Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz

Customer Reviews:

Rudolph Hoess (Auschwitz Kommandant) and the Clarification of Some Holocaust Misconceptions.......2007-05-31

I give this book five stars because of its historical value. This work not only gives insight into the mind of the leader of perhaps the greatest death factory ever built, but also allows a clearing-up of some errors that have accreted in the decades since that horrible time.

Hoess rejected God and the Church (p. 52-53, 57, 59, 72, 192), having rebelled against his father's wish that he become a priest. Like Himmler, he became an Artaman (pp. 202-203; a communal movement resembling the 1960's US communes, albeit Teutonic-centered) before switching to Nazism for his substitute religion.

Hoess wrote: "Until the beginning of 1942 the main body of prisoners was Polish." (p. 128). Many Poles were murdered secretly (the cause of death listed as natural), "...because of political and security reasons..." (p. 224).

During the Auschwitz Carmelite convent controversy, attempts were made to belittle the victimhood of Auschwitz Poles through the premise that they, unlike most Jews, were not generally killed upon arrival at Auschwitz. Hoess, in contrast, rejected any such dichotomy (if anything, praising the slow-death genocidal methods--as perfected by the Communists): "The Gestapo delivered the prisoners to the camps to be exterminated. It made no difference to them whether it happened by firing squad, gas, or by the horrible conditions in the camps. It was part of their plan not to improve conditions in the camps...Thus, the concentration camps were changed deliberately, and sometimes unintentionally, into large-scale extermination centers. The Kommandants received extensive composite reports from the Gestapo about the Soviet concentration camps. Escaped prisoners had made reports about the conditions and organization of these camps down to the smallest detail. They emphasized that by using forced labor methods the Soviets were annihilating entire nationalities." (pp. 168-169).

Holocaust-uniqueness advocates sometimes claim that the genocide of the Polish intelligentsia, unlike that of Jews, served a rational purpose--the elimination of resistance. Actually, the latter was, at most, a hoped-for byproduct of this nation-destroying act: "I want to add this, that the general opinion at SS headquarters was that the total annihilation of the Polish intelligentsia would also destroy the resistance movement. [SS Major] Thomsen was an ardent defender of this theory." (p. 322).

Initial plans to kill all Jews gave way to the sparing of some of them for forced labor (p. 34).

Hoess discussed the Jewish Sonderkommando in considerable detail. Those Jews temporarily got to save their lives by dutifully assisting in the deception, gassing, despoiling, and cremation of their fellow Jews. He also observed Jew-against-Jew behavior by some Jews who had no hope of postponing their own deaths. As they entered the gas chambers, they told Germans the addresses of fugitive Jews back home. Hoess commented: "I cannot explain what motivated them to reveal this information. Was it personal revenge, or were they jealous because they did not want the others to live on?" (p. 160).

In common with many Germans, Hoess attempts to rationalize his exterminatory conduct by equating it with the Allied bombings of German women and children. He estimates German civilian casualties in the several millions (p. 171), which is at least a 20-fold exaggeration.

As for lebensraum, Hoess belatedly concluded that Germany could have achieved it peacefully (p. 182).

Hoess suggested that crude propaganda such as Der Sturmer had hindered the development of scientific anti-Semitism (p. 140). He also came to believe that the extermination of Jews only brought hatred against Germany and increased Jewish power by discrediting anti-Semitism (p. 183).

This volume isn't limited to Hoess' memoirs. The entire Wannsee Protocol is printed in translation. It is obvious that the choice of Poland as the site of the German death camps was based solely on practical considerations (minimalized transportation) and had nothing to do with real or stereotyped Polish attitudes towards Jews: "State Secretary Dr. Buehler declared that the government of Occupied Poland would welcome it if the final solution to this question would be started in Occupied Poland. His reason: transport plays no important role here and the deployment of workers during the operation would not cause any problems." (p. 380).

A very good tranlation.......2007-01-06

My opinion is based on the comparison with the orginal publication in German, which I purchased in 1960 to provide essential information for the subsequent psychiatric evaluations of several thousand Holocaust survivors.

