This book has general observations of German men on trial for war crimes committed during WWII. The sections are of varying length, and there are two parts to the book. The first part is dedicated to those on trial. The second is focused on witnesses.
Each section begins with a brief summary of the accused's role in the war, what they are accused of, and their fate. After that is a picture. In the following pages, the interviewer documents various answers and ramblings of the men. He tries to get each man's family history, and he tries to gauge their level of guilt and responsibility for the fate of the Jews. He does this for each man. He also allows them to say whatever is on their mind.
For me, this wasn't quite what I was expecting. When I read this was the notes of a psychiatrist, I thought there would be some breakdowns of what he thought of each individual. Instead, he puts down the facts with almost no bias (it does pop in there once in a while). You're just not going to get anything close to diagnoses in this book.
The other thing that was disturbing was the attitudes of these men toward the Holocaust. I always figured there would be a disconnect with them, a mental misfire that would be apparent when they were confronted with their actions. On the contrary, they acted like you would expect a self-serving person who was trying to save their own life. It was all "It was someone else's fault." and "I never knew anything about that." I think the nonchalant attitude was more vile than the one man who seemed to actually have outright issues having basic emotions. It's much harder to imagine so many men involved in something so destructive when they're capable of feeling something.
Overall, even though the book wasn't what I expected, it was an eye opener. These men would tell lies that sounded reasonable, but then I remembered who they were and why they were there. When they were confronted with evidence of their acts, they had no real answers. Good Book!
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