Laurence Rees

Pretty good book about the Holocaust focusing mainly on Auschwitz that also covers a lot of rest of the so-called Final Solution too; the motivations, personnel, bureaucracy, logistics. etc. The best aspect is the mundanity of it all except for the victims. Most people like you and me, when asked say "I'd never do a thing like that," or I'd resist." Bullshit! Replace the Jew, for which you might not have a great hatred for, by Muslim, or Gay, African-American or Asian, Transgender...you get what I mean. What if your government showed up tomorrow and said: "We want you to take care of these people in resettlement camps," or "How about a nice paying job in the administration, say paying twice what your getting now, with healthcare." Or how about as they are just rounding up these folks or as they truck/bus them by your house. You'd be out in the street throwing rocks, screaming and shouting with a rake at the perpetrators even if they told you they knew where you lived or there was plenty of room for you too, or your kids. Right. Even worse, when they put up those "We're Hiring" notices at three times what your making at WalMart? You'd never do it. Or a cushy executive/manager job in "logistics" or "engineering," where you never have to see a gun, or worse; particularly if your other choice was going to Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Korea, or the Republic of Niger or Mexico. You'd be right there at the job fair, maybe I would too. That's the real scary part. Both sides of the fence were just ordinary people in a civilized modern country, not some madmen.

Look in the mirror tomorrow and seriously ask the question. It'll creep you out.


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The history of the development of Auschqitz-Birkenau is one filled with horror, secrets, and often confusion, but this book does an admirable job of exploring many of the topics that get glossed over. I was very impressed particularly with the effort that the author made to examine the mindsets of many of the Nazy leaders who had direct influence over Jewish policy and the development of the death camps, as well as discusses the stories of lesser SS members who were involved in the everyday running of the camps. Much of this type of psychological speculation is just that - speculation - even though we do have many interviews, documents, and memoirs to work with, but by asking these questions we may be able to answer some of the large social questions that surround that time period, and come to realizations about why these events happenned.… (more)