Secrets of the S S

by Glenn B. Infield

Book Overview

A look at the SS, the elite corps of the Nazi regime, presents material culled from interviews with surviving members of Hitler's inner circle and Nuremberg trial documents to reveal startling... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812827902
• ISBN13: 9780812827903
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Stein and Day
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"Secrets" is well worth reading.

"Secrets of the SS" actually doesn't cover much new ground, but it is an excellent source of material for getting the feel of the German SS, its origins, its brutality, greed, and fanaticism, and its vast influence in the post-World War II era, including major influence in the intelligence services of both the US and Russia, and in the governments of Germany, Holland, and numerous South American countries. The leadership of the SS and of the Nazis during World War II were a little like the keystone cops with real guns. The top Nazis kept their power through flattering and kowtowing to Hitler. Bormann, Himmler, Goering, and virtually all the Nazis diverted military supplies from the war effort to transport looted art, gold, and monies. Goering pilfered the stolen art for his personal collection, that Hitler had intended for Hitler's collection of stolen art. Himmler made sure that British agents succeeded in assassinating Reinhard Heydrich, invaluable to the German military effort, but a rival for Hitler's affections. It goes on and on. The greed and brutality of the SS leadership and the top Nazis has to be read in detail to be believed. The Nazis were as lethal to their Nazi competitors as to their sworn enemies. I wish I could grant the wish of every present-day Nazi sympathizer to live under Nazi leadership. I can't think of anything more appropriate. The German industrialists are also described in the book. These are perhaps the most despicable of the lot. Unlike the Himmlers or the Bormanns, the industrialists did not depend on groveling to Hitler for money and influence. Yet, they fell all over themselves to get profitable contracts for the materials obviously being used to murder civilians. The industrialists also eagerly embraced the use of slave labor. Amazingly, both the Russian and the US intelligence agencies after the war relied very heavily on ex-SS officers. The US, in particular, felt it was woefully inadequate in having intelligence on it's former ally, the Soviet Union. In the opinion of this reviewer, this decision, to heavily integrate SS personnel into the newly-formed CIA, was perhaps responsible for some of the worst blunders of the early CIA, blunders which still today continue to threaten the well-being of the US and its government. So, why should we care? We are long past being able to remedy the wrongs detailed in the book. There are many ex-SS soldiers who immigrated to the US under false pretences who are still here. But, to deport them would be to depopulate the ranks of the assisted-living homes. There comes a point when justice itself is simply not to be had. The fact is, the Nazi way of thinking is neither unique nor is it rare. It is found in all countries in the world. What keeps the hoodlums at bay is the traditions, legal and social structures of a civilized society. The industrialists, politicians, and army officers of pre-Nazi Germany thought they could trade the traditional legal pro