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05/29/2005 Posted @ 11:45 AM PD/ST: "Hitler's Death Camps - The Sanity of Madness" First, the full disclosure. This book is written by one of my instructors, Dr. Konnilyn Feig. I took three quarters of Western Civ from her at Foothill College. She is someone I admire and respect a great deal and had a profound effect upon me as a student of history. After reading this book, I have even more admiration and respect for her. I picked up the book because it was written by Dr. Feig and because it's about a topic that fascinates me no end. Hitler's Death Camps - The Sanity of Madness is 16 years of Dr. Feig's life work. Published in 1979, the work rings truthfully and honestly and reflects years of research, visiting each and every camp in that time period. To take on such a task requires a willingness to look evil right in the eye unflinchingly and look for the humanity of both victims and killers. From the most famous; Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Treblinka to the most obscure; Kulmhof/Chelmno and Majdanek, Dr. Feig visited them all. Each has a chapter devoted to it; describing its physical characteristics then and now, the "work" performed there, how many died and how and what happened when it was liberated. There is also a chapter devoted to women and the Third Reich as well as a section titled, "The Indifferent, the Slaughterers, the Strugglers." More than just a detailed list of camps and their functions, Dr. Feig delves into the personalities and attempts to answer some of the unanswerable questions. Why and how did this happen? Why the Jews? Why didn't The Allies work harder to put a stop to this? What goes on in the minds of the architects of The Final Solution? Why did some survive and others didn't? I was quite taken with Dr. Feig's examination of Christianity's part in setting the Jews up for hatred and eventual attempts at extermination of the "vermin." From the time of Christ, Christians have had a difficult time understanding Jews and latched onto the "Christ Killer" label quickly which perpetuated centuries of hate. While not a complete answer to "Why", this well-researched chapter goes a long way toward explaining the base upon which anti-semitism festered. Dr. Feig also puts into perspective the "thingness" that Jews had become. They weren't human in the eyes of their killers, merely "things" to be exploited until they died; some "thing" that stood in the way of the restoral of the idyllic Aryan nation Hitler and his followers so desired. A human can't be dehumanized if they aren't considered human to begin with. She also delves into the psychology of the leaders and the passive support many German citizens gave to this "solution." The closed eyes, the fear, the disbelief; it's all covered here and makes a thoughtful person think even more. Dr. Feig trains her bright light on everyone, no one in the world is completely innocent. She rightly points out the ongoing genocides and the roles countries and their political leaders play in those crimes. This book is not for the squeamish, it details graphically the horrors of what happened in each and every camp. It will leave you shaking your head in despair as you try to wrap your mind around the horrors that happened each and every second of 1939 to 1945 to people whose only crime was being "different." This book is also a must read for those interested in the theories of the psychology of "Why" and "How did we let this happen?" It is not, however, a book of despair. There are passages about resistance movements, and thoughts about how to keep something of this scale from ever happening again. Hitler's Death Camps - The Sanity of Madness gets a permanent space on my shelf and I am sure it will be referred to again and again as I continue my own academic career. The Details |
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