COLD CREMATORIUM: REPORTING FROM THE LAND OF AUSCHWITZ by Josef Debreczeni

February 4, 2024szfreiberger Holocaust, World War II Leave a comment

(Rail line leading into Auschwitz)

At a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, supposedly due to the war in Gaza, which is erroneous as the phenomenon was increasing long before Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7^th. At the same time, we recognize Holocaust Remembrance day which commemorates the annihilation of Jews during World War II. It is fitting that at this time Josef Debreczeni’s memoir of his time in “the land of Auschwitz,” COLD CREMATORIUM: REPORTING FROM THE LAND OF AUSCHWITZ has been rereleased.

Originally published in 1950 it was never translated because of the rise of McCarthyism which rejected any pro-Soviet literature; Cold War hostilities as Stalinists refused to accept the Jews as “victims of fascism” singled out for extinction; and the rise of anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe. However, its appearance has made an important contribution to the great works of Holocaust literature as its author points out many things that have either been forgotten or overlooked.

Jonathan Freedland writes in the Forward to the book, referring to Debreczeni as a “witness, survivor, victim, and also an analyst, offering ruminations on some of the enduring questions raised by the Holocaust among them the puzzle of how arguably the most cultured nation in Europe could have led the continent’s descent into the most brutal savagery.” Other vital insights provided by Debreczeni include a reminder that the victims of Nazi brutality did not know their imminent fate, a crucial fact in trying to comprehend how the Final Solution was possible, and that so many others certainly did. Debreczeni reminds us that the Holocaust may have been developed in Berlin, it relied on accomplices throughout Europe – from liberal France to anti-Semitic Poland. Many of these individuals may have suffered from “willful blindness,” as they would later deny seeing or participating in atrocities. The author’s account of the actions perpetrated by Kapos, many of which were Jews is disturbing and for most beyond the capacity to imagine. In a diabolical Nazi system “the best slave driver is a slave accorded a privileged position” is an accurate and scary proposition.

(They came with the things most valuable to them unaware that everything would be taken including many of their lives)

For Debreczeni many chroniclers of the Shoah do not emphasize the economic function of Auschwitz enough. The author describes the German corporations involved to the point that many victims would have company names printed on their striped pajama type uniforms. The brutal conditions that victims faced were laid bare. The illicit trade between prisoners, kitchen workers, guards is ever prevalent – a life for people denied the fundamentals needed for survival – to eat, drink, bathe are all missing with disease and lice everywhere caused by a total lack of sanitation. People were treated like animals, and for a chance at survival the same people morphed into animalistic behavior as they completely lost their identity, self-respect, and will to love. The end result is a slow descent into madness and suicide for many who Debreczeni comes in contact with. For those who deny the Holocaust this memoir is a stark response.

Debreczeni has written a haunting memoir, conveyed in the precise and unsentimental style of a professional journalist whose eyewitness account is of unmatched literary quality. The author’s writing is evocative, employing irony, sarcasm, and an acerbic humor as he prods the reader into the “the Land of Auschwitz,” a place that is intellectually incomprehensible. What sets the book apart is the reporting that the German guards were largely absent or stayed in the background. Instead, it is the prisoners themselves who rule over each other depending on their status which forms a window into the complex organization of the camps.

The memoir begins in January 1944 with a prisoner transport where victims are oblivious as to their location and what the immediate future might bring, ending with liberation by Soviet forces in early May 1945. Debreczeni provides precise details of who certain prisoners were and what they experienced. For example, Mr. Mandel, a carpenter who always had a cigarette in his hand, but once they were taken away he still raises his empty fingers to his lips – he will be the first to die on the transport or the TB riddled Frenchman, a lower level Kapo in Auschwitz who developed a semblance of humanity as he warned prisoners as to what was about to happen to them. Debreczeni holds nothing back in describing how people of varying backgrounds cooperated with the Nazis, including Jews. A prime example is Weisz, a low brow salesclerk from Hungary, “a low-life Jew” who wielded a truncheon. He was “power crazed, malicious, a wild beast,” who was the epitome of the Nazi system that “the best slave driver is a slave accorded a privileged position.” Most of these types of slave drivers came from the “lower rungs” of Jewish society before the war. Those who came from the highest levels of Jewish society were found to be helpless in the Nazi camp hierarchy. Another is Herman, an SS guard who had been a bartender before the war and was one of the few guards who exhibited a degree of empathy as opposed to his murderous compatriots as he would drop a half smoked cigarette to the ground for a prisoner to find. A typical power hungry individual was Sanyi Roth, a room commander for tent #28, a notorious repeat offender, serial burglar who was put in charge of the worst tent which housed murderers, robbers, and other “creatures.” Interestingly, after Debreczeni flatters him he begins to take him under his wing. Perhaps the most despicable person was Moric, the foremost Kapo of all camps, whose nickname was the Fuhrer of the death camps – the sole Jew who held as much power as Nazi officials. Another individual who stands out, but in a positive fashion is Dr. Farkas, a Jewish physician who was forced to cooperate with the SS. But at the same time was able to display compassion and medical knowledge to treat many inmates. In fact, without his care Debreczeni would not have survived.

(The bunks at Auschwitz II-Birkenau)

The author provides an understanding of the evil the Nazis perpetrated aside from annihilation. He describes the genius of those who developed the Final Solution. To achieve mass death a killing infrastructure needed to be created. A key aspect of which was the hierarchy of power which the Nazis implemented providing certain prisoners a key role in the genocide. The Germans kept themselves invisible behind the barbed wire as “the allocation of food, the discipline, the direct supervision of work, and the first degree of terror – in sum, executive power – were in fact entrusted to slave drivers chosen randomly from among the deportees.” For their hideous work they received certain benefits including more food, clothing, the opportunity to steal, and power over their fellow prisoners – power over life and death, which for many was intoxicating. They all played a role in the vertical structure that resembled a military command where each person from the highest to the lowest Kapo knew their job and what would happen to them if they didn’t carry it out. This structure also was apparent in camp hospitals like Dornhau where Doctors, medics, nurses, and other workers had specific roles in the Nazi hierarchy.

Debreczeni offers an exceptional description of the “Land of Auschwitz” which consisted of many sub-camps in addition to the more famous areas like Birkenau or lesser labor camps like Furstenstein which the author experienced personally which was typical of other work camps who held the same characteristics. This area consisted of a castle complex which the Nazis destroyed in order to create an underground complex for a new headquarters for Hitler, should retreat be necessary and an arms factory on the site.

German corporations do not escape Debreczeni’s withering description as they paid the Nazi regime to rent slave labor and profited immensely. Many books have been written about this subject. For a complete list one can be found at https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/german-firms-that-used-slave-labor-during-nazi-era#google_vignette. In Debreczeni’s case it was Sanger and Laninger who enslaved him as a tunnel digger.

There are many other elements that the author describes from the use of cigarettes as a medium of exchange which became its own underground industry. Another medium of exchange was extracted gold crowns which many inmates did themselves to trade for food – the going rate was one crown for a weeks’ worth of soup. The concept of the “will to live” is explored in detail with harrowing examples. For the author, the will grew and like others he was willing to steal, fake jobs, and other strategies as a means of survival. Debreczeni’s commentary concerning prisoner roundups is very disconcerting as prisoners were asked to volunteer for certain jobs and transport. Many prisoners were willing to play Russian roulette to survive, most who did died, but a few would escape.

Each chapter seems more disturbing than the next and ranking the most horrifying material presented is very difficult. Perhaps the chapters that stand out are those involving the Dornhau camp hospital which describes the Nazi approach to medical care and its sadistic treatment techniques carried out by most medical professionals. It is this hospital that the term “cold crematorium” refers to. Debreczeni’s recounting of the plight of his bunkmates is indescribable especially as typhus became rampant.

As Menachem Kaiser writes in his New York Times review, “How To Talk About Auschwitz,” “Debreczeni recounts his deportation to Auschwitz, and from there to a series of camps. This isn’t the sort of book you can get a sense of from a plot outline. Debreczeni suffers; he survives (or, more accurately, he does not die); he observes. His powers of observation are extraordinary. Everything he encounters in what he calls the Land of Auschwitz — the work sites, the barracks, the bodies, the corpses, the hunger, the roll call, the labor, the insanity, the fear, the despair, the strangeness, the hope, the cruelty — is captured in terrifyingly sharp detail.”

In conclusion, Debreczeni has written haunting conformation of the terror of that was the Holocaust, and the will to survive.

