Ebook The Theory and Practice of Hell The German Concentration Camps and the System Behind Them Eugen Kogon Heinz Norden Nikolaus Wachsmann 9780374529925 Books

Product details Paperback 368 pages Publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Reprint edition (September 19, 2006) Language English ISBN-10 0374529922

The Theory and Practice of Hell The German Concentration Camps and the System Behind Them Eugen Kogon Heinz Norden Nikolaus Wachsmann 9780374529925 Books Reviews

• I have studied the Holocaust for over 30 years. Logon's book contains many insights that were new to me. I strongly urge anyone interested in knowing what went on day-to-day in the camps in Germany, to buy this book. It is excellent and so insightful. You will not be disappointed.
  
  However, there is one statement on page 312 that is simply not true. He comments, "When the camps were liberated there were virtually no instances in which prisoners committed excesses against captured SS men." A recent book by John McManus entitled "Hell Before Their Very Eyes" states numerous examples of inmate retribution in Dachau, Buchenwald, and Ohrdruf. It seems obvious that this would happen and in my mind, was totally justified behavior.
• This is not a book for light reading, because Mr. Kogon goes into the depths of the horrors a prisoner in the Nazi Concentration Camps was subjected to. While I readily give this book 5 stars, I also warn that it is not really for the faint of heart, because no punches are pulled and the reader learns just what a bunch of real bastards the SS were. You come away wondering just to what depths of depravity a person can sink to after reading some of Kogon's eyewitness accounts of man's inhumanity to man. Please, read this book! I hope you come away with the same feeling I did We must NEVER let this happen again!
• Only giving this 3 stars, as it is not as "readable" as similar books I have just read. "NIGHT" by Elie Wiesel, "AUSCHWITZ" a doctor's eyewitness by Miklos Nyiszli, and "Doctors from Hell" by Vivian Spitz. All three were difficult to put down, and I would give them 5 stars each.
  
  This book, which is incredibly detailed, is not an easy read. The level of detail is what makes it dry and hard to stay with. The author includes lots of names of prisoners , SS officers etc., which tends to bog things down. I have given up on it twice but am committed to finish this book!
  
  Just a note to the publisher, a number of pages have double-print/shadow lines, which were not easy to read so I just skipped those pages all together. I will review again once I have finished the book.
• Well written and documented history of the Nazi concentration camps. Eugen Kogon, a German political prisoner in WWII, worked as a guard in the Buchenwald prison camp. As a Nazi-resister, he enabled Stéphane Hessel to escape certain death by switching his identity with that of a dead prisoner. After the concentration camps were liberated, Kogon provided the Allies with information on the organization of the camps. The detailed descriptions of how the camps were organized may shock the reader but The Theory and Practice of Hell is as relevant today as when written in 1950.
• Immediately after the end of World War II, the Americans wanted a report of how the German concentration camps worked and appointed a committee made up of inmates from Buchenwald concentration camp to document the administrative aspect of the camps. Eugen Kogon, a writer and political activist, headed the committee and within four weeks produced what became a go-to document for the Nuremberg trials and a respected explanation of camp administration.
  The book expands the original report and each chapter covers a specific aspect of the camp, e.g., Daily Routine, Discipline and Scientific Experiments. Kogon is careful to stay objective in his reporting, even when he describes how the Germans beat, starved, tortured and worked inmates to death. He touches on how the prisoners reacted to the camp and how they became numb to their treatment, a by-product of the all-encompassing terror they experienced.
  “The Theory and Practice of Hell” is the most thorough accounting I have found that explains how the Germans ran the concentration camps and I would urge anyone who has asked themselves “How did they do this on such a grand scale?” to read the book.
• Have not read yet. But is very interesting for just thumbing thru
• I am satisfied with this product.
• Book is a little disturbing but Eugen Kogon's expert testimony were used in the Nuremburg Trials so historically his recollections are invaluable.