Rudolf Hoess' Mistress Interviewed.......2006-10-15

After Dachau was liberated, Army intelligence interviewed a woman at the camp who claimed to have been Rudolf Hoess' mistress while at Auschwitz. What details they could check were confirmed, and her interview became part of a Seventh Army report issued a few weeks later, a report that has been republished as Dachau Liberated: The Official Report (ISBN: 1587420031). For those who want to understand the infamous Hoess, that interview of "E.H." provides a much-needed check on his obviously self-serving autobiography. Here's a short passage from her interview:

"According to my recollection, on December 16, 1942, about 11 p.m. I was already asleep, suddenly the C.O. appeared before me. I hadn't heard the opening of my cell and was such frightened. It was dark in the cell. I believed at first it was an SS man or a prisoner and said, "What is this tomfoolery, I forbid you." Then I heard "Pst," and a pocket lamp was lighted and lit the face of the C.O. I broke out "Herr Kommandant."

Hoess didn't mention this clandestine affair in his autobiography, but details she gave fit with his account and with conditions at Auschwitz.

IT WAS NOT HOESS' FAULT.......2005-05-02

There is another autobiography of Hoess titled "Commandant of Auschwitz: The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess". I would be interested in reading that account but am curious how that could differ from "Death Dealer". Given the circumstances the man at the end of his life did not have a whole lot of time to write different autobiographies. My guess is the two books are essentially the same.

As for Death Dealer itself it is not often one reads an account of the concentration camps from the "other side". I had read other summaries that portrayed Hoess as a mid-level cold-hearted bureaucrat whose account of his SS career was pretty much emotionless and he treated his activities in the same manner an accountant or a department store manager or a mechanic or (pick a career) would describe their career. I thought before reading the book that whatever one may say about him he would at least not grovel for forgiveness and would defiantly flip his middle finger at the world before climbing the steps of the gallows. After all, when he wrote his memoirs in 1946 and 1947, there was little suspense over what his fate would be. So sugar coating his past was not going to change his future.

Although there may have been some shred of decency in the man one could not escape the feeling that he recognized himself as a war criminal only because his captors called him a war criminal. In other words his "mea culpa" would probably not score high on the sincerity scale. The victorious Allies were the new authorities over his life and if they considered him guilty and a war criminal then he was guilty and a war criminal. Whether he personally thought so or not was not relevant. And that was pretty much how he conducted his life. Whoever his authority was pretty much controlled his life. He was the commandant of the most notorious of all Nazi death camps because his superiors made him the commandant. He killed because he was told to kill -- just as he was to die because he was told he had to die.

He admitted the horrible conditions of Auschwitz -- and other camps. It was not Hoess' fault. His superiors -- starting with Hitler and Himmler -- put impossible demands on him and did not provide adequate resources. The conditions were horrible and only got worse as the war progressed due to the lack of resources due to the stranglehold the Allies put on Germany. It was not Hoess' fault. The inadequate resources included inadequate officers, staff, and guards who committed many atrocities for which he had little or no control. It was not Hoess' fault. The inadequate resources included inadequate building material, latrines, barrack space, food, water, sanitation system, and medical supplies. It was not Hoess' fault. The concentration camp administration reflected the ideals of Thomas Eicke, the founder of the concentration camp system. It was not Hoess' fault.

Although the man blamed others for the nightmarish hell of Auschwitz and other concentration camps he accepted responsibility because it was engrained into him that the commandant is responsible for all activities within the concentration camp.

This may be as close as one may come to reading an account of the "other side". Although one's opinion of the Holocaust may not be altered by Rudolf Hoess he does share insight that one normally does not see about this dark chapter of the history of humanity. Most people know what it is like to be over tasked and under resourced. But most people do not know what it is like to be over tasked and under resourced in his particular career field.

The Final Solution: An Inside View.......2005-04-21

On April 16, 1947, Rudolph Hoess, the infamous Kommandant of Auschwitz was hanged in his former concentration camp for, "crimes against the Polish people." While awaiting trial, Hoess, who knew he would pay for his crimes with his life, sought to renew the spiritual connection he had eschewed as a youth. Accordingly, he recounted his time in the SS for his captors. His story is also that of the darkest side of the Third Reich.

The book begins with a discussion of the, "final solution," of the Jewish Question. He tells how he was ordered to establish a camp at Auschwitz for the purpose of eliminating, "enemies of the state." Details of camp construction and experiments to find the appropriate gas he describes without emotion. Yet he relates questions asked by young SS soldiers and inmates as to how small children could be an "enemy." His "party line" response fooled some, but never himself.

