Customer Reviews

The Theory and Practice of Hell

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Eugene Kogan is a survivor of the concentration camp Buchenwald.In his book he lays down a vivid description of the horrors that he went through and saw others go through , which include some of the execution methods the Nazis used , the harsh treatment at the hands of the SS men , and the harsh living and working conditions.He also includes some of the figures from the various concentration camps such as death rates , food ration s and prisoner count figures for the various camps.If you are interested in knowing what went on in one of the dreaded death camps , this is the book.

The Theory and Practice of Hell is a book that is both enlightening and horrifing. It is the real-life account of Eugen Kogon, a prisoner and Buchenwal, who became Medical Assistant to the Nazi Doctor who performed the infamous human medical experiments. It is a book not for the weak-hearted, and is as truthful and straightforward as walking into the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. It is a must read for all those who wish to find out a little more about the Holocaust.

While the book does give quite a lot of detail on the goings-on at the concentration camp, it is more than just a lurid tale of nasty doings. It presents a strong first-hand analysis of the mindset of the people who perpetrated the acts and of the camp system in general. It exposes the most terrifying thing about the Nazis and about the Holocaust, it makes quite plain the one thing that is so frightening that we deny it over and over, to this very day: The people who did these horrible things were perfectly ordinary people. They weren't cinematic monsters. They were just like us.