Book picks similar to
Witness to the Holocaust by Michael Berenbaum


holocaust
biographies-and-memoirs
true-crime
world-war-ii-europe

Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz


Thomas Harding - 2013
    In the aftermath of the Second Word War, the first British War Crimes Investigation Team is assembled to hunt down the senior Nazi officials responsible for the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen. One of the lead investigators is Lieutenant Hanns Alexander, a German Jew who is now serving in the British Army. Rudolf Höss is his most elusive target. As Kommandant of Auschwitz, Höss not only oversaw the murder of more than one million men, women, and children; he was the man who perfected Hitler’s program of mass extermination. Höss is on the run across a continent in ruins, the one man whose testimony can ensure justice at Nuremberg. Hanns and Rudolf reveals for the very first time the full, exhilarating account of Höss’s capture, an encounter with repercussions that echo to this day. Moving from the Middle Eastern campaigns of the First World War to bohemian Berlin in the 1920s to the horror of the concentration camps and the trials in Belsen and Nuremberg, it tells the story of two German men- one Jewish, one Catholic- whose lives diverged, and intersected, in an astonishing way.

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948


Madeleine K. Albright - 2012
    Drawing on her memory, her parents' written reflections, interviews with contemporaries, and newly available documents, Albright recounts a tale that is by turns harrowing and inspiring. Prague Winter is an exploration of the past with timeless dilemmas in mind and, simultaneously, a journey with universal lessons that is intensely personal.The book takes readers from the Bohemian capital's thousand-year-old castle to the bomb shelters of London, from the desolate prison ghetto of Terezín to the highest councils of European and American government. Albright reflects on her discovery of her family's Jewish heritage many decades after the war, on her Czech homeland's tangled history, and on the stark moral choices faced by her parents and their generation. Often relying on eyewitness descriptions, she tells the story of how millions of ordinary citizens were ripped from familiar surroundings and forced into new roles as exiled leaders and freedom fighters, resistance organizers and collaborators, victims and killers. These events of enormous complexity are never-theless shaped by concepts familiar to any growing child: fear, trust, adaptation, the search for identity, the pressure to conform, the quest for independence, and the difference between right and wrong."No one who lived through the years of 1937 to 1948," Albright writes, "was a stranger to profound sadness. Millions of innocents did not survive, and their deaths must never be forgotten. Today we lack the power to reclaim lost lives, but we have a duty to learn all that we can about what happened and why." At once a deeply personal memoir and an incisive work of history, Prague Winter serves as a guide to the future through the lessons of the past—as seen through the eyes of one of the international community's most respected and fascinating figures.

Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World's Most Notorious Nazi


Neal Bascomb - 2009
    Following his escape from two American POW camps, his retreat into the mountains and out of Europe, and his path to an anonymous life in Buenos Aires, his pursuers are a bulldog West German prosecutor, a blind Argentinean Jew and his beautiful daughter, and a budding, ragtag spy agency called the Mossad, whose operatives have their own scores to settle (and whose rare surveillance photographs are published here for the first time). The capture of Eichmann and the efforts by Israeli agents to secret him out of Argentina to stand trial is the stunning conclusion to this thrilling historical account, told with the kind of pulse-pounding detail that rivals anything you'd find in great spy fiction.

Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields


Wendy Lower - 2013
    Then they became the Trümmerfrauen, or Rubble Women, as they cleared and tidied their ruined country to get it back on its feet. They were Germany's heroines. The few women tried and convicted after the war were simply the evil aberrations - the camp guards, the female Nazi elite - that proved this rule.However, Wendy Lower's research into the very ordinary women who went out to the Nazi Eastern Front reveals an altogether different story. For ambitious young women, the emerging Nazi empire represented a kind of Wild East of career and matrimonial opportunity. Over half a million of them set off for these new lands, where most of the worst crimes of the Reich would occur.Through the interwoven biographies of thirteen women, the reader follows the transformation of young nurses, teachers, secretaries and wives who start out in Weimar and Nazi Germany as ambitious idealists and end up as witnesses, accomplices and perpetrators of the genocide in Ukraine, Poland and Belarus. Hitler's Furies presents overwhelming evidence that the women in these territories actively participated in the mass murder - and some became killers. In the case of women like Erna Petri, who brought her family to her husband's impressive Polish SS estate, we find brutality as chilling as any in history.Hitler's Furies is indelible proof that we have not known what we need to know about the role of women in the Nazi killing fields - or about how it could have been hidden for seventy years. It shows that genocide is women's business as well as men's and that, in ignoring women's culpability, we have ignored the reality of the Holocaust.