Hoess also describes the victims he tried to destroy. Jews had "strong family ties;" gypsies were, "childlike;" the Jehovah's Witnesses were worthy of emulation. The SS was challenged to have the same devotion to the Fuhrer as they had to Jehovah. In chapter 22 he describes the gassing process as only he could do. His primary concern was to dispatch his victims quickly and efficiently without displaying emotion that would affect young guards. Here, he admits, he hid behind an iron mask. Particularly interesting is the story of a young, extremely attractive, Jewish girl who fought back even as she was undressing for the gas chamber. Resistance was rare but in this case, effective, very effective!

The book describes his early life and the events that caused him and many others to blindly follow the SS motto: "Fuhrer, you order. We obey!" Hoess gives a detailed description of the hierarchy of the SS. Men, who had been portrayed as super-human, are shown to have been far short of that ideal. Alcoholism and suicide rates were high; competence was low! Still, operations continued despite all difficulties because, "Orders were orders!"

Death Dealer is a first person account of the operations of the most infamous death camp in history. After sending an estimated 2.5 million people to their deaths, the Kommandant, ended his life by doing one decent thing: he left his memoirs so no one could deny this ever happened. For that, the world owes Rudoph Hoess, the Kommandant of Auschwitz, a debt of gratitude.

Book Description

Forty years after the disastrous First Afghan War, the British found themselves invading Afghanistan again to remove Russian influence and install a government friendly to the British Empire. The war was to last two and half years, cost the lives of thousands of British and Indian soldiers as well as countless thousands of Afghans, and came close to bankrupting the Indian Government. Illustrated with contemporary photographs and based on first-hand official documents as well as unpublished private accounts, diaries and privately-printed memoirs, this is the first full-scale treatment of the war fro more than three-quarters of a century.?

Book Description

The book claims 9/11 was a conspiracy rather than a terrorist attack.

Customer Reviews:

This book IS "The Big Lie".......2004-01-18

A littany of distortions and fabrications, on par with Holocaust-denial. Think the USA provoked WW-II? That the USA faked the moon-landing? Then you'll love this book. A series of cherry-picked factoids, "cleansed" of anything that would undermine the pre-developed hypothesis, ignoring of eye-witness testimony where it undermines the conclusions, etc. Other investigative reporters went and interviewed many of the people Meyssan quoted in his book, and found he had manipulated their words. In an article "Panoply of the Absurd" (Der Spiegel, 37/2003 - 08. September 2003 online versions in both German and English) Meyssan's deceptions were unmasked: "Another example is the use of statements made by TV journalist Mike Walter, who witnessed the attack on the US Department of Defense as he was driving to work. Meyssan used Walter's statement to support his theory that the Pentagon was destroyed with missiles or remotely guided aircraft. Walter is still furious about this manipulation. He saw the aircraft fly toward the building and accelerate in a "soft curve." Then, says Walter, "it went into a dive and hit a light pole. Shortly after that, it slammed into the Pentagon. The wings collapsed, I heard the explosion, and then I saw the fireball. The guy who was flying it knew what he was doing. It behaved like a cruise missile." Meyssan only quoted the last sentence.

For ordinary people, this is called **lying**. Likewise his use of photos where smoke shrouds the images -- only those which support his murky conspiracy theory are used. The man is an America-hater, in the same manner that some people are Jew-haters, for irrational emotional reasons. Save your money.

Very Intresting Read.......2003-10-14

The events of 9/11 were devestating, this book doesn't try to refute those facts. This book does, however, bring forth several ideas backed with enough logical evidence that makes a person think twice about what was really going on that day and how the government used the event as leverage to forge war. A few of the ideas mentioned in this book are; the 767 hitting the pentagon, yet no piece of the plane was ever recovered (the first time in history there's been no recovery of ANY piece of a plane after crashing on american soil), the mysterious stock-dumping of the airline companies affected on 9/11, and a very intresting piece on the heroin trade in afghanistan as being the main reason to forge war. As an American, I'd stand behind this book 100% with what's presented, it's obvious there's more going on than meets the eye.

Uhhh....I think I know what this guy's been smoking!.......2003-09-27

WHAT? Give me a break! To even suggest that the US was behind the biggest tragedy many of us have ever seen is absurd. I find it hard to even comprehend where the author collected his turdbucket of information. It's almost as stupid as a Jordanian taxi driver once claimed to me during the summer of 2002, "Israel was behind 9/11. You will see!" Yeah...what would Israel have to gain? What would the US have to gain by beating the hell out of itself? That suggests we made attacks on ourselves to pin the blame on Arabs and wage a war. Whether you think the war in Iraq OR Afghanistan is worthwhile or not, if you have one iota of common sense you'd know that this book makes NO sense. Utter crap.