(Entrance to Auschwitz I)

BOMBER by Len Deighton

November 29, 2023szfreiberger Fiction/Literary, World War II Leave a comment

(British Lancaster Bomber)

The bombing of civilians during wartime and the concept of “collective guilt;” particularly today with events in Gaza is very controversial. The moral dilemma and the psychological component are aptly portrayed in Kurt Vonnegut’s work, SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE as well as in non-fiction offerings such as historians Richard Overy’s THE BOMBERS AND THE BOMBED: ALLIED AIRWAR OVER EUROPE, 1940-1945; Frederick Taylor’s DRESDEN: TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 1945, AND COVENTRY NOVEMBER 14, 1940; Jorg Friedrich’s THE BOMBING OF GERMANY 1940-1945; and Keith Lowe’s INFERNO:THE FIERY DESTRUCTION OF HAMBURG 1943. These accounts are accurate and extremely impactful.

Four decades ago, probably the most precise novel dealing with the air war over Germany was Len Deighton’s BOMBER. The book has recently been reissued depicting an RAF Squadron in devastating detail over a 24 hour period, June 31, 1943, a date the author created. It focuses on an RAF attack on a German city of Krefeld that went wrong resulting in the bombing of the village of Altgarten and the German pilots who met them in the air.

The main characters are RAF pilot, Sergeant Sam Lambert, one of England’s best pilots, and German ace, Oberleutnant Baron Victor von Lowenherz. Deighton develops these fictional characters very carefully integrating their private lives, members of their squad, and their views about the war. Deighton’s detail is exceptional, from the Operations room, mental and mechanical preparations of the pilots, strategies, aircraft design and capabilities. Deighton goes as far as charting the arc of survival for pilots based on the number of missions flown, in addition to factoring the cost of each bomber that was launched on June 31. In all areas the author’s diligence and knowledge of air campaigns is remarkable as is his precise depictions of planes, weapons, and behind the scenes war strategy.

Deighton does well in creating background biographies for all the major characters he introduces which provides insight into their emotions and reactions to the war, air combat preparations, and human relationships. A number stand out including Sergeant Simon Cohen, Flight Sergeants Battersby and Digby all members of Lambert’s squad. Christian Himmel, a twenty-two year old experienced German pilot who steals and leaks information concerning “freezing” experiments of Jews at Dachau to assist German aviators who were shot down in freezing climates. Flight Lieutenant Sweet, Commander of Lambert’s group who believes his underling is too pro-communist. Johannes Iif, a fireman in Altgarten who experienced the fire-bombing of Cologne, an anti-Nazi who was an expert on British ordinance. Gerd Boll and Oberzugtuhrer Bodo Reuter who were in charge of damage control in Altgarten after the waves of British attack planes. Luftwaffe Oberleutnant August Bach, commander of radar station “Ermine” who falls in love with his young housekeeper. Willi Reinecke, Bach’s second in command, and lastly, Hansil, a German boy in the small market town of Altgarten. There are numerous other characters who scheme, plot, fall in love, and experience life as normally as possible based on their situation. Deighton creates an enormous cast that includes airmen, soldiers, firemen, nurses, doctors, wives and civilians of all descriptions which lends itself to an intricate plot despite the fact that the story is developed within the confines of one day.

(British bombing of Dresden, 1943)

The author makes many insightful observations. First, the social class component involving aviators and those that work with them. Certain characters find it abhorrent that bakers, miners, milkmen, firemen, etc. can become pilots. These individuals cannot accept the ranks members of the “lower class” achieve but are forced to work with them. Deighton continuously points to the experiences of German soldiers and aviators on the eastern front which creates a great deal of sarcasm and anti-Nazi commentary among those who survived Stalin’s armies. He points out correctly that Hitler was running out of soldiers and teenagers from the Hitlergund were forced to fight in combat roles. There are also observations pertaining to pilot attitudes toward the rear echelon bureaucrats who made strategic decisions far from the air war provoking aviator anger. The pettiness of certain individuals is clear, i.e.; trying to force Lambert’s wife, Ruth to convince her husband to play cricket for the company team or he would be prosecuted for supposed leftist views. These are just a few insights, there are many more.

Deighton compares Krefeld, the German city, which was the original target of RAF planes, a city known for heavy industry, textiles, light industry, communications in the Ruhr Valley, and Altgarten, the unfortunate victim of RAF error, a sleepy village made up of mostly wooden structures with no wartime industry. As the 700 RAF planes are launched, Deighton focuses on the arial combat in a realistic fashion. However, the German pilots are not able to prevent the disaster that was about to fall on the small German village. Throughout the aerial scenes that Deighton develops, realism is the key allowing the reader to feel that they are aboard RAF or Luftwaffe aircraft.

The British strategy to send hundreds of planes, night after night, to bomb the civilian areas of German cities was based on the decisions of Arthur Harris, head of the RAF Bomber Command. As Malcom Gladwell writes in his review of the reissuance of BOMBER; “Harris was resolutely unsentimental about his decision. He once wrote that it “should be unambiguously stated” that the RAF’s goal was “the destruction of German cities, the killing of German workers, and the disruption of civilized life throughout Germany … the destruction of houses, public utilities, transport and lives, the creation of a refugee problem on an unprecedented scale.” His nickname was “Butcher” Harris, a sobriquet employed with a certain grudging respect, on the understanding that butchers can be useful in times of war. Harris was a psychopath. Twenty-five thousand people in Cologne once burned to death, in one night, on his orders.” According to British novelist Vera Brittain the people of England acquiesced to his decision because they did not have the imagination to appreciate what those deadly bombing campaigns meant to those on the ground.*

I agree with Gladwell that Deighton’s BOMBER is perhaps the greatest antiwar novels that has been written. It may come across as a bit dated, but in reality it is a superb account of aerial combat and the people whose lives depended upon it. For the author one of his goals was to convey the dehumanizing effects of mechanical warfare, a goal he clearly achieved.

*Malcom Gladwell, “Bomber” is one of the Greatest British antiwar novels ever written,” Wsahington Post, August 18, 2023.

THE WOUNDED WORLD: W.E.B. DU BOIS AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR by Chad Williams

October 7, 2023szfreiberger American Social History, World War I, World War II Leave a comment

(W.E.B. Du Bois)

W.E.B Du Bois devoted his life’s work to achieving equal citizenship for all African Americans. He worked tirelessly to achieve his goals after becoming the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University and would go on to teach social sciences at Atlanta University, become one of the founders of the NAACP, edited “The Crisis” magazine which was his megaphone to the black community, lectured worldwide, promoted African and West Indian rights against colonial powers, and published a series of thought provoking books. Du Bois was a firm believer that for African Americans to achieve full civil rights and political representation they would have to be led by a black intellectual elite – the key being advanced education that would lead to leadership. He targeted racism, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, and all types of discrimination in his writing and public appearances.

One of the most controversial aspects of his belief system was supporting America’s entrance into World War I, a decision he would come to regret. He argued that if African Americans joined the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe to fight Germany and showed their talent and bravery it would raise their level of acceptance by the American people upon their return resulting in greater rights of freedom and safety. This dream was negated by the reality of American racism , covert and overt violence, and persecution – all conditions consistent with the African American experience throughout American history. Even US Army officials exhibited extreme racism and blatant lies as they erroneously depicted the combat experience of African American troops in Europe.

Black and white photo of African American Army officer walking downstairs passing a white Officer. Both men are wearing World War One style uniforms and hats. — (Charles Young at Camp Grant in 1919).

To atone for this grievous error in judgement, Du Bois wanted to set the historical record straight as World War I did not prove to be the catalyst for equal rights. His strategy centered on a book he would spend nearly two decades entitled, THE BLACK MAN AND THE WOUNDED WORLD. His effort was never completed nor published but it has become the core of an important new monograph by Chad L. Williams, THE WOUNDED WORLD: W.E.B. DUBOIS AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR.

Williams’ book is a comprehensive study of how Du Bois went about achieving his goals. He recounts his battles with the NAACP to obtain funding and support, his battles with fellow historians who he competed with him in trying to produce the definitive study of the war, the role of his ego which did not allow him to accept enough assistance and share the limelight, his writings, particularly in the NAACP magazine, “The Crisis” which he edited, his travels worldwide promoting the Pan African world, and most importantly disseminating his ideas and research a function of his relationship with black veterans of the war, and a firm belief that American racism was destroying black progress, and the colonial European powers imprisoned people of color in a system where they could not achieve progress.

Williams’ approach is a carefully developed thesis supported by numerous excerpts from Du Bois’ writings and commentary buttressed by accounts provided by friends and foes alike, in addition to communications with black veterans and competing historians. Williams fully explores Du Bois’ ideology which rested on his fear that if Germany were victorious in the war its racist government would negatively impact “Black folk” and brown people throughout the world. He knew Germany well having studied at the University of Berlin providing him with firsthand knowledge of the Kaiser’s march toward autocracy, militarism, and empire. He argued that black loyalty to England, France, and Belgium was of the utmost importance despite their colonial records. He believed an allied victory representing democracy was the only acceptable outcome in the war. However, the result of this call to duty was dominated by racism in the military as whites refused to serve with blacks, military leaders refused to allow black officers to command black troops resulting in southern white racist officers treating black soldiers with contempt and at times violence. Williams mentions examples of black officers like Major Charles Young, a graduate of West Point, but being an exceptional soldier did not allow him to fulfill the role Du Bois sought for him and others as the leaders of a new generation of blacks who would gain acceptance from American society.

