Auschwitz: The Nazis & The 'Final Solution' - Hardcover

Rees, Laurence

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563521171 ISBN 13: 9780563521174

Publisher: BBC Books, 2005

Synopsis

In this compelling book, highly acclaimed author and broadcaster Laurence Rees tells the definitive history of the most notorious Nazi institution of them all. We discover how Auschwitz evolved from a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners into the site of the largest mass murder in history - part death camp, part concentration camp, where around a million Jews were killed. Auschwitz examines the mentality and motivations of the key Nazi decision makers, and perpetrators of appalling crimes speak here for the first time abouty their actions. Fascinating and disturbing facts have been uncovered - from the operation of a brothel to the corruption that was rife throughout the camp. The book draws on intriguing new documentary material from recently opened Russian archives, which will challenge many previously accepted arguments. This is the story of murder, brutality, courage, excape and survival, and apowerful account of how human tragedy of such immense scale could have happened.

About this title

About the Author

Laurence Rees is the critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling author of a large canon of books, including Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'. His longstanding career as a writer and filmmaker, focusing on the Nazis and World War II, includes the acclaimed television series Nazis: A Warning from History, War of the Century, Horror in the East and Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'. The body of work has won him a myriad of awards including a BAFTA. a Grierson Award and an international Documentary Award. He was educated at Oxford University and held the post of Creative Director of BBC TV History programmes.

From the Inside Flap

In this compelling new book, published to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, highly acclaimed author and broadcaster Laurence Rees tells the definitive history of the most notorious Nazi institution of them all. We discover how Auschwitz evolved from a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners into the site of the largest mass murder in history part death camp, part concentration camp, where around a million Jews were killed.

Rees uses Auschwitz as a window through which to examine the Holocaust in its broader context. He argues that, far from being an aberration, the camp was a uniquely important institution in the Nazi state, one that played a vital role in the Final Solution .

Auschwitz examines the mentality and motivations of the key Nazi decision makers, and perpetrators of appalling crimes speak here for the first time about their actions. Fascinating and disturbing facts have been uncovered from the operation of a brothel to the corruption that was rife throughout the camp. The book draws on intriguing new documentary material from recently opened Russian archives, which will challenge many previously accepted arguments.

Auschwitz lay at the hub of a complex system of extermination that spread throughout Nazi Europe. Rees addresses uncomfortable questions, such as why so few countries under Nazi occupation protected their Jews and why the Allies did little directly to prevent the killing even after they knew about the existence of the camp.

This is a story of murder, brutality, courage, escape and survival, and a powerful account of how a human tragedy of such immense scale could have happened.

Edition details

• Publisher: BBC Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0563521171
• ISBN 13: 9780563521174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320