Very well informed, independent, serious.......2002-12-28

Besides the version of the facts proposed by Thierry Meyssan which can leaves the reader septic, although it is more logical than the one given by Washington, the elements brought here cannot leave us inflexible, as for example the testimony of the lieutenant Vreeland to the Canadian authorities on AUGUST 12TH, 2001, which contained a precise description of the attacks such as they occurred 1 month later. Obviously independent, we have to recognize the quality of the information here condensed, among which some very rare although they are essential to understand these events. Thierry Meyssan goes of revelations to revelations, quoting for every assertion his sources which each can reach. Every sentence bases itself on facts, and the author never flares up in silly reasonings, although they're horrifying. Far from the catchy title obviously advertising, it's a TRUE SERIOUS work of investigation which goes much further to wonder whether yes or not, this plane was crushed on the Pentagon... Don't buy the book for the Pentagon Plane Crash thesis, there are only 20 pages about it. This part is much more detailed and convincing in the last Thierry Meyssan's book "Pentagate". "The big lie" is however essential and still the best book about the Attack.

Maybe the US is angry with the wrong people........2002-09-10

The book indeed shocks you for many reasons. The author does not claim that the victims of the American Airlines Flight 77 who took off from Dulles Airport are false, or that we shall not join the grief and anger that the events of 9/11 brought to US citizens.

What the author argues is that departing from the physical evidence gathered at the Pentagon as well as from the graphic documentation of the crash, indeed a huge explosion occurred at the Pentagon. The problem is, that such evidence proves beyond reasonable doubt that such damage could no be caused by a Boeing 757 travelling at a speed of no less that 250 mph.

Indeed, looking at the reasoning of Mr. Meyssan and the evidence he places before you the reader feels at loss to explain how the crash of the Pentagon would be the only case in the history of aviation when after the collision not a single piece of the plane is recovered because all the plane is melted in an explosion, which oddly enough does not affect the green grass on the field right in front of the building. Or how a plane of that size and with such a wide wing span makes a crack on the building which is al least 50% smaller that the size of the plane. In other words how is it possible that the wings and the motors did not touch the building? Or how a plane of that size and characteristics gets into the most heavily guarded air space of the USA and no single civil or military radar cares to wonder what is it doing there.

Mr Meyssan feels that such lack of coherence of the official version with the stark reality of the facts only proves that the US government is knowingly lying to its citizens in order to hide that what really happen on 9/11, including the destruction of the twin towers was a coup d' etat by the industrial military sectors of the US, covered up as a Muslim conspiracy against the US, in order to gain sufficient support from its citizens to attack Afghanistan and Irak and make a [heck] of a profit with the blood of honest, kind, patriotic but misguided Americans, while simultaneously gaining absolute control of the petroleum of the region.

Customer Reviews:

Lays it on the line for truth in an entertaining way.......2007-07-11

The still diffuse 9/11 Truth Movement has been making quite an impact on public awareness over the past two or three years, with many significant works emerging. Dr. Barrett, as a writer and an organizer of seminars, ranks right up there in the pantheon of intellectually and physically courageous leaders devoting their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" to bringing the lies down and bringing the liars to justice.

I've covered a few 9/11 exposés in my columns and reviews; I have a particular affinity for Dave McGowan's iconoclastic/ everyman hard-headed analysis proffered from the very next day after the crime via his cleverly named Website, Center for an Informed America. In fact, Davesweb analysis is what started my serious questioning of the official story...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

A TRIP INTO THE TRUTH reviewed by Connie Cook Smith.......2007-06-10

The strength of this book is the author's personality. Kevin Barrett is an articulate and original thinker and even a humorist who, at great sacrifice, allowed himself to be embroiled in the ugliest but most important topic of our time -- the overwhelming evidence that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job.
I don't think anyone embraces this perspective because they enjoy it. It is, in fact, NOT adequately embraced by the American public because it is so UN-enjoyable, so downright horrifying. But Kevin romps the reader through the truth as the master educator he is. And as indicated previously, his personality is so authentic and his style is so congenial, the reader feels safe in coming to terms with such a terrible topic at last.
This book is an opportunity to spend time with Kevin Barrett -- to hang out with an extremely good and honest man and to, well, yes -- ENJOY learning about this subject that is so hard but so necessary for all Americans to understand.

