The SS: A Warning from History by Guido Knopp

The SS: A Warning from History by Guido Knopp

The best known but least understood organ of the Nazi state, the SS grew from a minor politician's small, unpaid bodyguard into a force which dominated the racial, cultural and professional spheres of the most powerful empire Europe has ever seen. Often referred to as 'the state within a state', the SS was Heinrich Himmler's personal fiefdom and its influence pervaded all walks of German life, both private and public. Its tentacles extended into the army and police, the business world and of course the death camps. The author reveals Himmler to be a man despised but indulged by Hitler who was obsessed with crackpot theories of Germanic mythology and deeply involved in the Final Solution. He assesses the career of Reinhard Heydrich, who put the organisational muscle and ruthlessness into the SS. The Totenkopt Brigade, set up specifically to run the concentration camps and death camps, is examined, as is the Waffen-SS, the military formation which killed thousands of Jews and partisans across Eastern Europe and fought bitterly against the Allies in Normandy. The postwar story of the SS is also outlined, from clandestine organisations of former SS men to the activities of ex-Nazis today. Supported by photographs and the words of former SS men, their close friends and colleagues, Guido Knopp brings back to life a generation whose fanaticism and violence shaped the identify of the Third Reich.

Dr Guido Knopp, born in 1948, rose to become editor of the Frankfurter Aligemeir Zeitung and later foreign editor of the Weit am Sonntag. Today he runs the current affairs department of ZDF, Germany's second national TV network. His books for Sutton include 'Hitler's Henchmen' (2000), 'Hitler's Holocaust' (2001), Hitler's Children, (2002), and 'Hitler's Women' (2003).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780750940467
ISBN 10	0750940468
Title	The SS: A Warning from History
Author	Guido Knopp
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	The History Press Ltd
Year published	2005-06-23
Number of pages	384
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable