Through words and pictures the chilling truth emerges. In many respects these monsters were all too normal. Rudolf Hess, the Commandant of Auschwitz, was a family man and hospitable host and yet while there is no record of his committing acts of violence personally he presided over a regime that accounted for over a million deaths. Others such as Amon Goeth and Josef Kramer personally promoted violence and terror and took pleasure from ever more brutal practices. They were competitive in obtaining ‘results’. While following orders from above they did not hesitate to use their own initiative in pursuit of their barbaric objectives.
Every occupied country in Europe was touched by the ‘Final Solution’ and despite the capture, trials and punishment of these leading perpetrators the stain of man’s inhumanity to man, woman and child remains ineradicable.
Justice came too late for millions but the lessons learnt must never be forgotten.
Introduction: Concentration Camps
Chapter 1. Camp Indoctrination
Chapter 3. Reinhard Camp Commandants
Chapter 4. Labour Camp Commandants
Appendix I. Concentration Camp Commandants, 1933–1945
Appendix II. Glossary and Abbreviations
Appendix III. Rank Equivalents