Genuine religion triggers expanded consciousness, compassion and truth..........2007-05-30

Kevin Barrett has produced a short work of many parts that make up an insightful, entertaining, and thought provoking whole.

It would be difficult to summarise all the threads in this book completely but some of them are autobiographic, analytical, and educational on Arabic culture, on the interpretation and analysis of myths and legends, on the understanding of media manipulation, a post-beatniks discovery of higher meaning and calls in life.

There are a multitude of facets to this book built from many rich narratives. It is a very well written discourse and educational. The book is easy to read, and contains the prose of a literary scholar.

As Kevin says in the book, "Genuine religion triggers expanded consciousness, compassion and truth - not inculcated stupidity arrogance, dogmatism, and murderousness".

Epic struggle, indeed.......2007-03-18

Few autobiographies reach this level of brutal honesty, but if Dr. Barrett has a weakness, he reveals it in Truth Jihad. While a man of amazing moral fortitude and deep convictions, he clearly does not pretend to be perfect. Truth Jihad is an eclectic journey with a storyteller of great courage and conscious as he confronts the widespread myths held by his community and within his own home. Although the subject of 9/11 is difficult, the account skips along playfully...dancing under the possibility of a world of truth.

A man of great awareness and a keen alertness, Dr. Barrett shows his ability to recognize opportunities the rest of us would miss. He demonstrates the use of humor and playful provocation to engage the adversary into revealing their vicious nature...and using that action to the truth's advantage. Instead of fighting his enemies unproductively, he uses them to his benefit and models how precious victories can be achieved along the way. The big and small victories alike are described in loving, playful detail. He involves the reader in the thrill of engaging the enemy of narrow vision and broadening the minds of the audience he engages.

After he reveals his mind and heart through personal and professional stories, the reader explores the theological and philosophical implications with this man of rare morality. Though Dr. Barrett peels many layers off the 9/11 onion, never do the vapors' intensity overpower the peace revealed in the magnificent transformation that is possible when the 9-11 truth struggle reaches victory. Although his Muslim perspective is repeatedly shown, it reminds the reader that all people of conscious are not so very different-no matter their own faith- and the Muslim holocaust is an affront to all of humanity.

I didn't know what to expect from such a unique book. Even the name Jihad had so many prejudices attached to it in my mind, but the book showed me how to wage peace at war's pace...whether a Muslim, Christian, Jew, or Spiritual. He shows that every inch of ground can be hard fought and won, but ground can be gained, and must be! We are lucky that we are able to wage peace from our American position...not from fox holes. As Dr. Barrett demonstrates and journals, "truth is our trench" and we must dig in deeper! One thing's for certain, we're lucky to have people like Dr. Barrett in the fox hole with us.

Book Description

This volume presents the papers from a major international conference aimed at cross-linking research in the fields of solar and stellar activity. The Yohkoh satellite, with its spectacular views of solar coronal structures seen via their X-ray emission, provided the immediate motivation for the conference. How do these solar structures transcribe into their stellar counterparts; what insights can the more extreme stellar activity provide to guide the analysis of solar data? Coming four years after the launch of Yohkoh, this conference provided a good platform for displaying its discoveries. Longer-term variation associated with the 11-year solar cycle can also be seen clearly in the data presented. The new data strongly support many earlier interpretations of such magnetodynamic activity, but also provide some new and perplexing mismatches now stimulating new theoretical work.

Solar Phenomena in Stars and Stellar Systems (NATO Science Series C:)

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Solar Phenomena in Stars and Stellar Systems (NATO Science Series C:)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astrophysics & Space Science | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Solar System | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Star-Gazing | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

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Rocks & Minerals | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

The Sun as a Variable Star: Solar and Stellar Irradiance Variations (I a U Colloquium//Proceedings)

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The Sun as a Variable Star: Solar and Stellar Irradiance Variations (I a U Colloquium//Proceedings)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astrophysics & Space Science | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Solar System | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The papers in this volume represent the most up to date research contributions on the observations, theoretical interpretations, and empirical and physical models of variations observed in solar and stellar irradiances, as well as on Sun--climate connections. Both theoretical studies and irradiance observations show that the energy output of the Sun and solar-type stars varies, changing on time scales related to the short-term surface manifestations of solar/stellar magnetic activity as well as long-term modulations driven by processes in the interiors of the stars. Papers presented in this book point out that at the Earth these variations influence the terrestrial climate, radiative environment, and upper atmospheric chemistry.

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