(Over 350,000 African American soldiers served in WWI)

Williams portrays the lies put forth by military authorities when it came to black officers and their service, the performance of the 369^th and 92^nd divisions of the army, particularly the 368th Infantry Regiment, known as the Harlem Hell fighters, who were assigned to the French Army in April 1918. The Hell fighters saw much action, fighting in the Second Battle of the Marne, as well as the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, where black officers were blamed for the slow progress of the offensive with white officers falsely reporting on the performance of thousands of black troops. The treatment of black soldiers carried over into their medical care during and after the war where at first, black doctors and nurses were not allowed to treat black veterans at the new Tuskegee Institute Hospital.

When black veterans returned home they were met with violence and race riots resulting in the deaths of over a thousand people in Tulsa, OK, Chicago, IL, Knoxville, TN, Phillips County, AK, Charleston, SC, and Washington, DC all described in detail by the author. Further with the 1919 Red Scare many blamed black soldiers for bringing communism to America when they returned from Europe. When confronted with the reality of the African American soldier’s experience during their training, the war itself, and the reception they received upon returning from the battlefield, Du Bois committed himself to telling their story.

Williams pulls no punches in presenting Du Bois’ failed odyssey in completing his work. First, he was overwhelmed with materials from his own travels to France to conduct research and influence the Paris Peace Conference. Second, he could never get a handle on the voluminous amounts of material sent to him by black veterans. Third, his intense schedule that saw him work for Pan-African conferences and other causes. Lastly, his other writings, lectures, and as mentioned before his ego which did not allow him to work successfully with others. Further, he distorted his own experiences praising France for using Senegalese troops in the war and their treatment of blacks. All one has to do is examine the French colonial experience to see how wrong he was. Another example is his visit to the Soviet Union in 1926 and for a time believing in the “Marxist wonderland.”

(African-American soldiers (and one of their white officers) of the 369th Infantry, known as the Harlem Hellfighters, practice what they will soon experience, fighting in the trenches of the Western Front)

In the latter part of the narrative Williams explores Du Bois’ life work particularly his realization that his World War I opus would never be completed. The 1920s to 1945 period produced a great deal of success academically with the publication of BLACK RECONSTRUCTION, a widely accepted history of African Americans from 1850 to 1876. In explaining Du Bois’ ideas in his books and other writings Williams traces Du Bois evolution ideologically as he argued that racism and colonization were responsible for two world wars and the failings of democracy pushing him further to the left. As he grew older Du Bois concluded that even after World War II, African Americans were confronted with the same hostility and violence as they did in the post 1918 period. Much to Du Bois’ dismay it was apparent that the arguments he developed for decades pertaining to racism and colonization still applied and he would work assiduously to ameliorate this situation until his death.

Throughout the two decades of preparing the book Du Bois had to overcome his “Close Ranks” editorial from the war supporting the use of African American troops in the war as a vehicle to obtain equality. His decision was wrong, and he would pay a price professionally and personally. Williams describes Du Bois’ effort as his most significant work to never reach the public as he struggled to finish his manuscript and the legacy of the war, however, “By rendering this story in such rich archival detail, Williams’s book is a fitting coda to Du Bois’s unfinished history of Black Americans and the First World War.”*

Matthew Delmont. “W.E.B. Du Bois and the Legacy – and Betrayal – of Black Soldiers,” New York Times, April 4, 2023.

THE ISLAND OF EXTRAORDINARY CAPTIVES: A PAINTER, A POET, AN HEIRESS, AND A SPY IN A WORLD WAR II BRITISH INTERNMENT CAMP by Simon Parkin

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023szfreiberger British History, World War II Leave a comment

Young Jewish refugees (including Peter Fleischmann, carrying large art folder) arriving in England in December 1938.

(British citizens walking into Camp Hutchinson, Peter Fleischmann is carrying an art folio)

The concept of internment was employed during World War II supposedly as a strategy to protect the national security of the countries that implemented it. The most famous example was the internment of Japanese Americans in the United States resulting in 125,284 individuals of Japanese descent rounded up and dispersed to 75 incarceration sites. A lesser known example was perpetrated by the British government for suspected German agents sent to a number of facilities on the Isle of Man. British policy is the subject of Simon Parkin’s latest book, THE ISLAND OF EXTRAORDINARY CAPTIVES: A PAINTER, A POET, AN HEIRESS, AND A SPY IN A WORLD WAR II BRITISH INTERNMENT CAMP.

Parkin’s main focus is the Hutchinson Camp which became the home of an eclectic and talented group of people. The camp was populated with over 1200 prisoners predominantly refugees from Nazi Germany who had been living in England peacefully at the time of their arrest. Parkin’s begins by exploring English paranoia concerning a “fifth column” as it appeared the Nazis were about to invade. Prime Minister Winston Churchill authorized the arrest of thousands among them were “so-called aliens” resulting in the imprisonment of teenagers who fled Germany on Kindertransport trains among them was Peter Fleischmann one of the main characters of the monograph. In an interesting description, Parkin places Fleischmann at a concert performed at Camp Hutchinson symbolizing how one could be imprisoned by one’s liberator. For Peter it was a reminder of Gestapo roundups in a world he had fled. Other prisoners included Oxbridge dons, surgeons, dentists, lawyers and scores of celebrated artists – a truly talented array of people, one of “history’s unlikeliest and most extraordinary prison populations.”

A group of people designated as ‘enemy aliens’ on their way to an internment camp in Britain in 1940.

(British citizens carrying their possessions entering Camp Hutchinson)

The author launches his subject by describing the story of Herschel Grynszpan’s odyssey leading him to assassinate a German diplomat in Paris as revenge against the Nazis for seizing his parents who wound up in the no man’s land between Germany and Poland. The result was Kristallnacht launched by the Nazis in November 1938 a policy designed to terrorize Jews into leaving Germany. After discussing the impact of the beatings, seizures, and destruction of Jewish property, Parkin relates Peter’s early life after the death of his parents, living with an insensitive uncle, life in a series of orphanages, and finally his arrival in England. His story is one of abandonment and reflects British policy toward German refugees that they accepted and then arrested. British policy was clearly a haphazard one with little thought and planning as they seized thousands of people who in no way were a threat to the “empire.” Rather than carefully constructing tribunals made of knowledgeable people to make decisions they placed people totally unprepared and trained to make those decisions – the result was mass arrest. Churchill was part of the process, and he ordered all enemy aliens between the ages of 16 and 60 seized– leading to the transformation of asylum seekers into enemy suspects.

For Peter his final arrest came on July 5, 1940, and along with thousands of others were subjected to the inhumanity and indignities of how the British processed the men stealing their limited possessions, deprived them of their civil rights, and saw themselves as having survived dangerous escapes from Germany to be imprisoned by their saviors. Hitler laughed at British policy correctly pointing out how the British were copying the Nazis by rounding up so many Jews. Parkin describes a number of British facilities and for many it took months to reach Camp Hutchinson.

An internment camp on the Isle of Man in 1941.

(British internment camp on the Isle of Man)

Parkin correctly points out that internment brought lingering desperation and gloom, but it also brought the creative inspiration as a vehicle for survival as the men put their substantial musical, literary, and artistic talents to use. Parkin describes concerts, classes of all types – academic to vocational, inventions, and other areas of prisoner expertise in great detail, a creative Hutchinson University. What emerges is a communal type of living where talented people mostly share their expertise with each other to make their situation tolerable.

Parkin focusses on a number of important characters throughout the book. Michael Covin, a former British journalist who survived the sinking of the refugee ship SS Arandora Star by a Nazi submarine to become a chronicler of what brought men to the camp and life under incarceration. Klaus Ernst Hinrichsen, an art historian whose writing and commentary serves as an important source for the author. Kurt Schwitters, poet and artist who served as a mentor for Peter. Bertha Bracey, a Quaker who led a refugee organization working to gain asylum for children from Germany and securing the release of those incarcerated. Ludwig Warschauer, the subject of a fascinating chapter as MI5 refused to allow his release as they correctly identified a German spy within their midst. His wife, Echen Kohsen, an heiress who had cared for Peter in Germany will finally leave him when the truth comes out. Parkin discusses many other talented prisoners and the effect prison life had on them emotionally and professionally.

Once the pressure on the Home Office grew and grew the government decided on a convoluted release policy which was almost as incompetent as their initial internment program. Parkin describes hearings and judgements which made no sense, and of course Churchill did little to circumvent it. For many like Peter the government offered release in return for joining the military. Many agreed, and many refused to be blackmailed. As many talented and influential people were released by 1941, Peter and hundreds of others remained interred.

