Hitler's Henchmen

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Written by ( two) noted Dutch historians, (it) reveals the truth behind the fascade of the Third Reich and is an important contribution to the literature of the Nazi era. Luftwaffe commander and second-in-commander Herrmann Göring leaves the impression of a romantic (who literally grew up in castle) but who would exhibit a ruthlessness only matched by his massive ego. Chief of the Gestapo, Heinrich Müller (seated far right) was another Wannsee Conference attendee and equally central in the planning and execution of the Holocaust. An honorary member of the SS, Lammers, along with Martin Bormann, increasingly controlled access to Hitler. The wartime career of this cruel and capable man is captured brilliantly with contemporary fully captioned images in this Images of War series work.

I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a brief, highly readably overview, though entire biographies have been written for each of these men. Ortner reveals that it was not only their Nazi pasts that were forgotten, but how the suffering of the victims, including resistance fighters such as Georg Elser and Maurice Becaud, and their relatives was suppressed and ignored. The Wannsee Conference was chaired by SS and police official Reinhard Heydrich, during which he presented plans to finalize the deportation and genocide of all Jews in German-occupied Europe. Their dedication to the Fuhrer was absolute, and to gain his validation they were willing to do, or commit anything.I found the book very easy to read and most of the chapters dealt with the backgrounds of the individuals concerned and how they came to be where they were. Himmler essentially laid the plans out for the death camps and planned out the methods used by the Nazis. He was Military Commander of the Waffen-SS, Commander of the Gestapo, Minister of the Interior, Commander of the Home Army and Supreme leader of the administration of the entire Third Reich. Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, an authority on world affairs and confidante of the Fuhrer. In one page he is referred to as: “the opinion-former,” “the new controller of press,” “the conductor,” “the disabled hack,” “the former pauper,” “the would-be Robespierre,” “the agitator.

A useful feature of this book was the excellent bibliography at the end of the book which helps points serious students of Nazi Germany and WW2 to other books for study. His peace proposal—met with no response from the British—was essentially the same as the peace offer made by Hitler in July 1940: an end to hostilities with Britain and its empire in exchange for a free German hand on the European continent. Ideas of making Germany great again indoctrinated the German people to support them indefinitely, hiding the mass slaughter of human life behind their convincing propaganda .

There were others, Read points out, who helped Hitler in his quest for European and world domination. Baldur von Schirach is best known at the leader of the Hitler Youth but as gauleiter of Vienna he supervised the deportation of the city's Jewish population. A key figure in the development of the concentration camps (he was appointed commandant of Dachau in 1933, the first camp to be built in Nazi Germany), Theodor Eicke later became commander of the feared SS Division Totenkopf of the Waffen-SS on the Eastern and Western fronts. It has been disputed about how much involvement Hitler was involved in what was known as his pet project. Hess was the last surviving member of Hitler’s inner circle and the sole prisoner at Spandau since 1966.

I was recommended this book as I am wanted to study a period in history that has had such a deep impact on the 20th century. Hitler ran on a right-wing platform of ripping up the Versailles Treaty and opposing the communists.

During the Nazi era, he executed numerous people who were sentenced to death for resisting National Socialism, including many of those involved in the 20 July 1944 bomb plot on Adolf Hitler. million people throughout the course of the holocaust, Hoess calmly explained his process during his war crimes trial. Speer escaped execution at Nuremberg, Saukel didn't and I'm pretty sure that was because Speer was a much smoother, posher character than Saukel as opposed to their crimes.

Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), founder of the Gestapo in 1933, Minister of the Economic Four Year Plan, Reichsmarschall, senior to all other Wehrmacht commanders, and in 1941, designated by Hitler as his successor and second in command in all his offices. After becoming chancellor in 1933, Hitler demanded and was allowed to seize the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia. With Goebbels as campaign manager and propagandist, the Nazis began appealing to a disgruntled German electorate. As chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht from 1938 to 1945, Wilhelm Keitel loyally supported Hitler's policies. He now works as a historical advisor for television and film productions set in Berlin, particularly during the Weimar era or Third Reich.According to the Evening Press account, 'the ballroom was packed with representatives of various societies, professional men and, of course, several TDs [parliamentary representatives]'," the journalist said. There are no simple biographies, but her life in snapshots, with impressions of colleagues, friends and families, and from the interrogation process and protocols that give a face to the madness.