Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945 [Mass Market Paperback]

Richard Overy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2002

While the trial of Hitler's fallen elite at Nuremberg has been thoroughly documented, the interval between the Nazis' capture in May and June 1945 and the start of the actual trial in late November has until now remained shrouded in shadow. With Interrogations, acclaimed historian Richard Overy opens a new window into the Third Reich, providing an intimate glimpse of the savage dictatorship in its death throes. More than thirty transcripts of the interrogations are reproduced here for the first time, allowing us to hear the voices of the newly captured "Hitler gang"-including Göring, Speer, and Hess-as they squirmed under the llies' glare. Interrogations is the stark and disturbing history of defeat; it lays bare as never before the human weaknesses that made the Third Reich possible.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Desperate rats will devour one another to survive. At the end of World War II, the members of the captured Nazi hierarchy were indeed desperate to survive. Craven and cringing, they dissembled with their captors, attempting to sacrifice one another to escape inescapable guilt. As historian Overy (Russia's War) points out, though there was never any doubt about the criminality of the Nazi regime, subjecting that regime to judicial process was very risky: if the case were not proven, the accused might actually go free. Overy presents excerpts of the pretrial interrogations that provided the Allies with much of the information they needed to convict those responsible for the war and its atrocities. Overy's descriptions of the interrogations and illuminating commentary reveal the leaders of the "master race" to be weak-willed cowards. It was typical for the primary defendants to deny responsibility for the barbarity that occurred right under their noses or to feign incredulity that such fantastic cruelty could even occur. Copiously annotated and supported by an extensive bibliography, Interrogations is highly recommended, especially for academic libraries with a strong emphasis on 20th-century or military history. Michael F. Russo, Louisiana State Univ. Libs., Baton Rouge
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

By June 1945, most of the top Nazi political and military officials were in Allied custody. However, the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal did not convene until late November. During the interval, Goring, Speer, Hess, Jodl, Ley, and many of the lesser lights were interrogated as Allied legal authorities gathered evidence. Overy, professor of modern history at King's College, London, has assembled the transcripts of more than 30 of these interrogations. The results are stunning. Some of the transcripts are sickening, as when relatively minor officials describe with chilling blandness the process of selection for life or death at Auschwitz. Some have a surreal, almost comical, effect, as when Hess, apparently feigning amnesia, claims he does not know Goring, who is trying to engage him in conversation. Franz Von Papen, one of the non-Nazis who felt sensible conservatives could control Hitler, provides invaluable insight into their attitudes toward Hitler and the Nazi movement. This is a riveting but deeply disturbing book, which will make an essential contribution to our understanding of the Nazi era. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142001589
• ISBN-13: 978-0142001585
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #689,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars insight into the political machine and crimes of the Nazis, June 15, 2003

By 

Boris Aleksandrovsky (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945 (Hardcover)

"Interrogations" by Richard Overy is an important book concentrating on the question of prosecution of the perpetrators of Nazi crimes during the WWII during the Nuremberg Trials. The book additionally claims a few insights into the character of Hitler political and military leadership, organization of Nazi state, character of Hitler's minions and the effects of these structures of German people.

First half of the book concerns itself with some legal questions facing the Nuremberg trials, dealing mostly with the ambiguous nature of the tribunal as both legislative and judicial authority, questions of legitimacy of the trial and reconciliation of French and Russian "rational" legal traditions and precepts of Anglo-Saxon common law. Additionally, political problems and disagreements between the Allies on the nature of persecution (although not punishment) are presented in some detail. Later, main defendants and their careers are introduced and the narrative moves to the trial itself.

In the second half, one finds affidavits and interview records for major defendants dealing with the nature and character of leadership and decision making in Nazi dictatorship. Most of them deal with the enigma of Hitler and his hold on military, economic and ideological character of Nazi state. Familiar arguments of "psychological" hold the superhuman strength of Furhers character, and the personal nature of the power structures in Nazi Germany are presented.

Overall, I find the sections dealing with the nature and legal aspects of persecution the most interesting. Unfortunately, the book suffers from the duality of purpose; one could not expect the exhaustive treatment of both the legal issues facing the Allies and nature of War in the same volume. Ad-mixture of primary sources as the Appendix is useful, if however diluting of the main points. One has a feeling that those were added to increase the size of the book, since they lack extensive indexing and other research tools one expects from the professional book in history.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mentality of Atrocity, September 10, 2005

By 

Bu-Chan (Aotearoa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945 (Mass Market Paperback)

I guess most people ask themselves at some time, how do rational, seemingly decent human beings come to the point of sanctioning, organising and then carrying out the systematic destruction of around 11 million people, (give or take), with 6 million of them being Jewish? It is a tough one, and it is even tougher to understand, should one even want to try understanding it.

"Interrogations" by Richard Overy goes some way into seeing how those brought to trial at Nuremberg dealt with the reality of what they had done and how they tried to explain it. The book gives some background information on the charges brought against them, the people carrying out the interrogations and so on. There are a couple of chapters on individuals such as Goering, Hess and Von Papen. Other chapters are based on topical issues, like genocide, Hitler himself, and so on.

It is interesting the way which legal implications of the trials developed. One example is the way in which organisations themselves were deemed "criminal" and then anyone associated with them was open to arrest. The Nazi prisoners protested the move, of course.

Of the individuals, I found Goering the most fascinating, in the sense that he did not seem to attempt any avoidance of responsibility. Others tried to distance themselves, or in the case of Speer, tried to show himself as a neutral civil servant. Goering never seemed to do that, and just accepted his part in it.

People interested in the Nazi phenomena and the Holocaust of the Jews and other victims of the Nazi death camps, "Interrogations" is "essential reading", as another reviewer stated. Thoroughly engrossing and thoroughly recommended.

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good addition to literature on the Nuremberg Trials, July 19, 2002

By 

Scott Swindle (Iraq) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945 (Hardcover)

'Interrogations' brings some new light to the mode of thinking of many of the top Nazis. I have read both 'Nuremberg' by Persico and 'Nuremberg Diary' by Gilbert, and I feel that these books can all interplay with one another. 'Nuremberg' is the overall story of the trial and its main characters. 'Nuremberg Diary' takes us behinds the scenes, so that we see more of the psyche of the Nazis. And finally, this book, 'Interrogations', is a worthy prequel. These are the pre-trial interviews, an area that has been overlooked in the main by chroniclers of the war crimes trials. Here we get testimony concerning Albert Speer's alleged plot to kill Hitler and his cronies; the testimony of Robert Ley, which is often overlooked as he committed suicide before the trials began; and the mystery of Hess's 'amnesia.' Also, some sobering testimony from extermination camp guards, discussing how they hated working in the crematorium because of the smell, but they got used to it enough that they could eat a sandwich while working. Recommended.