TateImages_MA2610_preview — (Peter Fleischmann)

Parkin includes a final chapter in which he describes what occurred to people after release. Finally, Peter will be accepted to an art school because of recommendations by camp artists and the work of refugee organizations. This had been his life’s wish and finally he acquired people he could rely on and trust.

For the most part, Simon Parkin’s account is a riveting one reflecting a shameful chapter in British history which is also a testament to creativity and hope. At times the author gets bogged down in the details of his subjects and it would have been interesting to compare women’s internment camps, which he mentions in passing in more detail. But overall, a useful account of a forgotten category of a brutal British policy.

THE DIRTY TRICKS DEPARTMENT: STANLEY LOVELL, THE OSS, AND THE MASTERMINDS OF WORLD WAR II SECRET WARFARE by John Lisle

April 13, 2023April 13, 2023szfreiberger Espionage, World War II Leave a comment

(OSS headquarters during World War II, Congressional Country Club)

World War Two produced many larger than life figures. Perhaps no one fits this category more than Colonel William “Wild Bill” Donovan who built the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) the precursor to the CIA. Donovan, a Republican was a law school classmate of Franklin D. Roosevelt and after traveling in Europe and speaking with a Nazi general he urged the president to create a centralized intelligence organization to oversee the collection of intelligence abroad. Further, he wanted this organization to engage in espionage, sabotage, propaganda, and disinformation against America’s enemies. This would lead to his appointment as Coordinator of Information in July 1941, which by June 1942 had over 600 employees at the time when Roosevelt signed an order establishing the OSS with Donovan as its head.

Once Donovan got the OSS off the ground he approached a well-known industrial chemist, Stanley Lovell to oversee the development of dirty tricks by a group of scientists which forms the core of John Lisle’s first book, THE DIRTY TRICKS DEPARTMENT: STANLEY LOWELL, THE OSS, AND THE MASTERMINDS OF WORLD WAR II SECRET WARFARE.

Lisle, a historian of science and the American intelligence community tells a fascinating story of how Lovell and his colleagues invented many items including Bat Bombs, suicide pills, fighting knives, silent pistols, camouflaged explosives, in addition to many other interesting items. They would also forge documents for undercover agents, plotted assassinations of foreign leaders, and conducted truth drug experiments on unsuspecting subjects. Lisle’s account is based on impeccable research including newly released materials, archives, and interviews. The subject itself is important as Lisle delves into the dark legacy of one of the CIA’s most infamous programs; MKULTRA. However, despite the fascinating subject matter, at times Lisle’s account comes across as a mundane listing of one invention after another. Though there are a number of interesting vignettes, overall, the topic was not developed to its potential.

(General Willam “Wild Bill” Donovan, OSS head during WWII)

Lovell and many scientists faced a moral dilemma in the conduct of their work. It became a conflict between a Hippocratic obligation and patriotism to defend one’s country. What made Lovell an important contributor to Donovan’s programs was his unique combination of business and scientific acumen. Soon Lovell would become Vannevar Bush’s aid. Bush, headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II would convince FDR to create the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) which would coordinate scientific research and devise new weapons under the auspices of Harvard president James Conant. Further, Bush convinced FDR to develop the atomic bomb.

Soon, Donovan convinced Lovell to join the OSS as Director of the embryonic OSS Research and Development Branch with a mandate “for the invention, development, and testing of all secret and other devices, material and equipment.” Lovell would travel to England to glean “dirty tricks” from the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). Upon his return Lovell, with the help of Bush’s scientists created a secret division to develop all of the weapons that a spy or saboteur could possibly need in their line of work called Division 19, known as the “Sandeman Club.” Lovell would appoint Harris Chadwell, a chemistry professor at Tufts University to head Division 19. Little has been written about the R & D Branch or Division 19, a void that Lisle attempts to fill.

(Stanley Lovell)

Lisle’s narrative is loaded with interesting characters and at times bizarre suggestions for “Dirty Tricks.” Quirky and bright inventors abound. William Fairbairn, a spritely individual who weighed about 160 lbs. but was an expert at “gutter fighting” developed in Asia worked with the SOE and American agents who he taught to defeat opponents applying any means necessary. Ernest Crocker, the so-called “million dollar nose” developed all types of “smells” from perfume to fecal matter in order to embarrass and defeat the Japanese. Ed Salinger applied psychological warfare to scare Japanese villagers and developed items included in “Operation Fantasia” taking advantage of Shinto religious superstitions to foster fear among Japanese soldiers by painting foxes white and drop them in areas soldiers frequented. “Jim, the Penman,” a federal prisoner convicted of forgery was released to assist in developing documents for secret agents, flooding markets with forged currencies etc. Another large than life figure was Carl Eifler, the head of Detachment 101, a group of men who would be used behind enemy lines. At one time General “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell, Commander of US forces in China asked him if he could assassinate Chiang Kai-Shek, the Kuomintang leader. Later he was asked if he could kidnap German scientist Werner Heisenberg. Of course, Eifler answered in the affirmative for both requests. Not all suggestions were implemented, but the people behind them were committed to their implementation. Lovell did support many eccentric ideas, but some went even too far for him. One interesting example finds Lovell entering the Oval Office and firing a suppressed .22 pistol into a sandbox while an unsuspecting FDR was at his desk to demonstrate the weapon suppressor’s effectiveness.

There are other interesting pieces of information. For example, Donovan would use the Congressional Country Club in Maryland, outside Washington as his headquarters and research facility. The golf course complex was retrofitted to bring in the necessary equipment to foster research and experiments. Laboratories and other facilities were developed to assist scientists, inventors, and various gadflies in their research from weapons, accoutrements needed by secret agents, misinformation, etc. The Research and Development Department was responsible for dreaming up covert ways to baffle, terrify, destabilize and destroy the enemy: poison pills, silent guns, gizmos to derail trains, invisible inks, truth serums, forgeries, exploding dough, disguises and camouflage were all developed for the use of O.S.S. agents operating behind the lines. Further, they would develop psychological ploys to get inside the heads of Axis decision makers.

Reluctant to shelve Eifler after he suffered a serious head injury, "Wild Bill" Donovan (right) steered him toward new and challenging missions, culminating in Project Napko and an effort to insert Korean agents into Japan. (Office of Strategic Services/U.S. Army)

(Colonel Carl Eifler and General William “Wild Bill” Donovan)

At the outset Lovell had moral qualms concerning the types of weapons and strategies that were suggested or being developed. However, as the war continued his doubts gradually diminished. For him everything was dependent on whether a new device would end the war sooner and prevent allied casualties. The development of diverse types of pills to induce suicide, assassination, sickness, and other results interested Lovell and he strongly supported their use to protect secret agents. Lovell ran into opposition when it came to the development of biological and chemical weapons. FDR and Donovan, at first opposed their advancement arguing they did not want to be the first to deploy such weapons. Lovell argued against them, and they would finally come around as it appeared the Germans and the Japanese had no qualms developing them. Admiral William D. Leahy, the most senior American military officer, who had tremendous influence on policy remained adamant against their use until the end of the war, even rejecting the dropping of poisonous gas on Iwo Jima to save the military from storming the island and saving the over 24,000 casualties and 8,000 American deaths when the island was finally stormed by US troops. The US would develop and stockpile the weapons but did not use them.

Ben Macintyre, the author of many books on World War II espionage and other topics is correct in his April 9, 2023 New York Times book review, writing; “A grim legacy of the wartime research into truth serums was the C.I.A.’s 1950s mind-control program, MK-Ultra, in which dangerous and sometimes deadly experiments were conducted on prisoners, mental patients and non-consenting citizens.”

This somewhat enjoyable book is alarming as it offers good reasons for maintaining careful oversight in dealing with intelligence services: “Spy-scientists tend to go rogue when left to invent their own devices.”

The OSS buildings, labeled as they were referred to during World War II

(OSS headquarters during World War II, Congressional Country Club)

THE MOSQUITO BOWL: A GAME OF LIFE AND DEATH IN WORLD WAR II by Buzz Bissinger

November 17, 2022November 17, 2022szfreiberger Sports, US Naval History, World War II Leave a comment

The contributions of American athletes to the war effort during World War II has been well documented. The experiences of Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, Tom Landry, Ed Lummus and hundreds of others have been recognized for their impact in defeating Germany and Japan. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Buzz Bissinger’s latest book, THE MOSQUITO BOWL: A GAME OF LIFE AND DEATH IN WORLD WAR II chronicles events leading up to a game between the 4^th and 29^th Marine Regiments on Guadalcanal in late 1944 and the fate of many who fought at Tarawa, Saipan, and Okinawa. The soldiers were made up of former All-Americans from Brown, Notre Dame and Wisconsin universities twenty of which were drafted by the National Football League. Of the sixty-five men who played in the game, fifteen would die a few months later at Okinawa.