SARGE!: Cases of a Chicago Police Detective Sergeant in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s


John DiMaggio - 2018
    DiMaggio, one of the most decorated officers on the force during a career that spanned the years 1957 to 1991. Among his awards are two Superintendent’s Awards of Valor, Mayor Richard J. Daley’s Praiseworthy Acknowledgment Plaque for Exceptional Act of Bravery Involving Risk of Life, a Presidential Citation of Appreciation, the Illinois Police Association Award of Valor, and many more.Upon his retirement in 1991, DiMaggio wrote a fascinating account of his work as a cop. The manuscript languished among his personal effects until after his death in 2008, after which his family decided to resurrect it, spruce it up, and submit it for publication. It turns out that he was an excellent word craftsman and storyteller; in fact, he was no stranger to writing—for many years he wrote the “Ask Sarge” column for the Mystery Writers of America Midwest Chapter newsletter.Told in a conversational, “regular guy” voice in episodic fashion, “SARGE!” reveals to the reader what it was really like to be a cop. The manuscript in many ways takes the form of a prose treatment of a weekly television police drama. A large selection of PHOTOS is included.DiMaggio takes the reader back to the decades such as the turbulent 1960s, when the police department was making a painful transition from “old school” to modernization. The author describes firsthand the legendary riots that occurred in Chicago after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He illustrates the integration of minorities into the department and how that played out. He also goes into famous cases of corruption and the politics of navigating such a large department. One of the “set pieces” of the book is the story of how DiMaggio, as part of the “Three Musketeers”—a trio that included two detectives who were close friends—investigated a series terrifying slasher attacks on women that occurred in the city in the mid-70s. The case became one of the police department’s most memorable. Among the other cases detailed in the book include how DiMaggio found himself entering the home of a crazed young man holding hostages with a shotgun; the investigation of the discovery of a headless corpse; the take-down of the Chicago “Mad Bomber”; how an anonymous audio tape provided clues to the identities of armed robbers; and the manhunt for a cop killer. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and The Chicago Police Foundation.

Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans


Vivien Spitz - 2005
    This is the account of 23 men torturing and killing by experiment in the name of scientific research and patriotism. The book includes trial transcripts that have not been easily available to the general public and previously unpublished photographs used as evidence in the trial. The author describes the experience of being in bombed-out, dangerous, post-war Nuremberg, where she lived for two years while working on the trial. Once a Nazi sympathiser tossed bombs into the dining room of the hotel where she lived moments before she arrived for dinner. She takes us into the courtroom to hear the dramatic testimony and see the reactions of the defendants to the proceedings. The doctors tell of experiments involving depriving concentration camp inmates of oxygen; freezing them; injecting them with malaria, typhus, and jaundice; amputating healthy limbs; forcing them to drink seawater for weeks at a time; and other horrors.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Behind the Story (Backstage Pass to Novels)


Behind the Story Team - 2011
    Inspired by a hunger to know the story behind every good read and governed by the vision that what has transpired has a story to tell, we’ve brought Behind the Story™ for every book fan to enjoy.Our mission is to enable novel lovers all around the world to heighten and enrich their reading experience like they’ve never thought possible before… Begun “For the Fans, By the Fans“, we take our readers on a tour by the hand to show what is behind the curtains – what is “Behind the Story”That’s what makes us smile. Now, let us share it with you.Praises from: The "Behind the Story Effect"After reading a BTS... You feel inspired to follow your hearts and dreams... — ArshiI felt like the Behind the Story offered a new look into the book, and appreciated that, as most of the time, that angle is unexplored.— Aspiring AuthorEver been backstage at a concert? Here you go -- in written form.— Author, EditorI felt enriched with knowledge about the book, and I felt like I knew more about the book. — Aspiring AuthorIt makes me discover new things, and when I re-read the book, my emotions are different, deeper now that I understand what's behind the book.— KarlenI felt closer to the writer knowing more about them as a person and why they wrote what they wrote. — The Beta Reading ClubGet ready for one of the most unique experiences you will ever have...this is definitely CliffNotes and SparkNotes on Steroids. — Author, EditorSAMPLE EXCERPT:Inspiration is a hackneyed word in the creative writing world. All writers are inspired by something. Perhaps a better word to help phrase the question of ‘what inspired Jamie Ford to write his historical-fiction novel’ might be enthused, spurred, stimulated, or impassioned.The answer was a small red button pinned to Jamie’s father’s shirt that read: “I am Chinese.” A simple statement that became the title of the short story that grew into Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet—the same short story that his workshop editor urged him to turn into something bigger. The button distinguished Chinese residents from the Japanese community, the perceived enemy, whom the American government persecuted after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. It was the paranoia epidemic and the destruction of Japan towns across the United States that forms the historical backdrop of Ford’s novel.When Jamie’s father, an only child, passed away thus severing the links with his Asian heritage, he begin to explore his legacy and unearthed the histories that became the seeds of his novel. It was during his research about the Wah Mee club massacre in Seattle, that Ford encountered other people from his father’s generation who had had to wear the little red badge...

