The Gestapo: A History of Horror
A history of Nazi Germany's secret police written by one of their victims, with a new introduction by the author.
From 1933 to 1945, the Gestapo was Nazi Germany's chief instrument of counter-espionage, political suppression, and terror. Jacques Delarue, a saboteur arrested by the Nazis in occupied France, chronicles how the land of Beethoven elevated sadism to a fine art.
The Gestapo: A History of Horror draws upon Delarue's interviews with ex-Gestapo agents to deliver a multi-layered history of the force whose work included killing student resisters, establishing Aryan eugenic unions, and implementing the Final Solution. This is a probing look at the Gestapo and the fanatics and megalomaniacs who made it such a successful and heinous organization—Barbie, Eichmann, Himmler, Heydrich, Müller. The Gestapo's notorious reign led to the murder of millions.
The Gestapo is an important documentation of what they did and how they did it.
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Dated, Good Personnel Analyses, Lacks Focus,
This book was originally written in 1962 as the History of the Gestapo (in French) by French author Jacques Delarue. Much of the book is taken up with the history of other organizations such as the SA, SS, Abwehr, SD, and RSHA. In essence the author attempts to wrap all these organizations (except the Abwehr) up in his treatise and by so doing loses focus on the Gestapo for an in-depth study, if indeed that was his original intention.
For the reader looking for new material in this work, he should be advised that there is none since the original date of publication. In addition, on almost every subject covered in this book, there is a superior work now out that goes into much greater depth and is more definitive than this. For the Gestapo, Butler’s work would be recommended, although it is not the last word.
Nonetheless, for someone unfamiliar with the repressive Nazi sub-organizations, this book would work as a reasonable introduction. The author follows the Gestapo and its personnel in France somewhat more closely than elsewhere, but even in this limited area the author fail to provide sufficient coverage. Werner Best is given seven references in the Index, none of which are pages containing his name (he is developed lightly on page 132), and Klaus Barbie fails to appear at all.
The author spends a great deal of time on external events such as general affairs concerning Hitler’s actions, military and political developments, the Stauffenberg attempt on Hitler’s life and various resistance activities. Here the author’s prejudices overwhelm the reader — he has no use for the German officer corps and dismisses the officers in the July 20th plot as cowardly, and indulges in speculation concerning their motives which he also disparages. Only in his portrayal of personalities does the author have truly something to offer, and his sketch of Heydrich is worth reading to understand the type of person attracted to the dark side (assuming that it has a light side) of the Nazi regime.
In short, if you have never read a book on the Gestapo, then, OK, read this one for starters, but always keep in mind that some of the author’s information is severely dated, sometimes not completely accurate, has been extended and enhanced, and invariably much more completely analyzed in other works than here. If you already know a fair amount concerning the Gestapo, SS, SD, etc, then pass on Delarue’s work for something more contemporary and detailed.
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|same old stuff,
There are a lot of other books on the SS, and this is mostly just a rehash of the same old material you will find there, but this is no where as comprehensive as the others. The only distinction is this book includes some material on SS activity in France, but only a tiny bit. Despite the title, there is actually very little detail about the Gestapo. Like the other books on the SS, the narrative is mostly just a listing of familiar names and dates and events rather than a full-blown account. The translation from the original French is very good however; the prose style sparkles.
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