Customer Reviews

The Interrogator: The Story of Hanns Joachim Scharff: Master Interrogator of the Luftwaffe (Schiffer Military History)

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Having researched the history of the post that was formerly Dulag Luft as it is known. "Auswerstelle West" as it should have been referred to after 1941. I found this book to be extremely helpful. As children we always think of torture when it came to interrogations- the common tv perception. It was refreshing to find that the techniques used were not that much different than those employed by today's law enforcement- no not the TV cops with the physical abuse. I grew up on the post, later a US Army post, and the rumors were rampant.I also find it refreshing to see that the Author, Raymond Toliver, a true historian, who has a passion for the subject, addressed the issues of how prisoners were treated by the allies after the war. This book is a must read for anyone who is serious about researching how allied pilots were treated. It would also serve those who are serving today to see the trickery- craft- used by the interrogors.It was also amazing to learn the types of intelligence collected and how it was collated. 5 stars a must read.

This book is a fast reader and proves that one doesn't need to beat, hit, scream at, or torture people (as is portrayed in the movies) to get information from them. If you're interested in interrogation techniques and some mind games employed by the Nazi's and the extensive database that they maintained on Allied pilots, this book is definitely for you.

We've seen him many times shining a bright white light in the face of his battered, starved, and barely conscious prisoners, this stereotype of the wicked Nazi interrogator. But this is a fiction for propoganda purposes. Hans Scharff was the real thing, no torture, no bright lights, only treating his prisoners with the utmost respect and humanity. In fact, when he emigrated from Germany to the United States, it was his former prisoners who sponsored his entry into the U.S. and subsequent citizenship. Yet this respect for the enemy is precisely the key which also made him one of the most successful of German interrogators. He gives details of information which he got from prisoners who firmly claimed that they never told him anything. One photo in the book shows Scharff standing talking to Gen. James Doolittle, leader of the first raid on Tokyo and the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing of Germany, and Gen. Curtis LeMay, father of the Strategic Air Command, at a reception. This photo shows the respect with which Scharff is held since the publication of the first edition of this book in the 1970s, especially when Scharff was only the equivalent of a Private First Class in the Luftwaffe! When the first edition of this book was published, it became the unofficial textbook for the Army Interrogation school at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He is arguably the brightest star in the heaven of prisoner-of-war interrogators.

This book also has a dark side, however, starkly contrasted with the shining career of Scharff. It includes a stereotype-shattering expose of how the U.S. and British Armies mistreated German prisoners after the surrender, literally allowing thousands of them to die of starvation and exposure by not declaring them to be prisoners of war and thus not subject to Geneva Convention standards of care. Because of this misuse of the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. and British Armies didn't have to feed them or give them shelter. They wouldn't even allow the disarmed Germans to go home, opting to hold them instead for months in open-air enclosures that became death camps. While Axis POWs in the U.S. were treated well, the postwar treatment of the Germans in Europe ranks with Andersonville, Georgia, and Alton, Illinois, as black stains on U.S. history. Scharff somehow survived this nightmare treatment and his story is one of the triumph of human dignity in the face of astonishing organized evil.

This book is a must for anyone interested in military intelligence or the treatment of prisoners of war in general.

Scharff's career as an interrogator was phenomonial, and this book exposes some of his tricks of the trade in working information out of the cream of the crop: Allied airmen. As someone who knew and interviewed dozens of airmen and pilots who fell into his hands, as well as having worked with Ray Toliver on other endeavors, this book is perhaps the only factual, unabridged expose on German intelligence gathering that destroys the wartime and post-war propaganda. Scharff was, of course, one of a kind. However, his method set the standard for Cold War interrogation policy. An important book for all students of intelligence history and operations. I am proud to have an autographed copy in my collection.

The book is a bit too long and some times rambling. According to the Introduction (at page 12), the book actually consists of two books, one based on the wartime diary of a Luftwaffe interrogator (Hanns Joachim Scharff) and one book written by Raymond F. Toliver about the successes of that Luftwaffe interrogator. The book would have been easier to read, and easier to learn from, if it had been shortened and made more focused. But, despite that flaw, the book gives some interesting insights into wartime interrogations of Allied airmen captured by the Germans during WW II.

The book shows how interrogations of captured Allied airmen were often successful in producing results that could be combined with other sources of information to develop military intelligence for the Luftwaffe. If you have the patience to overlook the book's bloated length and somewhat rambling style, you can find some important ideas about how the Luftwaffe interrogator combined patience, courtesy, insight into human psychology, thoughtful questions, a bit of common sense, some trickery, and creative problem solving to conduct effective interrogations of captured Allied airmen.

There is an interesting book about the interrogation of Japanese prisoners of war during WW II that provides similar insights into the subject. That other book is: Alexander D. Corbin, The History of Camp Tracy: Japanese WWII POWs and the Future of Strategic Interrogation(Ziedon Press, 2009).

I am German and inhabitant of the german town Oberursel, where Ray Toliver's Story mainly happens. I reside just a few miles away from the former "Interrogator Camp", which was later (after World War II) run from the U.S. Military Forces for more than 25 years. The time when american soldiers lived "next door", was my youth, and so I had a lot of contacts to all the american people I met there, and today I have a lot of fine memories. The story and the description of the whole terrain of the later "Camp King" was a good opportunity to complete my knowledge about this place.

Good stuff also for all americans which are interested in the U.S.-German relationship after WW II!

Though this is not not quite a story from dracula's point of view it is interesting to see things from the point of view of someone on the 'other' side. One thing that I saw as glaringly missing was his not mentioning much of anything about being a part of the Nazi war machine...excuses, justifications or otherwise. It could be said that everyone(nearly) fought and that he was just doing his job but he comes across as someone who should have known better. His interrogation techniques are of course a big part of this book. They are fascinating and should be studied by those who feel that torture is the best(or only) method. Another interesting component of this book are his anecdotes about a number of coincidences that occur throughout the war that seem almost unbelievable but ones that I can't see being made up(and too easy to refute if they were). It all makes for an interesting book but of course it will be most meaningful to those history buffs out there that enjoy and have some background in both WW2 and WW2 air war genre's.

Mr. Scharff demonstrates how kindness and compassion win through the defenses of the enemy. It is a lesson to be learned for all who deal with people.

The book is not an adventure story but mostly the words of a man of the WW II generation. It is rich in insight to the heart and needs of man.

This book focuses on the interrogation tactics used by Hans J. Scharff on allied airmen that had been captured. Although the airmen were highly trained in resistance, he still managed to complete his task of obtaining information. The Author did an excellent job of telling the story. Also, on a personal note, I found it interesting to see what happened on a post where I grew up so many years before I lived there.

Great snapshot of WWII Germany's intelligence collection capabilities. Showcases in just a few examples how they fused all their collection efforts for greater capability. Reads like a verbal documentary. A little hard to follow at times due to the writing style but has some excellent story vignettes.