Bissinger, the author of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, a story of high school football in Texas brings to life the men and their military training as they prepared for the Marine assault on Okinawa. During their preparations trash talking between the two Marine Regiments reached a fever pitch which led to what has been referred to as “the Mosquito Bowl.” Bissinger’s narrative explores the lives of these men with insight, empathy, and a clear picture of what they were experiencing and would soon be up against. It is a well told story of college athletes and their loss of innocence. It begins on the playing fields of America’s colleges through their final time f to remain boys to the darkest days that would follow on Okinawa.

The book is a dichotomy in the story it tells. First and foremost, Bissinger zeroes in on the lives of a number of individuals who developed as exceptional athletes and morphed into American Marines. Bissinger focuses on the lives of John Marshall McLaughey, Captain of the Brown football team, played one year with the New York Giants and enlisted immediately after Pearl Harbor. Another major football star, this time as an All-American at the University of Wisconsin, David Schreiner enlisted as an officer candidate with the Marines. Tony Butkovich, from a family of eleven, one of which was a fighter pilot, was an All-American at the University of Illinois, later at Purdue University and was drafted number one by the Cleveland Rams. Butkovich would not make the grade as a Marine officer and became a corporal in the infantry. Bob Bauman was Butkovich’s teammate at Wisconsin and his brother Frank played at Illinois, both brothers joined the Marines. Bob McGowan, from western Pennsylvania was a Sergeant and Squad leader who was severely wounded on Okinawa and whose story provides the reader with the feel of the terror and bloodshed of battle. Lastly, George Murphy, Captain of the Notre Dame football team would join the others as Marines, in his case as an officer candidate.

(David Schreiner)

The book jacket describing Bissinger’s narrative is a bit misleading. It appears the book will concentrate on football, but its treatment goes much deeper in its exploration of a number of important topics in American history during the first half of the 20^th century. Bissinger follows the military training that the athletes experienced, but its focus is diverse. The depression plays a prominent role in the upbringing of the Bauman brothers in a small town just south of Chicago. The issue of immigration stands out because of its impact on the diversity of American society, but also the backlash that was created after World War I when families like the Butkovichs came to the United States from Croatia at the turn of the century. By 1924, Congress passed the Johnson Act designed to block immigration from southern and eastern Europe. The legislation reflected politics combined with the pseudo-science of eugenics which became very popular in the post-World War I period that argued certain groups were inferior to “white Americans.” Daniel Okrent’s THE GUARDED GATE: BIGOTRY, EUGENICS AND THE LAW THAT KEPT TWO GENERATIONS OF JEWS, ITALIANS, AND OTHER EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS OUT OF AMERICA is an exceptional study of American racism during that period.

Racism is a dominant theme apart from war and athletics as Bissinger explores how blacks were treated in the military. Lynchings and murders were common in the American south and the experiences of blacks in the military revolved around demeaning jobs mostly in supply, laundries, bakeries, sanitation, ammo dumps leading to the conclusion that the United States fought for freedom in occupied Europe and the Pacific, but there would be no freedom for the 13 million Blacks living in the United States of America. At the outset of the war there were no blacks in the Marines.

(DeOrmond “Tuss” McLaughry, football coach 1926-1940. With his son John McLaughry, coach 1959, shown with Colgate)

The military leadership used college football stars as a recruiting tool and stressed the similar values and talents that college football and the military held in common. Exemptions for college athletes from the draft led to anger by the families of those fighting in Europe and the Pacific while many the same age enjoyed the life of a star athlete. Bissinger does an exceptional job delving into the West Point football program as they experienced their best seasons in 1944 and 1945 due to the accomplishments of exempted players “Doc” Blanchard and Glenn Davis, who were better known as “Mr. inside, and Mr. Outside.” Their exploits would lead the Army to national championships.

Bissinger has total command of the history of the war and college athletics. The author lists more than 100 pages of endnotes, assembled from military records, correspondence, interviews of survivors and other reportorial feats — shows up everywhere, in the numbers, in battle accounts, in the homey mundanity of letters, and a clear incisive writing style, sprinkled with humor and sarcasm which are keys to the book’s success. As to the conduct of the war, Bissinger pulls no punches as he recounts the errors in judgement by military higher ups as it planned and carried out the amphibious landing at Tarawa which turned into a bloody disaster with 2000 casualties in the first 76 hours of the invasion. The key to victory over Japan would be “island hopping” therefore amphibious warfare was of the utmost importance, but military strategists did not make use of all of its assets, i.e.; LVT boats as opposed to Higgins boats that could not navigate through the coral that surrounded many Pacific islands. Bissinger’s discussions of Tarawa and the outright stupidity of General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. who commanded US forces at Okinawa can only anger the reader as it resulted in the useless deaths of so many young men.

Another important weapon Bissinger explores is that of the “flame thrower.” On Okinawa and other islands, the Japanese benefited from their use of caves with interlocking tunnels, a difficult problem to overcome. The caves were challenging to penetrate by bombing so the use of napalm from flame throwers became imperative. Despite the application of this weapon which saved many American lives, the Japanese inflicted innumerable casualties on the Americans as they fought from hill to hill. Japanese troop strength on Okinawa was much higher than US intelligence pointed out, roughly 100,000, not the 66,000 that was estimated. Bissinger lays out the fears and hopes of the men as they prepared and carried out their mission with horrendous results. In the end over 250,000 people died in 82 days at Okinawa. Of that number 50,000 were American, 20,000 Marines, 8222 from the 6^th Division. In the last quarter of the book Bissinger does justice to their memory as he lays out the battle for Okinawa, the Japanese who fought to the death, and the obstacles that the Marines had to overcome. He lays out the story of all the men who fought at Okinawa and played in the Mosquito Bowl along with countless others.

The core of the book revolves around The Mosquito Bowl, which was a spirited, semi-organized football game on Guadalcanal. The game, played on Christmas Eve 1944 with at least 1,500 Marines watching, is both a pretext and an organizing principle for the book, but its significance fades as Bissinger explores the fates of several participants. Combat and other dirty aspects of warfare are ever present. The fighting on Tarawa, Saipan, Okinawa and stories of those who never returned home point to the insanity of war, which regrettably still dominates our news cycle today as we witness Russian terrorism and atrocities in Ukraine. The title of the book is a misnomer as there is little discussion of the game itself – more to the point the book is not about a football game but the tragedy of young men fighting and dying in wars far from home.

PRISONER OF THE CASTLE: AN EPIC STORY OF SURVIVAL AND ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ, THE NAZIS FORTRESS PRISON by Ben Macintyre

October 7, 2022October 7, 2022szfreiberger Nazi Germany, World War II Leave a comment

If one is interested in spy craft and traitors during World War II and the Cold War there are few authors that have produced more satisfying works than Ben Macintyre. Macintyre is a writer-at-large for The Times (U.K.) and has written monographs whose narratives include the history of the British SAS; deceptions that encompass plans to misinform the Nazis in the lead up to the invasions of Sicily and D-Day; well-known spies such as Kim Philby, Oleg Gordievsky, the woman known as Agent Sonya, Eddie Chapman; and his latest the escapees from the Nazi fortress, Colditz. Whether describing and analyzing the actions of double agents loyal to the United States, Britain, or Russia or other topics Macintyre’s approach to conveying espionage history is clear, concise, entertaining, and remarkably well written. All books are based on sound research and his readers will welcome his latest effort PRISONERS OF THE CASTLE: AN EPIC STORY OF SURVIVAL AND ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ, THE NAZIS FORTRESS PRISON.

As in all of his books. PRISONERS OF THE CASTLE tackles subject matter with gusto and goes beyond the conventional story that may have been told before. In his latest effort he breathes new life into one of the greatest war stories ever told as over a period of four years allied prisoners tried to escape the impregnable Nazi fortress. Macintyre traces the evolution of World War II from within the prison to the point of liberation when inmates feared their rescue would not come quickly enough to save them. As described by the author, the prisoners were an amalgam of self-identified “communists, scientists, homosexuals, women, aesthetes and philistines, aristocrats, spies, workers, poets, and traitors” who created their own replica of pre-war society and culture within the prison as a means of survival.

Caught in the act, this Allied prisoner can be seen poking climbing out of a sewer after guards at Colditz Camp in Leipzig, Germany had caught him trying to escape. Only the most high risk Second World War prisoners were sent to Colditz - a converted castle built on rocky terrain in eastern Germany — (Escaping through the sewers)

There are two components that dominate Macintyre’s monograph; the replica of the British social class structure that dominated prison life, and the integration of an eclectic and diverse group of prisoners whether British, Dutch, French, Polish, or American. There are other themes that the author introduces that include the Nazi leadership that ran Colditz, the ebbs and flows of the war which prisoners were able to keep up with by building a surreptitious radio, the planning of escapes and what happened to the escapees, the plight of Prominente – a group of influential and famous prisoners whom the Nazis sought to maximize a return, and how Berlin reacted to what was occurring in the prison.

Running through the heart of Colditz ran a wide and almost unbridgeable social class divide. This was a camp for captured officers, but it also consisted of a fluctuating population of orderlies, and prisoners of other ranks who performed menial tasks for the Germans, but also served as personal servants for officers. Only officers were allowed to take part in escape attempts and orderlies were not expected to assist them. No orderly tried to escape because if caught the consequences could be devastating. If an officer was caught he was returned to the prison usually unharmed. There was a working class of soldiers and orderlies, and an upper class of officers, reflecting the class structure of the time.

The officers had a British “boarding school mentality.” They tried to recreate the traditions of Eton and other private schools coopting behaviors such as bullying, enslaving individuals on the lower rung of society, “goon-baiting” of Germans, and diverse types of entertainment. Those who did not attend a boarding school were rarely included.

Spot the dummy?Allied soldiers had a handmade dummy they would use during parade head counts to fool guards at Colditz. While the figure had no legs, prisoners could hold it up and hope it would, at a cursory glance, appear as one of their fellow inmates — (Creating copies of uniforms, including the use of dummies)

Macintyre describes the prison infrastructure that the prisoners studied assiduously to determine weak points and when they might escape. For most prisoners escaping became their life’s work and interestingly the different nationalities kept a score card highlighting successful escapes. The food was abysmal, but edible and it was offset by Red Cross packages of food, clothing, toiletries and other important items. Many packages contained objects hidden in food and other articles that might assist an escape. Prisoners cooperated in digging tunnels, one of which was known as Le Metro dug mostly by the French, performing logistics, obtaining and making tools, and often attempted an escape that involved substantial number of men. On the other hand, there were prisoners who worked alone and wanted no part of being in a group. The prisoners created numerous committees to regulate prisoner life and tried to produce a sense of normality. One in particular was most important – if a prisoner wanted to try to escape he needed the approval of an Escape Committee headed by the highest ranking officers.

Macintyre’s attention to detail is a strength of the book. He delves into strategies developed and objects needed, i.e.; the “arse keeper,” a cylinder to hide money, small tools and other objects in one’s anatomy was most creative. The prisoners were geniuses in developing tactics to confuse their captors, and instruments that were used to make their escape attempts possible, a including a glider that was completely built, but never used.. The author also includes how prisoners tried to keep themselves sane by developing their own entertainment. They set up theater performances, choirs, concerts, bands, jazz ensembles, plays etc. Sanity was a major issue and for those who remained at Colditz for years PTSD was definitely an issue.

Captured soldiers were no strangers to using tunnels for their great escapes, but it was highly unlikely they would make it all the way out to freedom. During the Second World War 32 PoWs escaped from Colditz, of which only 15 made it across Europe to safety — (The French “Metro” Tunnel)

The characters Macintyre describes are a diverse and fascinating group. The following stand out. Alain Le Ray, a French Lieutenant in an elite mountain infantry force, and a self-contained individual who planned and tried to execute numerous escapes. Captain Pat Reid, a gregarious member of the British Royal Service Corps who shared his plans and was involved in many escape attempts. Joseph Ellison Platt, a self-righteous Methodist preacher tried, and usually failed to keep prisoners on the straight and narrow. Airey Neave, wounded at Calais used planning escapes as a tool to ease his depression. He would finally escape and work for MI9 to assist other prisoners. Birendranath Mazumdar, an Indian doctor and an officer who was treated poorly by his British “allies” reflecting the racist attitudes of British officers. He turned down working for the Germans but was still a victim of his compatriots. Giles Romilly, a nephew by marriage of Winston Churchill, was journalist and communist captured in Norway. Christopher Layton Hutton designed and developed numerous escape kits and other inventions for prisoners. Michael Sinclair escaped from Poland who was obsessed with escaping and reuniting with the Anglo-Polish Society, a secret resistance network – he would make seven escape attempts dying on the last one.. Julius Green, a Jewish dentist from Glasgow developed the most prolific code-letter system and treated Nazi patients who disclosed valuable information that he was able to forward to the right authorities. Checko Chalovpka, a Czech pilot whose affair with Irmgard Wernicke, a dental assistant in town who a spy who fed information provoked awe. Walter Purdy, a British supporter of Oswald Mosley turned against his fellow prisoners and made radio speeches condemning the allies – his fellow prisoners wanted to lynch him. Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a double amputee fighter pilot who was held in high esteem by most prisoners. Lee Carson, a beautiful and fearless journalist who traveled with American troops, who was known as the “Rhine Maiden.” There are also important Nazi figures highlighted by Lt. Reinhold Eggers, the Supreme Security Chief at Colditz who tried to be fair to the prisoners and was often overruled. Eggers is extremely important in that he maintained a written history of the camp that Macintyre had access to. Eggers appears almost as a background narrator of the story presenting his battle with prisoners and the thinking of the German occupiers.

The turning point for prisoners came after D-Day. As long as the German Army was in charge of the camp treatment was palatable. However, as the war turned after D-Day and the July 1944 Plot that failed to assassinate Hitler more and more the SS and the Gestapo under Heinrich Himmler took over the camp. Escapees were warned, if you were captured you would be shot, not just returned to the barracks as before.

Prisoners, including some dressed in women's clothes and make up, can be seen here performing in a show. Guards at Colditz organised concerts and shows as a way of keeping prisoners occupied so they could not plan any escapes — (Prisoners created their own theater)

I agree with Andrea Pitzer’s September 29, 2022, Washington Post review as she writes, “Macintyre tells the story of the POW camp that had more escape attempts than any other during World War II. He parades a brigade of officers, some of whom have since been lionized or found postwar fame through film, television and multiple books. Ultimately, Macintyre offers a more complete and complex account than is typical in popular histories from the Nazi era. Read in that light, this is less a fairy tale than an honest account of heroic but fallible men in captivity, made more compelling through the acknowledgment of their flaws and failures.”

The strength of the book lies with Macintyre’s unique ability to weave a story involving so many different characters, not allowing individuals to get in the way of his material. Macintyre writes as if he is aware that his story is not a literary one, but a recounting the stories of many important men and stitching together their experiences from the disparate historical record.

THE ESCAPE ARTIST: THE MAN WHO BROKE OUT OF AUSCHWITZ TO WARN THE WORLD by Jonathan Freedland

July 1, 2022szfreiberger Holocaust, Nazi Germany, World War II Leave a comment

Two words dominate Jonathan Freedland’s new book, THE ESCAPE ARTIST: THE MAN WHO BROKE OUT OF AUSCHWITZ TO WARN THE WORLD; trust and escape. These terms would dominate the life of Walter Rosenberg, a Slovakian Jew who along with three others would escape from Auschwitz in 1944. Only seventeen in February 1942, Rosenberg was rounded up by the Nazis which would begin a horrible journey that would culminate in being deported with his family to Poland. Passing through Novaky, a Slovak transit camp, he would wind up in Majdanek and then on to Auschwitz by June 1942 where he would remain until April 1944 when he and his compatriot, Fred Wetzler would become the first Jews to escape “the crowning achievement of Nazi extermination.”

From that point on Walter Rosenberg, who would change his name to Rudi Vrba would dedicate his existence to gathering evidence of Nazi atrocities in order to warn Jews of what they could expect once they were deported to Auschwitz. It was his hope that once warned, Jews would put up as much resistance as possible apart from marching docilly to their deaths.

Freedland’s gripping book sets out to bring Vrba to prominence as a name to be mentioned in the same category as Primo Levi, Elie Wiesel, Oskar Schindler, and Anne Frank. In telling his story Freedland focuses on Vrba’s prodigious memory as he mentally catalogued what he witnessed each day in the camp. At the outset he may not have realized it but thanks to a series of arbitrary events and lucky breaks Vrba had acquired an unusually comprehensive expertise in the workings of Auschwitz. Freedland writes that “he had lived or worked in the main camp, at Birkenau and at Bu8na; Auschwitz I, II, III. He had worked in the gravel pits, the DAW factory, and in Kanada. He had been an intimate witness of the selection process that preceded the organized murder of thousands….He knew the precise layout of the camp and believed he had a good idea as to how many had entered Auschwitz by train, and how many left via chimney. And he had committed it all to memory.”

Freeland describes Vrba’s experiences with a keen eye and his ability to process what he experienced as preparation for his escape to warn his fellow Jews. Freeland relies on the work of two prominent Holocaust historians, David Cesarini and Nikolaus Wachsmann in his retelling of the Final Solution and integrating those events into Vrba’s story. Freeland’s chapter entitled, “Kanada,” provides insights into Vrba’s methodology as he was assigned to an area where he would separate and quantify the possessions of prisoners upon their arrival at the camp. Later, he would be assigned to greet and assist in separating arrivals as they exited the cattle cars. Freeland’s detail is remarkable as even toothpaste tubes were used to hide diamonds. These experiences helped him master the numbers that Nazi extermination produced.

Freeland’s overriding theme rests on Vrba’s obsessive drive to escape. No matter where he found himself or what condition he was in he was always thinking and plotting. Once Freeland turns to April 1944 and Vrba’s tortuous journey out of the camp we see a young man wise beyond his years realize his dream of warning Jews that deportation to Auschwitz meant death. He had watched the SS decide who was to live and die with a flick of the finger, now after witnessing so much he decided he could sound the warning that obviated the process.

Freeland describes how observant Vrba was and focuses on the idea that no one could be trusted, even the few he felt comfortable with. He partnered with Fred Wetzler, another Slovakian Jew and two others in planning and carrying out their departure and what emerges is an amazing story that provides many insights into the resistance to the Holocaust and how difficult it became to educate Jews as to what their fate would become.

Interestingly, Vrba took a course in “escapology” from Dimitri Volkov, a Russian POW who had escaped from Sachsenhausen, another Nazi concentration camp. The key was to carry no money or food and live off the land. Further, a watch was needed, as was a knife which could be used for suicide because capture meant torture and death. Salt and matches were also needed and most importantly, trust no one.

As Vrba’s journey evolved he develops a deep resentment towards the Jewish Councils that had cooperated with the Nazis and facilitated their methodology in deporting Jews to the death camps. Freeland notes that Vrba would carry these feelings for the rest of his life particularly involving the actions of Rezso Kasztner, the controversial head of the Budapest Jewish Council who blocked the dissemination of Vrba and Wetzler’s report of what transpired in Auschwitz.

Once the escape proved successful Vrba’s mission was to prepare a report that would support newspaper and eyewitness accounts of what transpired in the death camps. This discussion is one of the most important aspects of the book as the report is retyped, translated, and printed and eventually reaches the desks of Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and a series of high Vatican officials. Freeland analyzes this process as to why little or nothing was done, concluding that politics, anti-Semitism, and years of denigrating Jews by church officials was responsible.

Freeland’s rendering of Vrba’s life continues after the war as he lived in Israel, London, and eventually settled in Vancouver. He became a successful research scientist, married twice, and had two daughters. Despite professional success following the war he was haunted by bouts of paranoia, anger, lack of trust, and an inability to gain true acceptancefor what he tried to achieve during the war. As the years passed on he never wavered in his belief that the Jews knew nothing of Auschwitz, despite evidence to the contrary. Despite this in the end his report was pivotal in saving 200,000 Budapest Jews from extermination as President Roosevelt warned the Hungarian government in late 1944 as to the consequences if more jews were slaughtered. But this only occurred after a frustrated Vrba and Wetzler decides to print and disseminate their report by themselves when others would not cooperate.

According to Blake Morrison in his The Guardian review of 8 June 2022, “Vrba had three core beliefs about Auschwitz: that the outside world didn’t know about the “final solution”; that once they did know, the allies would intervene; and that once Jews knew, they would refuse to board those fateful trains. Without in the least diminishing Vrba, Freedland disproves all three. Word of the Nazis’ “cold-blooded extermination” had got out at least 18 months before his escape. Allied policy was inhibited by inertia and antisemitism (“In my opinion a disproportionate amount of time of the Office is wasted on dealing with these wailing Jews”, wrote someone in the Foreign Office in London). And whereas younger Jews believed Vrba, the majority were with philosopher Raymond Aron, who said: “I knew but I didn’t believe it. And because I didn’t believe it, I didn’t know.”

Freedland has written a remarkable account combining the history of the Holocaust with the life experiences of a young man, who will emerge emotionally damaged from the war suffering from PTSD. Despite Vrba’s flaws as a person his commitment to warn Hungary’s Jews stands as a tremendous accomplishment despite the negative opinions of a number of Holocaust historians toward his work. The book is well written, an absorbing read, and an important contribution to the literature of the Holocaust.

No photo description available. — (Rudi Vrba)

THE POPE AT WAR: THE SECRET HISTORY OF PIUS XII, MUSSOLINI, AND HITLER by David I. Kertzer

June 24, 2022June 24, 2022szfreiberger Holocaust, Nazi Germany, World War II Leave a comment

For many, one of the most polarizing figures of the Second World War was Pope Pius XII. Up until 2019 the Vatican archives did not allow access to most of the documents related to Pius XII’s actions before and during the war. Under the current leadership of Pope Francis, the archive has been made available to historians and has brought about a reassessment of Pius XII’s relationship with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in addition to his attitude toward the Holocaust.

Until the opening of the archive, historians were of two minds; either Pius XII was too close to Mussolini and Hitler and did not confront them publicly concerning their murderous atrocities and said and did little in relation to the genocide of European Jewry or he did as much as he could in balancing the protection of the Catholic clergy in Germany and working behind the scenes to assist Europe’s Jews. It is understood that Pius XII was in a very difficult position and Pulitzer Prize winning historian, David I. Kertzer, the author of THE POPE AND MUSSOLINI: THE SECRET HISTORY OF PIUS XI AND THE RISE OF FASCISM IN EUROPE has availed himself of the opportunity to consult newly released documentation and has written what should be considered the definitive source in dealing with Pius XII in his latest work, THE POPE AT WAR: THE SECRET HISTORY OF PIUS XII, MUSSOLINI, AND HITLER. Kertzer’s book documents the private decision-making that led Pope Pius XII to stay essentially silent about Hitler’s genocide and argues that the Pope’s impact on the war is underestimated – and not in a positive fashion. As David M. Shribman writes in the Boston Globe, for Pius XII “silence was easier, safer, more prudent. Silence was deadly.”*

Kertzer’s presentation is excellent as it is grounded in his previous research and his recent access to the newly opened Vatican archive. The book is clearly written and tells a story that many have heard before, however it is cogently argued, and he has unearthed new material which may change or reinforce deeply held opinions by many when it comes to Pius XII. Kertzer makes the case that Pius XII’s obsessive fear of Communism, his belief that the Germans would win the war, and his goal of protecting church interests motivated him to avoid angering Mussolini and Hitler. The Pope was also concerned as the book highlights, that opposing Hitler would alienate millions of German Catholics.

Kertzer does an excellent job tracing Pius XII’s relationship with Mussolini; the evolution of Italy’s military failures which negatively impacted Hitler’s plans, i.e.; Italy’s failed invasion of Greece; and Hitler’s growing dissatisfaction with Mussolini. Kertzer relies heavily on the comments and diaries associated with foreign ambassadors to the Vatican, particularly those of England and France and their negative commentary related to the Papacy. The descriptions of these ambassadors focused on Pius XII’s lack of action, periodic support for the war effort in Italy, and obsession with German power. Further, Kertzer focuses on Pius XI’s opposition to Mussolini’s adoption of racial laws targeting Italian Jews. Despite this opposition, Pius XII would not comment on the increase in Italy’s oppression of Jews and racial laws in general.

(Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler)

Pius XII’s predecessor, Pius XI had been somewhat of a thorn in the side of fascist dictators. He saw Mussolini as a “buffoon,” and believed that Hitler was a danger to all of Europe. Both dictators feared he was preparing an encyclical denouncing Nazi racism and anti-Semitism and feared that the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli who would succeed him as Pontiff would try and talk him out of it, as well as any other anti-fascist comments. When he died a few days before he could release his encyclical, Mussolini and Hitler experienced a great deal of relief.

Kertzer correctly points out that Mussolini never felt comfortable around priests and complained bitterly about Pius XI barbs. He was worried as he was aware that Hitler viewed him as a role model and did not want the Pope’s commentary to ruin their relationship. Once Pius XI died and was replaced by Cardinal Pacelli criticism was reduced and if any were made it was done in private. Hitler’s main complaint concerned articles in the Vatican’s daily newspaper, Osservatore Romano that focused on Nazi anti-Catholic policies from arresting and beating Catholic priests to closing Catholic schools in Germany. Pius XII immediately made overtures to Hitler to relax the pressure on German Catholicism and refused to comment publicly on Hitler’s seizure of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, in addition to remaining quiet as Hitler’s pressure on Catholic Poland over Danzig escalated.

Mussolini resented Pius XII’s diplomacy as his ego would not allow anyone to detract from his role as the dominant figure in Italian politics. Kertzer’s comments concerning Mussolini, his son-in-law Count Galeazzo Ciano, the Italian Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi Foreign Minister, and countless other figures is insightful and at times entertaining, but it does not detract from the danger and derangement of these individuals.

In a very important chapter, Kertzer provides details of secret meetings between the Papacy and Germany before and after the war began. The conduit for Germany was Prince Philip von Hessen whose goal was to bring about an accommodation with the Papacy and keep the Pope out of politics. Hitler resented the clergy’s meddling in German domestic politics and wanted the Pope to refrain from comments on Nazi racial policy. Pius XII’s, his main goal was to protect the German clergy and Catholicism in general, but he expressed the belief that an honorable religious peace was achievable, and in all instances talks should be held in secret.