A World Without Jews: The Nazi Imagination from Persecution to Genocide


Alon Confino - 2014
    In this gripping new analysis, Alon Confino draws on an array of archives across three continents to propose a penetrating new assessment of one of the central moral problems of the twentieth century. To a surprising extent, Confino demonstrates, the mass murder of Jews during the war years was powerfully anticipated in the culture of the prewar years.   The author shifts his focus away from the debates over what the Germans did or did not know about the Holocaust and explores instead how Germans came to conceive of the idea of a Germany without Jews. He traces the stories the Nazis told themselves—where they came from and where they were heading—and how those stories led to the conclusion that Jews must be eradicated in order for the new Nazi civilization to arise. The creation of this new empire required that Jews and Judaism be erased from Christian history, and this was the inspiration—and justification—for Kristallnacht. As Germans imagined a future world without Jews, persecution and extermination became imaginable, and even justifiable.

Somewhere There Is Still a Sun: A Memoir of the Holocaust


Michael Gruenbaum - 2015
    All of that changed forever when the Nazis invaded Prague. The Gruenbaum family was forced to move into the Jewish Ghetto in Prague. Then, after a devastating loss, Michael, his mother and sister were deported to the Terezin concentration camp.At Terezin, Misha roomed with forty other boys who became like brothers to him. Life in Terezin was a bizarre, surreal balance - some days were filled with friendship and soccer matches, while others brought mortal terror as the boys waited to hear the names on each new list of who was being sent 'to the East.'Those trains were going to Auschwitz. When the day came that his family's name appeared on a transport list, their survival called for a miracle - one that tied Michael's fate to a carefully sewn teddy bear, and to his mother's unshakeable determination to keep her children safe.Collaborating with acclaimed author Todd Hasak-Lowy, Michael Gruenbaum shares his inspiring story of hope in an unforgettable memoir that recreates his experiences with stunning immediacy. Michael's story, and the many original documents and photos included alongside it, offer an essential contribution to Holocaust literature.The book is now available in 12 languages: English (Simon and Schuster), German (Rowohlt), French (Didier Jeunesse), Spanish (Edelvives) , Greek (Papadopoulos Publishing), Russian (Samokat), Turkish, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Czech, Burmese (Myanmar) and Sinhala (Sri Lanka); Bulgarian and Khmer (Cambodia) are scheduled later this year. Publishers in China, Israel, The Netherland, Brazil, Italy, Tanzania (Swahili and Kinyarwanda), Romania, Japan and others are also close to signing up. Our goal is still the same - to have the book be added to the curricula of all middle schools around the world.. Simon and Schuster, together with Scholastic, sold 75,000 copies of the book in the USA last year.

Operation Eichmann: The Truth about the Pursuit, Capture and Trial


Zvi Aharoni - 1996
    Adolf Eichmann is already in this country under arrest and will shortly be brought to trial."Operation Eichmann, as the pursuit, capture, and trial of the notorious Nazi official was known, stunned the world. Its success was due largely to the unceasing efforts of one man, Zvi Aharoni, an experienced Mossad operative who was a skilled investigator and interrogator. He tracked Eichmann to Argentina, secured photographs that established his identity, and was a key player in the plot to kidnap the exiled war criminal and bring him to trial. Above all, as the sole person to interrogate "the architect of the Final Solution" after his capture, and the man who convinced Eichmann to admit his identity and face trial in Israel, Zvi Aharoni is the only one who knows firsthand what Eichmann actually said—a controversial subject often misrepresented in previous accounts.Now, for the first time in Aharoni's own words, comes the extraordinary true story behind one of history's most famous manhunts. Daring, dramatic, filled with episodes of breathtaking suspense and intrigue, Operation Eichmann is also a powerful chronicle of conscience and of the never-ending search for justice.All the intricate planning and preparation, the relentless pursuit of evidence, the constant need to justify time and expense are related with exacting detail. As events unfold, various political, personal, and philosophical issues come into play, focusing not only on a top secret mission, but on the priorities of individuals—as well as nations—during the Cold War era. The startling complicity of those who gave refuge to and provided safe passage for fleeing Nazi leaders reveals an expansive network of global proportions, while the seeming indifference of others is equally chilling. Adding to the tension is the emotional toll imposed on the participants, for whom the operation became a constant exploration of the theme of justice vs. revenge.A probing, deeply personal account of a real-life undertaking to rival the most breathless cloak-and-dagger fiction, Operation Eichmann is a powerful, compelling reading experience."Operation Eichmann has been covered by a wide range of 'literature.' However, in all the books written so far there have been certain constraints which have meant that the writers were not able to present a full and correct picture of what actually happened. There is no doubt that this book represents an objective and authentic addition to the tale of heroism that led to the capture of Eichmann and his standing trial in Israel. Without Zvi Aharoni and his friends, we would never have achieved what we did."

