Into That Darkness: An Examination of Conscience

by Gitta Sereny

Book Overview

Based on 70 hours of interviews with Franz Stangl, commandant of Treblinka (the largest of the extermination camps), this book bares the soul of a man who continually found ways to rationalize his role in Hitler's final soulution.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394710355
• ISBN13: 9780394710358
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Thoughtful and Thought-Provoking Work!

The genius behind the choice for this book's title revolves around what for me, as well as for many other students of the Holocaust, is the central question the phenomenon of organized mass murder inevitably raises; how could it be true that ordinary men are capable of such unspeakable horror on such an unimaginable scale, willing to become enthusiastic participants in the ritualistic murder of millions of their fellow human beings. If one is honest, he or she begins to raise some very disturbing questions about just what kind of a biological organism we are part of, ourselves included as un-indicted co-conspirators by way of the murder we hold somewhere in our own hearts. Yet, even if you grant me the kindness of agreeing with my supposition, it still does not explain how such men as the individual profiled in this book, Herr Franz Stangl, the one-time commander of the death camp at Treblinka, could manage to swing his body out of bed every day for the decades since he was captured by the Allies and the war ended for him. His personal testimony shows once more how the subtle political use of language and the countless attempts to justify themselves through euphemistic references to the so-called "Jewish problem" seems to aid such individuals in playing a kind of psychological hide-and seek with themselves by aligning their actions with the purposes and goals of Germany during the war. And yet, quite poignantly the interview with Stangl also illustrates how vain and hopeless such efforts to blithely paper over the past really are. Somewhere in the darkness of one's own soul an individual knows all he is guilty of. Or so we would suppose.So what we have in this thoughtful and penetrating book is a glimpse into the demon's eye, and find that perhaps Hannah Arendt was right when she said it was somehow too banal and trite to be believed or trusted. In truth, just as the author contends, the only way out of the searing heat of the conscience's cauldron is to face the truth and admit as best we can our part in it. Indeed, in this work she bravely illustrates, through Commander Stangl, how one's personal choices change us, often in most frightening ways. Like Stangl, we must all go bravely into the darkness to find the truth that will indeed set us free. In this sense the author's use of so many anecdotal situations is instructive, illustrating just how wide the gate to hell and damnation is, through a variety of variously disguised and decorated entrances. In this regard, I particularly enjoyed her rather erudite argument condemning the indifference and cupidity of both Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church regarding their studied and sustained political and ethical indifference to the continuing operation of the death camps. In summary, this book provides the reader with an opportunity to be transported to a wasteland where evil stands alone and unafraid in the cold light of day, where too much talk and too little compassion, too much self-servi

Excellent

This book looks at a man many would disregard. Rather than dismissing him as a monster, and refusing to consider what he might have in common with ordinary humans, the author takes him seriously as an individual, as a man. She doesn't justify him or make excuses for him. But we will only hurt ourselves if we refuse to look honestly at evil in the world, and in ourselves.Besides this, the book is both excellent journalism and excellent history. It fills a crucial gap in the history of the holocaust, not only for those who would like to compile facts but for those who would like to understand how the horrors came about.

Best book on the Holocaust

I read this book after devouring Gitta Sereny's wonderful biography on Nazi Armaments Minister, Albert Speer. This offering is superior to anything else on the Holocaust, bar none. Sereny spent many hours interviewing the Commandant of Treblinka, Franz Stangl. He reveals in dispassionate tones the horrors of this death camp: the subterfuge to confuse those arriving to the camp, the fake train station, the beautiful gardens... it's almost surreal to read this man's words. More disquieting is that Stangl appears to be rather normal, though obviously a psychopath since the concept of guilt is alien to him. He loved his wife, was a devoted father and was an attractive personality, yet he was involved in monstrous crimes.Sereny also interviews Jews who survived Treblinka by working in the "clothes factory," and she also interviews some of the S.S. guards who presided over this horrific complex. But the heart and soul of the book is Stangl, whom she interviewed while he was in a German prison in 1972. When she asked him, "When you saw children about to be gassed, did you think of your own children?" Stangl vacantly looked away and said mutely, "I don't know." This book should be required reading for those who deny the Holocaust or seek to make excuses for Nazi genocide. Sereny is a masterful writer and every word of this book is gripping. This is not a product to skim haphazardly, it's as engrossing as anything ever written about genocide in the 20th century. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Nothing like you'd expect

This book's title and cover lead one to believe that the reader will read stories of heroic people sheltering Jews in their homes, or anecdotes from survivors of Auschwitz. Indeed we do hear from survivors of death-camps, but only to corroborate the central piece of the book: the author's talk with Franz Stangl. This book is a fresh look at the Holocaust - through the eyes of the persecutors. This approach is captivating throughout, and adding to the intrigue is the depth to which the author and Stangl converse. Here is a man who is taking full advantage of the opportunity to bare his soul and try to lift the weight of 900,000 souls off his shoulders. He is trying to finally come to grips with the horrors that went on under his control. At times we see a man as helpless as the prisoners he controlled. Other times, Stangl is unapologetic. In the course of the talks, he shows readers what Treblinka was like for those forced to live through it. This new look at the Holocaust is fascinating throughout. No account of anything, especially such a vast tragedy as the Nazi's Final Solution, ought to be complete without hearing about life on both sides of the trenches.

A powerful and important book.

This "in depth" study of Nazi Germany extemination techniques has few equals- written with unrivalled compassion, it thorougly examines the political and moral aspects of mass murder. It openly exposes Hitler"s criminal programs, from Euthanasia to the Final Solution. Very importantly, it uncovers Vaticans role in helping smuggle Nazi war criminals out of Europe after the war's end. A real "must" for everyone involved in Holocaust studies.This book will give you nightmares on end.