My friends,
I have had a few people contact me after viewing my thread on Concentration Camp photos and ask after some books on the subject. Therefore, I have said that I would post a recommended reading list here. The following books are all titles that I have read and can recommend as being very informative on the subject. This is of course not an all inclusive list and there are no doubt other titles that could be added here, but I have tried to limit this list to those books at the top of my mind that will provide you with a well-rounded examination of the Holocaust in general.
Hitler's Jewish Soldiers, by Brian Rigg. This is a very informative book that explores the fate of individuals in German who were considered to be of mixed descent. The author is somewhat repetitive at times, but overall, the information he shares in this book is a very important component to understanding the scope of Jewish persecution in the Third Reich
Survival In Auschwitz by Primo Levi. Written by an Auschwitz survivor, this book is not a broad view examination of the camp. It is written in something like a dream-like state and is not presented in chronological sequence. Rather, it is a collection of memories and events. Therefore, it can be a bit difficult to follow at times, but it is well worth the effort, particularly the sections of the book that deal with life after the camp was abandoned and before the Soviets liberated it.
Children of the Flames: The Untold Story of Dr. Josef Mengele and the Twins Auschwitz by Lucette Lagnado and others. A very interesting book that recounts the first hand stories of the surviving twins experimented on at Auschwitz.
Into That Darkness: An Examination of Consience by Gitta Sereny. This book should be a must read by anyone interested in the Holocaust. The author spent weeks interviewing Paul Franz Stangl--commandant of Sobibor and Treblinka--just after his trial, he died of heart failure the day after their last interview session! This book is just amazing in the way that it presents Stangl and that author does an excellent job of allowing him to speak for himself and then offering reasonable commentary on his responses to the really hard questions. I was just shocked at the complete dichotomy and contradiction that existed in this man.
Auschwitz: True Tales From a Grotesque Land by Sara Nomberg-Przytyk. Another good firsthand account of survival in Auschwitz, this one recounts the experiences of a woman in the camp. The most interesting part for me was her vivid description of the death march when the SS abandoned the camp. Taken together with Primo Levi's Survival In Auschwitz, you will really get a comprehensive understanding of what people went through at the end of the camp, both those who left with the SS (from Nomberg-Przytyk) and those who hid out in the infirmary or elsewhere and what they went through alone at the camp (from Levi). I would recommend that you read these books back to back.
The Nazi Doctors by Robert Lifton. An important examination of what role the medical profession played in the Holocaust. This book examines in detail that euthanasia program (T4) and that is something that is often overlooked. It also ties in with Sereny's Into That Darkness as she spends a great deal of time talking with Stangl about his opening exposure to extermination working in one of the T4 facilities, many of the things he claims are also backed up by Lifton's research in The Nazi Doctors which helps support the contention that Stangl was being rather candid in his interviews with Sereny.
Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning. This is a study conducted from the documented activities of one of the Reserve Police Battalions that was put into action as mobile killing units on the Eastern Front. The book really does a great job of tackling the ever-asked question of why more people didn't refuse to kill even when they had moral objections and what happened to those people who did refuse to participate. I highly recommend this book; it is an easy read and can be finished in a day!
So, there you have it. These books will provide you with a good basis to be well informed about the Holocaust. If you read these, you will be exposed to information on who really made the killings possible, how it was carried out, the experiences of survivors, and the experiences and fates of both willing and reluctant participants, as well as those people caught in the middle. I hope that this list helps anyone interested. Also, I'm afraid that some of these titles may be out of print, so I don't know if you may be able to find them on Amazon, Ebay, or some source like that for used copies, but it will be well worth your effort to find these titles.
Best Regards,
Chris
I have had a few people contact me after viewing my thread on Concentration Camp photos and ask after some books on the subject. Therefore, I have said that I would post a recommended reading list here. The following books are all titles that I have read and can recommend as being very informative on the subject. This is of course not an all inclusive list and there are no doubt other titles that could be added here, but I have tried to limit this list to those books at the top of my mind that will provide you with a well-rounded examination of the Holocaust in general.
Hitler's Jewish Soldiers, by Brian Rigg. This is a very informative book that explores the fate of individuals in German who were considered to be of mixed descent. The author is somewhat repetitive at times, but overall, the information he shares in this book is a very important component to understanding the scope of Jewish persecution in the Third Reich
Survival In Auschwitz by Primo Levi. Written by an Auschwitz survivor, this book is not a broad view examination of the camp. It is written in something like a dream-like state and is not presented in chronological sequence. Rather, it is a collection of memories and events. Therefore, it can be a bit difficult to follow at times, but it is well worth the effort, particularly the sections of the book that deal with life after the camp was abandoned and before the Soviets liberated it.
Children of the Flames: The Untold Story of Dr. Josef Mengele and the Twins Auschwitz by Lucette Lagnado and others. A very interesting book that recounts the first hand stories of the surviving twins experimented on at Auschwitz.
Into That Darkness: An Examination of Consience by Gitta Sereny. This book should be a must read by anyone interested in the Holocaust. The author spent weeks interviewing Paul Franz Stangl--commandant of Sobibor and Treblinka--just after his trial, he died of heart failure the day after their last interview session! This book is just amazing in the way that it presents Stangl and that author does an excellent job of allowing him to speak for himself and then offering reasonable commentary on his responses to the really hard questions. I was just shocked at the complete dichotomy and contradiction that existed in this man.
Auschwitz: True Tales From a Grotesque Land by Sara Nomberg-Przytyk. Another good firsthand account of survival in Auschwitz, this one recounts the experiences of a woman in the camp. The most interesting part for me was her vivid description of the death march when the SS abandoned the camp. Taken together with Primo Levi's Survival In Auschwitz, you will really get a comprehensive understanding of what people went through at the end of the camp, both those who left with the SS (from Nomberg-Przytyk) and those who hid out in the infirmary or elsewhere and what they went through alone at the camp (from Levi). I would recommend that you read these books back to back.
The Nazi Doctors by Robert Lifton. An important examination of what role the medical profession played in the Holocaust. This book examines in detail that euthanasia program (T4) and that is something that is often overlooked. It also ties in with Sereny's Into That Darkness as she spends a great deal of time talking with Stangl about his opening exposure to extermination working in one of the T4 facilities, many of the things he claims are also backed up by Lifton's research in The Nazi Doctors which helps support the contention that Stangl was being rather candid in his interviews with Sereny.
Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning. This is a study conducted from the documented activities of one of the Reserve Police Battalions that was put into action as mobile killing units on the Eastern Front. The book really does a great job of tackling the ever-asked question of why more people didn't refuse to kill even when they had moral objections and what happened to those people who did refuse to participate. I highly recommend this book; it is an easy read and can be finished in a day!
So, there you have it. These books will provide you with a good basis to be well informed about the Holocaust. If you read these, you will be exposed to information on who really made the killings possible, how it was carried out, the experiences of survivors, and the experiences and fates of both willing and reluctant participants, as well as those people caught in the middle. I hope that this list helps anyone interested. Also, I'm afraid that some of these titles may be out of print, so I don't know if you may be able to find them on Amazon, Ebay, or some source like that for used copies, but it will be well worth your effort to find these titles.
Best Regards,
Chris
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