The Men on the Sixth Floor


Glen Sample - 2003
    The web of murder and greed is clearly explained in this book that was the first to reveal the strong ties that developed from Malcolm Wallace all the way to the Johnson White House - encircling the richest and most influential men in Texas - oil barons, weapons manufacturers, and businessmen who would consider the removal of John Kennedy an act of patriotism.

Defiance: The Bielski Partisans


Nechama Tec - 1993
    Winner of the 1990 Christopher Award. 11 halftones; 2 line drawings.

Little Victim: Britain's Vulnerable Children and the Cops Who Rescue Them


Harry Keeble - 2011
    We learn the victims' stories backwards, from the point when Harry contacts them, right back to when the abuse started. The reader is given a police- and victim-based account of these incredible tales of survival.

The Holocaust Chronicle: A History in Words and Pictures


John K. Roth - 2000
    During World War II, six million Jews—as well as other targeted groups including Poles, the handicapped, and homosexuals—were systematically murdered by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and its collaborators. Although the weight and heft of The Holocaust Chronicle cannot capture the immensity of its subject, the book’s 768 pages suggest that the Holocaust is a topic that must be openly confronted. Written and fact-checked by top scholars, the chronicle offers:A 3,000-item timeline pinpointing specific events that contributed to the Holocaust, such as Nazi Germany occupation during World War II, the sealing of urban ghettos in Europe, and the deportation of millions of Jews to death camps.Nearly 2,000 photographs chronicling the Holocaust in starkly visual terms, including images of the massacre of more than 33,000 Ukrainian Jews at Babi Yar and pictures from the liberation of Auschwitz and other concentration camps.Fourteen chapter-opening essays that put the most important years of the Holocaust and its immediate aftermath into perspective, beginning with Hitler’s rise to power and ending with the convictions of such Nazi officials as Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg Trial.More than 250 sidebars detailing the significant places, issues, events, and people of the Holocaust, including Anne Frank and Heinrich Himmler.An extensive prologue and epilogue that discuss the buildup to and aftermath of the Holocaust.* This is an alternate cover of Holocaust Chronicle: A History in Words and Pictures (ISBN-13: 9781680228328), content is the same. *

The Eternal Nazi: From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS Doctor Aribert Heim


Nicholas Kulish - 2014
    officer Aribert Heim’s secret life in Egypt comes the never-before-told story of the most hunted Nazi war criminal in the world.Dr. Aribert Heim worked at the Mauthausen concentration camp for only a few months in 1941 but left a devastating mark. According to the testimony of survivors, Heim euthanized patients with injections of gasoline into their hearts. He performed surgeries on otherwise healthy people. Some recalled prisoners' skulls set out on his desk to display perfect sets of teeth. Yet in the chaos of the postwar period, Heim was able to slip away from his dark past and establish himself as a reputable doctor and family man in the resort town of Baden-Baden. His story might have ended there, but for certain rare Germans who were unwilling to let Nazi war criminals go unpunished, among them a police investigator named Alfred Aedtner. After Heim fled on a tip that he was about to be arrested, Aedtner turned finding him into an overriding obsession. His quest took him across Europe and across decades, and into a close alliance with legendary Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. The hunt for Heim became a powerful symbol of Germany's evolving attitude toward the sins of its past, which finally crested in a desire to see justice done at almost any cost. As late as 2009, the mystery of Heim’s disappearance remained unsolved. Now, in The Eternal Nazi, Nicholas Kulish and Souad Mekhennet reveal for the first time how Aribert Heim evaded capture--living in a working-class neighborhood of Cairo, praying in Arabic, beloved by an adopted Muslim family--while inspiring a manhunt that outlived him by many years. It is a brilliant feat of historical detection that illuminates a nation’s dramatic reckoning with the crimes of the Holocaust.