives to be turned into a final product, sometimes far exceeding, perhaps, the scope of the original intent, but always fluid, competitive, and moving. As Rees states, the period of 1941 and 1942 sees Hoss at his "most innovative" in resolving the many problems with which he was faced. Perhaps one of Rees' most insightful comments on the disorganized manner in which the competing organs of German bureaucracy were attempting to make decisions about the long term fate of the Jews comes on page 89 "This confused state of affairs..." Competing egos, ideas, vague guidance from Hitler and Himmler, all left the Jews at the whim and caprice of policy and events fought far from the ghettos of central Europe. Rees presents a compelling argument that Wansee must be "decoupled" from implementation of the Holocaust in its Auschwitz form. He does not deny the important role of Wansee overall, but seeks to de-link it from the evolution of Auschwitz.

Rees begins Chapter Three with a damming indictment of the Vichy French government, and continues throughout the whole of Europe in how dispersed Jews were concentrated for work, exploitation and finally death, in the Holocaust model, with Auschwitz the central example. While the chapter wraps up neatly a transition from concept to implementation, the poignancy of the French is told in a way that truly exposes the "gratuitous" nature of the French. Also poignant is the interview series with Oskar Groenig, a guard at Auschwitz. Rees portrays him as "brutally honest," a man now in his eighties "who talks almost as though there were another Oskar Groenig who worked at Auschwitz 60 years ago." Later, Rees transitions to telling the story of how the entire system of camps was built, and Auschwitz's role in that system. In Chapter 4, Rees tells many of the stories of corruption that came from such brutal, total power concentrated in so few hands in a live theater of the grotesque, dead and dying. He explains how the concept of lebum sum wertes leben, life not worthy of life, was corrupted into a selection process that evolved to a point where the original point was altogether forgotten. Finally, Rees includes perhaps one of the most troubling questions of all: how to explain the complicity of the German doctors who were part of all this?

Rees concludes the book with two chapters "Frenzied Killing" and "Liberation and Retribution." While the killing of the Spring of 1944 is over now, the retribution is still ongoing in the minds of many millions of people. I would have included the Einsatzgruppen killings during Barbarossa in any discussion of "frenzied" killing, since the Einsatzgruppen personally shot more people than were gassed in Auschwitz. The organizational work to execute the deportation and killing of the Hungarian Jews was no doubt frenzied, but the actual killing itself was a factory-like process in which a Disinfektionkapral poured the gas pellets down the chute, and the Sonderkommando cleaned out the resultant corpses.

Lastly, as anyone who studies these issues and lives in central Europe today can tell you, the "ownership of the memory" continues to be a complex and emotional source of conflict. There is no liberation, though, until every participant in the Holocaust, perpetrator, bystander or victim, to borrow from Christopher Browning, is dead. Every generation re-interprets history through the prism of its times, and so too shall the history of Auschwitz be told many times over. The macabre tint of the prism, though, shall never change, only the amount of light that enters, and emerges, changed for ever, as you will be by reading this book.

When one thinks of the labor and death camps instituted by the Nazis during World War II, the notorious concentration camp at Auschwitz comes immediately to mind. One cannot help but wonder what kind of mindset would devise such an infamy. How could Germany, a nation that was noted for its richness of culture, have devised a plan of genocide that was so far reaching and so inherently evil?

The author attempts to answer that question and succeeds in doing so brilliantly. This is a very well-written book that will appeal to those who are interested in the general human condition, as well as those interested in the holocaust itself. It is scholarly, yet, at the same time, immensely readable. This is because the author has put a very human face on the dreaded death camp of Auschwitz. The stories and experiences of more than a hundred people are integrated throughout the narrative, which delves into the historical backdrop of the Nazi political machinery and its leadership. Survivors of Auschwitz, as well as Nazi perpetrators, tell of their experiences in the hell that was known as Auschwitz, and they tell it from their own unique perspectives. The symbiosis that often existed between prisoner and prison guard is quite unsettling, as are the attendant moral and ethical issues.

The author attempts to help the reader understand how it was that the "final solution" came about. It is an unsentimental, intellectually objective, critical analysis of one of the most infamous episodes in modern history and warfare. The author carefully delineates how the Nazis developed their reprehensible strategy for global genocide, and how it came about being implemented. The creation of Auschwitz was crucial to the Nazis' desire to rid itself of Europe's Jewish population but, however, that desire may not have been entirely ideologically driven. From his extensive research, the author postulates that there may have been a practical, more pragmatic component that dictated the actions of the Nazis in the final, waning days of World War II that was no less immoral than the ideological one.

This is simply a stunning and authoritative book by an author whose expertise in this area is undeniable. It is a comprehensive and insightful look at one of the most notorious death camps in the history of Nazi Germany. The author carefully explains the rise and fall of Auschwitz within the context of the Nazi mentality and ideology, as well as within the broader context of historical and military pragmatism. It is a devastating portrait, indeed, and with its sixteen pages of vintage black and white photographs, it is a book that will keep the reader riveted to its pages until the very last one is turned. Bravo!

Mr Rees' writing style is very readable, it is not overly dramatic, nor bland considering the material. It is a well researched book. It provides the reader with a reasoned, well delivered message on how the Final Solution was arrived at. It also provides an insight into the human psychology in the way the Nazi deluded themseleves into believing in what they were doing was right. a thoroughly good read... you will not be disappointed

This book is an intense look into the politics of the evolution of the concetration and death camps. There are some things in the book that I have never heard about before. The author is very good and I have ordered some of his documentary BBC videos also.

I picked this book up at the Auschwitz bookstore, after an emotional visit ( I can not see how a visit there can be unemotional). Reading this book, with fresh images from the camps in my mind was a strong experience. The author tells the story about the Holocaust very well - using the Auschwitz concentration camp and death factory (Auschwitz was both, which the authors points out often) as the anchor in the story. Although this book is not deeply into the why the Holocaust happened, it sure gives a great deal of insight into how. It is not a sentimental book, which makes it bearable to read, yet the author deftly places some extraordinary personal stories within, and that prevents the book from feeling cold.
The magnitude of the nazi crimes are almost unbelievable in 2011. All the more important to study and remember. Visiting the camps made a huge impression. This book was a very thoughtful supplement.

I first saw this book at the bookstore at Auschwitz while on a visit there this past summer. Reluctant to make a compulsive buy with little knowledge about the book or the author and also reluctant to have to carry an additional book on the rest of my trip, I wrote the down the title and author and came home and researched the work. I am so glad that I did.

It is difficult to review a book that deals with such a terrible subject, however, if you want a clear picture of the German frame of mine during that period and the inner workings of the creation of the camp, this is an excellent book to read.

It should be a must read for any study of the subject.