Mussolini Speaking in Public — (Benito Mussolini)

Once the war began Pius XII refused to break his silence concerning Nazi aggression arguing he would not endanger the church’s situation in Germany. This argument was repeated throughout the war, but he promised he would pray for the Polish people or whatever nationality was endangered by a Nazi onslaught. Morality, rights, honor, justice were always met with methods, practicality, tradition, and statistics on the part of the Vatican. When priests were sent to concentration camps Pius XII did nothing, no statements, no audiences with the Pope in Rome etc. The only diplomacy Pius II seemed to engage in was to try and talk Mussolini out of following in Hitler’s footsteps as it was clear, even to Il Duce, that Italy was totally unprepared for war.

One could argue that Pope Pius XII evolved in his approach toward fascism and the war. At first, at least up to 1943 he waffled between neutrality and making general statements structured “as not to be offensive by either side.” At first the Papacy believed the Germans would win the war and once it was concluded Pius XII was convinced that in a few years the anti-Catholic policies would dissipate and fade away. As the war progressed and when it was clear that the Russians had broken out of Stalingrad and made their way westward, and that the United States and England would invade Italy, Pius XII’s attitude shifted. Pius XII priority was to prevent allied bombing of Rome and Vatican City (particularly as England was bombing Turin, Milan, and Genoa) which led to messages to President Franklin D. Roosevelt who responded with a demand that Mussolini be replaced, and Italy should drop out of the war. Pius XII’s other priority was to warn allied leaders (apart from Stalin) that Communism was as large a threat to Europe as Nazism, and he worked to manufacture a peace agreement with the US and England and organize in response to the Soviet threat to all European Catholics.

Count Gian Galeazzo Ciano, (1903 11 January 1944), Foreign Minister of Fascist Italy — (Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano)

As to the Holocaust, Pius XII received increasing numbers of reports of Nazi atrocities and extermination camps. This information came from reliable sources and churchmen like Father Scavini, an Italian military chaplain that the Pope had great faith in. However, Pius XII refused to publish details contained in these reports to stay on the good side of Hitler and Mussolini. The only area that the Pope did complain about to the German and Italian governments was the application of racial laws to those he considered Catholics – baptized Jews and the children of mixed marriages. Pius XII accepted advice that there was no confirmation of Nazi atrocities and was told not to even use the word, “Jew.” In relation to the Vatican’s attitude toward the roundup of Italian Jews right under their noses provoked little response as Kertzer quotes Lutz Klinkhammer, the foremost historian of Germany’s military occupation of Italy, “it is more than clear that all their efforts were aimed above all at saving the baptized or the ‘half-born’ from mixed marriages,” the Jews who did not fit this category would wind up dying at Auschwitz.

Pius XII’s actions are clear even when he was approached to try and mitigate the actions of Roman Catholic priest Jozef Tiso, the head of the Slovakian government who was about to send 20,000 Jews to Polish concentration camps. When a move was made to try and send 1000 Jewish children to Palestine, Pius XII did little to facilitate this plan as he was anti-Zionist and he argued that he held little sway with the Nazis and their minions and any Papal criticism risked provoking a backlash against the church in German occupied Europe. No matter the circumstances Kertzer’s conclusions that Pius XII’s messaging was always weak and vague to protect the church’s interests.

Pius XII’s silence and overall inaction emerges as the dominant theme of Kertzer’s work. It is clear that any other conclusion is a result of Church propaganda, obfuscation, and analysis that conveniently avoids the facts. Kertzer’s work is to be commended as it should put to bed once and for all the truth concerning Pius XII’s role during World War II.

*David M. Shribman, “A Deadly Silence: Assessing the Moral Failings of Pope Pius XII during World War II,” Boston Globe,” May 26, 2022.

Pope Pius XII (Courtesy of PerlePress Productions)

THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT: THE WAR IN WESTERN EUROPE, 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson

February 17, 2022szfreiberger World War II Leave a comment

The Dumb Reason Why Eisenhower Gave A B-17 To General Montgomery | World War Wings Videos — (Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Bernard Montgomery)

In the third volume of his “liberation trilogy,” THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT: THE WAR IN WESTERN EUROPE, 1944-1945 Rick Atkinson has written a comprehensive history of the last year of the war in the west highlighted by incisive analysis, personality portraits, and clashes beyond the battlefield pitting remarkable characters against each other as they dominated allied and axis planning implementing wartime strategy. Atkinson begins his narrative with a scene at the St. Paul School in west London on May 15, 1944, where allied strategists gathered to finalize plans for the cross channel invasion of France. In this last volume of his trilogy Atkinson continues opus from Operation Overlord, through the liberation of France, the last Nazi attempt to thwart allied plans at the Battle of the Bulge, to finally entering Berlin and ending the war in Europe. In so doing Atkinson employs the same successful approach used in the first two volumes; THE ARMY AT DAWN: THE WAR IN NORTH AFRICA, 1942-1943 and THE DAY OF BATTLE: THE WAR IN SICILY AND ITALY, 1943-1944, impeccable research and total command of the material pertaining to such a broad topic.

The most important wartime characters be it Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt Dwight D. Eisenhower, Edwin Rommel, Charles De Gaulle, Adolf Hitler, Bernard Montgomery, Omar Bradley, George S. Patton and innumerable others are explored from the perspective of their successes and failures, personality flaws and strengths, and their impact on the conduct of the war. In addition, and perhaps most important, Atkinson integrates how the military; from paratroopers, infantry, pilots, those engaged in intelligence, combat engineers, and civilians dealt with their wartime experiences and how it impacted them each day.

(Generals George S. Patton, Omar Bradley, and Bernard Montgomery)

Atkinson’s command of detail is evident from the outset in a wonderful prologue as he describes how 1.5 million Americans lived in huts, prefabricated buildings and tents throughout England as they prepared for the Normandy invasion. It would cause the writer George Orwell to quip that “Britain was now occupied territory,” and road signs that read “to all GIs, please drive carefully, that child may be yours.”

Atkinson’s prose separates his narrative from many others who have authored books dealing with the last year of the war in western Europe. He is able to convey his thoughts and descriptions in a clear and concise manner even when dealing with complex military movements and strategy debates. Among his most poignant and important chapters detail the carnage that American GIs experienced on Omaha Beach, answering the questions surrounding how the Germans were caught off guard by the location of the invasion, and the Battle of the Bulge, the greatest American military intelligence failure of the war. In each instance the reader is ensconced in a world occupied by mere mortals who have to make decisions that will affect the lives of millions and redraw the post war world’s political and physical geography.

Atkinson seems able to explain all aspects of the war. Particularly interesting was the “Bocage problem,” terrain that soldiers would have to master once they broke through after the invasion. In one set of aerial photos of an eight-square-mile- swatch over 4000 hedged enclosures were visible. With little preparation or equipment to deal with the foliage it created a major impediment for soldiers to fight through and advance. The carnage of the war receives important treatment especially the fighting that resulted from Hitler’s last ditch offensive into the Ardennes Forest in December 1944. Though SS Panzers and troops were beaten back by the end of January 1945 America suffered battle losses of 105,000, including 19,246 dead. In addition to thousands more who had to cope with trench foot, frostbite, and other diseases. In the end one of ten US combat losses in WWII came from the GIs who had fought in the Ardennes.

(Parachutes open overhead as waves of paratroops land in Holland during operations by the 1st Allied Airborne Army.)

Atkinson’s mastery of facts and figures is to be commended, as is his ability to delve into the egos of the various military figures and the impact of personalities on the conduct of the war. The individual who stands out is British General Bernard Montgomery who commanded allied land forces for the invasion. Montgomery’s ego was such that he believed that he and only he was the smartest tactician and commander of all allied military figures. Atkinson integrates the opinions of those who dealt with him, British as well as American particularly those of Generals Eisenhower, Bradley and Bedell Smith whose characterization (by Eisenhower) of Montgomery as “a psychopath,” “egocentric,” and essentially a dishonest man” sums up how the American leadership felt about him. The British felt in kind concerning Eisenhower and General George C. Marshall as Montgomery and Field Marshall Alan Francis Brooke believed that the SHAEF commander was incompetent, and Marshall knew nothing about strategy. This aspect of the book is most important and makes one wonder how these individuals got along well enough to lead allied forces to victory.

File:General Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of General Staff, 1942 TR149.jpg — (British General Sir Alan Brooke)

The book itself is a compendium of the most important aspects and events, some major, some not, of the war in the west amazing the reader with the author’s ability to juggle and integrate so many diverse happenings into one volume by weighing every small piece of evidence before inserting it precisely where it belongs. The conclusion of Atkinson’s trilogy elevates him to join historians such as Anthony Beevor, Max Hastings, Peter Caddick-Adams, James Holland, Stephen Ambrose, and Cornelius Ryan as the most important chroniclers of the war in western Europe.

Bradley, Omar Nelson: with Eisenhower and Montgomery

(General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, and General Omar Bradley in 1946.)

Doc's Books

A window into Doc Freiberger's library

World War II