Customer Reviews

In Hitler's Shadow : An Israeli's Journey Inside Germany's Neo-Nazi Movement (History and Politics)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Svoray's and Taylor's account of the former's investigation in reunified Germany is fast-paced and at points breathtaking, shocking. Svoray certainly uncovers some interesting and repulsive goings-on in the neo-Nazi milieu, and puts himself in considerable danger to do it. The book often seems almost like a movie, with Svoray as the lead.

In fact, not far into the book, the reader may get the impression that, just as in a movie, reality often yields to fiction. Is it plausible, for example, that the head of a trans-Europe smuggling operation would drive alone for five hours through Switzerland and southern Germany to present--personally--an exotic and illegal collection of recording devices and firearms to a complete stranger...all this for a few hundred dollars, and with no prior assurances as to the identity of the buyer? But this is just the beginning of a long row of incomprehensibly stupid acts of blind trust by various Europeans who should have a lot to hide.

Even if much of the cloak-and-dagger stuff is made up, the results of Svoray's investigation ring true: he finds a divided but potentially dangerous neo-Nazi movement in Germany with numbers greater than the German government would like to admit. It is the responsibility of German government and society to stop these fascists, and until they do, watchdog organizations from outside must remain ever vigilant.

However, Svoray goes too far in his criticism of "ordinary Germans." While some Germans may indeed have greater affinity to the far-right's positions than they let on, there are in fact more than a few German people who despise their country's past and who eschew the ideology of Nazism in all its forms, past and present. I cannot think of a single German who is portrayed positively in Svoray's book, though. It goes without saying that the neo-Nazis should be portrayed as they are: vile, ignorant, and repulsive. But no one gets good marks. A student named Stefan, an anti-fascist, serves as Svoray's translator for a while. When the two attend a neo-Nazi celebration, Svoray describes Stefan as unwilling to leave; the insinuation being that Stefan has begun to enjoy the company and ideas of Nazis after just a few hours among them. Towards the end of the book, Svoray and several other Americans have a meeting with the German authorities. The Americans are seated facing a window, squinting and blinking in the bright light...as if the Germans had intentionally reproduced a Gestapo interrogation scene. In short, Germany comes across as a hell-hole populated by people who are usually rude and always Nazi, covertly or overtly.

Svoray and Taylor present us with an interesting book. One only wishes they had aimed for a bit more objectivity.

The author of the book, a Jew and former Israeli paratrooper, took the unbelievable plunge into the world of German neo-Nazism. Far from being dead after the collapse of the Third Reich, Nazism is still alive in the fatherland and is yearning for a come-back. This book chronicles the unbelievable journey Svoray took into the heart of the modern Nazi movement. Yaron Svoray deserves a medal for bravery because of the extremely dangerous assignment he undertook. Because of his courage, the world has been given an urgent warning about the viper that sits curled under its table.

For those who believe that the Nazi atrocities and the rise of Hitler are impossible in our time, "In Hitler's Shadow" summons a monumental wake-up call. The book follows the true story of Yaron Svoray, a former paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Force and detective in Israel's Central Police Command.

While on a personal hunt for hidden World War II treasure in Germany in September 1992, he stumbles across a neo-Nazi contact who introduces him to an old SS officer who served at Buchenwald concentration camp. Returning home, Svoray decides to go uncover as a journalist and explore the German underground of National Socialism. What he found will profoundly disturb you, and Svoray has taped conversations and pictures to back up his story. Posing as a right-wing journalist from America, Svoray infiltrates the darkest depths of the modern Nazi Party, proving that the Nazis never went away, they simply moved underground. Along the way, he befriends a number of committed Nazis, some of them members of the European Parliament, some of them office holders in city governments, and all of them with their eyes on the Reichstag and the Chancellorship of Germany.

This book will mesmerize you because it reads like a spy-thriller, yet it's a true story with no names changed! All those who cherish freedom and loathe bigotry and racism need to read this book. It will remind us all of the personal role we must play in making sure that the horrors of the Holocaust are "never again"...

Britt Gillette...

Svoray's book has an interesting concept of an Israeli man taking up the challenge and going into the midst of the Neo-Nazism movement in Germany, putting his life in danger. However, his book does not really have much depth. It is more descriptive than anything else, and doesn't explore what is more importannt -- the reason why Nazism has been able to flourish even after the horrors of the Holocaust have been revealed. The characters he meets are also unreal, there's the extreme of the totally anti-Nazi students, and the other extreme, the right-wing haters of diversity and anything un-German. After awhile, everyone you encounter in the book -- even the people in Yad Vashem -- come off as character types, rather than real people. Svoray also comes across as self-congratulatory, like, WOW, I HAVE DONE SUCH A BIG THING, I SHOULD BE HAILED AS A HERO. If revealing Neo-Nazism and its pervasiveness in present Germany is his purpose, then perhaps he should cut the posturing. An OK book for superficial facts, but other books would have to be consulted on deeper significance behind the German psyche, the sense of dislocation after reunitfication (some say annexation) and the success of the Neo-Nazi movement.

