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Title: Masters of Death: The Ss-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust by Richard Rhodes ISBN: 0-375-70822-7 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 12 August, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (35 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Horrific Example of Mass Murder
Comment: Masters of Death: The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust by Richard Rhodes is one of the most difficult and disturbing books that I have ever read. It tells the story of the creation of the SS-Einsatzgruppen, the formations that were created by Himmler to kill the Jews, Poles and Russians that had the misfortune to fall behind the German lines. This is book about more than the mere numbers of the dead, although the numbers themselves are horrific. What makes the book so upsetting is the description of the way in which the deaths took place.
Rhodes is not writing about civilians who were killed as part of a military exercise. The SS-Einsatzgruppen were not military fighting formations; rather, they were tasked with the job of eliminating all Jews and other undesirables from lands occupied by the Nazi's. The descriptions include thousands of men, women and children lined up like in a grocery line and walked into pits to lie down one next to another where they were shot. They also include citizens of countries that were occupied who used the opportunity to round up Jewish citizens and kill them through the use of sledge hammers. These are just two examples, but they are representative of the dozens that are described by Rhodes. As one might tell, this is not bedtime reading.
Rhodes does an excellent job in describing the formation of the SS-Einsatzgruppen, as well as the men who formed it. What appears to be the underlying premise of the book is how could the men who carried out these terrible crimes have done so and kept even some semblance of sanity. Rhodes describes the heavy drinking and other diversions used as well as the peer pressure used to extract conformance. In this case conformance meant systematic close up murder of thousands. The basic tenant is that these men were habituated through a deliberate process. However, this explanation goes only so far. The acts of the SS-Einsatzgruppen were not an isolated incident such as the barbarity of the Japanese sacking of Nanking (See The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang), but a concerted, continuos effort over several years where men were forced to participate in the slaughter of innocent men, women and children head-on.
Rhodes explanation for the acts of the SS-Einsatzgruppen is left hallow. At times the barbarity of the acts overwhelms an attempt to explain the whys. And for that matter the whys may seem irrelevant. But Rhodes attempts to explain the whys and the hows is at a minimum a noble efforts. After finishing the book one does not have the answer, but that does not mitigate against the fact that this is a book worthy of reading.
Rating: 4
Summary: Unremitting, Important, Well-Written
Comment: Richard Rhodes has dealt with violent topics in the past but nothing matches the horrors committed in this book on such a personal level. Masters of Death (The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust) will bring the reader quite close to the horrificly committed mass murders from both the perspectivie of the killers and the victims (of those very few who managed to survive). There is a little pyschobabble near the beginning mixed in with small bios of Hitler and Himmler that does not entirely hold together but it is minimal and, in no way, interferes with the important story told here. The author shows how the killing of Jews in Eastern Europe developed the methods and hardened the men, by making horror routine, to the Holocaust that followed of whiich these first years of killings were a part. This book is an important addition to Holocaust literature by an accomplished writer. This book is both very hard to read and difficult to put down.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent history lesson.
Comment: I can't even begin to tell you everything that I learned from this book. "Masters of Death" was my text book for my "history of the world wars" class last semester. This book gives you an indepth look into the beginings of Himmler's S.S and their chilling crimes on humanity. "Masters of Death" is a well researched text that gives an uncanny perspective into the final solution with out beging repeative or dull. This book is full with eye witness acounts, survivor testimonies and statments from S.S officals. Backgrounds of S.S big wings like Himmler, Heydrich, and Eichmann are also included. This book doesn't pull any punches. It gives you exactly what happened how it happened. Be prepaired to read things that amaze and sadden you. This is a powerful book and you'll remember what you read long after your done. I highly recomend it.
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Title: The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor ISBN: 0142002801 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945 by Richard Overy ISBN: 0142001589 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the Ss Kommandant at Auschwitz by Rudolf Hoss, Steven Paskuly, Andrew Pollinger, Primo Levi ISBN: 0306806983 Publisher: Da Capo Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor ISBN: 0140284583 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Auschwitz : A Doctor's Eyewitness Account by Miklos Nyiszli ISBN: 1559702028 Publisher: General Pub. Date: 01 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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