When I was a senior in college, I had the distinct pleasure of attending one of Svoray's lectures and meeting him afterwards. As soon as I could get my hands on it, I bought a copy of "In Hitler's Shadow." Whether or not you have seen the HBO film, "The Infiltrator," which is based on this book, you should buy the book. Those who have not seen it will benefit from learning about this brave Israeli's heroic infiltration of Germany's growing neo-Nazi movement, and their apathetic response to what Svoray uncovered. Those who have seen the movie were not done justice--the book is far better. Learn just how scary the neo-Nazi movement is, how it has begun its rise once again, and how far reaching it is in society.

Recently, heard the author speak at my college and I was on the edge of my seat. At a monthly, mandatory convocation, during which most snooze, this man not only had our full attention, he left us all wanting to know more. During his talk he told of the many horrors he encountered in his time in Germany. There were times he made us laugh and at others we cried. At the end he recieved a standing ovation. I am planning on buying his book right now since I am unable to forget this compelling story.

I wish I could say enough about this book but I am constrained by space and time.

This book has the feel of a fictionized tale. It is almost too easy to dismiss as a fraud since it seems so unreal. When one reads the book they find themselves immersed in the story of a man's journey into the very heart of evil..for what he finds is non other than the love child of the 3rd Reich.

The pictures contained therin allow the author not only the supreme pleasure of saying a personal : "F*** ***!" ( with such emphasis as only a Jew in the depths of such evil could say ) to these Nazi's but they add a dimension to the book so real you cannot deny the facts. For a particular chill..check out the picture of the young neo-nazi (face only picture) and stare at it..this could be my brother if looks said anything. Seeing these people through their OWN eyes and as an accomplish to their crimes is ... hard to explain. BUY THIS BOOK.

I read this back in 1998, but I'd learned about the German Neo-Nazi movement in 1990, soon after the Berlin Wall came down. It was a favorite topic for the BBC, who love showing the negative side of life. But then again, so do most news services.

Svoray stumbled on this movement while treasure hunting, and writes a blow-by-blow account of his forays into the far-right world. But I can't give him as much credit as he expects. He definitely risked his life by going undercover into the far-right groups and befriending their members, but they weren't exactly secret. The characters, like Heinz Reiss, weren't hiding their beliefs. The part where he gets to visit the training camp was scary, however. It shows how the German police were completely unaware of what was going on.

IN HITLER"S SHADOW also shows you something about Germany's attitude towards Hitler and the Holocaust. It seems that Germany's people somehow erased it from their collective memory. I've encountered many Germans, born after 1945, who truly know nothing about the Holocaust. But consider this; if German high-school history textbooks made no mention of the Death Camps, and the parents never talked about it, how would young Germans know what happened?

I've met countless Holocaust survivors who are angry about what they perceive as Germany's "ignorance." But is it possible that Germany's leaders simply have no idea what to do?

When Neo-Nazi's burned a German immigrant housing center in 1990, the authorities did almost nothing. If they had learned about the Holocaust, and understood the Nazi's xenophobic ideology, then they would've taken it more seriously.

Today, Germany has a population of young people, descended from foreign "guest workers", and these youths are a recruiting pool for Al-Queda. It shows what happens when your country forgets its past.

For those who believe that the Nazi atrocities and the rise of Hitler are impossible in our time, "In Hitler's Shadow" summons a monumental wake-up call. The book follows the true story of Yaron Svoray, a former paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Force and detective in Israel's Central Police Command.

While on a personal hunt for hidden World War II treasure in Germany in September 1992, he stumbles across a neo-Nazi contact who introduces him to an old SS officer who served at Buchenwald concentration camp. Returning home, Svoray decides to go uncover as a journalist and explore the German underground of National Socialism. What he found will profoundly disturb you, and Svoray has taped conversations and pictures to back up his story. Posing as a right-wing journalist from America, Svoray infiltrates the darkest depths of the modern Nazi Party, proving that the Nazis never went away, they simply moved underground. Along the way, he befriends a number of committed Nazis, some of them members of the European Parliament, some of them office holders in city governments, and all of them with their eyes on the Reichstag and the Chancellorship of Germany.

This book will mesmerize you because it reads like a spy-thriller, yet it's a true story with no names changed! All those who cherish freedom and loathe bigotry and racism need to read this book. It will remind us all of the personal role we must play in making sure that the horrors of the Holocaust are "never again"...

Britt Gillette
Author of "Conquest of Paradise: An End-Times Nano-Thriller"

I saw this fellow speak about his supposed experiences with German Neo-Nazis at Kenyon College in 1999 and he was a very effective and highly impassioned speaker. At the time I was impressed. As I look back on the experience now, however, I feel emotionally manipulated. Must everything be as melodramatic as a Hollywood movie?

The relation of his climactic moment with the snuff film reminds me of a bow on a neatly-wrapped package. Too convenient, in my opinion. The implication that watching children murdered is the ultimate extension of an interest in Nationalism is ridiculous.

He just chose to pursue the most twisted people he could find, without giving any objective information on the vast majority of moderate Nationalists.