KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

Written by Nikolaus Wachsmann

Narrated by Paul Hodgson

In a landmark work of history, Nikolaus Wachsmann offers an unprecedented, integrated account of the Nazi concentration camps from their inception in 1933 through their demise, seventy years ago, in the spring of 1945. The Third Reich has been studied in more depth than virtually any other period in history and yet until now there has been no history of the camp system that tells the full story of its broad development and the everyday experiences of its inhabitants, both perpetrators and victims, and all those living in what Primo Levi called "the gray zone."



In KL, Wachsmann fills this glaring gap in our understanding. He not only synthesizes a new generation of scholarly work, much of it untranslated and unknown outside of Germany, but also presents startling revelations, based on many years of archival research, about the functioning and scope of the camp system. Examining, close up, life and death inside the camps, and adopting a wider lens to show how the camp system was shaped by changing political, legal, social, economic, and military forces, Wachsmann produces a unified picture of the Nazi regime and its camps that we have never seen before.



A boldly ambitious work of deep importance, KL is destined to be classic in the history of the twentieth century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Apr 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781622317462

Nikolaus Wachsmann

Nikolaus Wachsmann is a professor of Modern German History at the University of London and the author of Hitler's Prisons: Legal Terror in Nazi Germany.

Reviews for KL

[drmaf-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exceptionally powerful book. Ostensibly a complete and massive scholarly history of the Nazi concentration camp system from 1933-1945, or as a previous author described it, the theory and practice of hell, full of numbers, statistics and facts, nevertheless this book drips with horror and human suffering. Wachsmann has expertly melded dry scholarship with very human first-person accounts of one of the most atrocious crimes in history. Best way to sum up this book, is that you will learn and you will cry and you will quiver with rage. Very highly recommended.

[Perroloco · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Monumental essay on Nazi concentration camps, which I recommend only for those already familiar with the subject, as it can be a bit dense for other readers. (Translated from Spanish)

[kymabookloverIG · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary:
A detailed study of the evolution of Nazi concentration camps during the Third Reich. It traces the history of the camps from their situation before World War II to their dismantling and liberation.

Some of the topics covered include: the chain of decisions that were made to build and evolve the concentration camps into extermination camps, what life was like for the prisoners, the hierarchy within the SS, the history of the main party leaders and how they influenced the camps, the international perception of the camps, the dismantling and liberation of them... These and many other topics are covered in this book.

Opinion:
It has been a difficult book to read. Regarding the format of the book: due to its thickness (1,100 pages) and the font size, which is a bit small for me. In terms of the content of the book, because of all it recounts. Reading in such detail everything that took place, the assaults, the murders, the passivity of many, the abuse of power by others… these and many other things have been devastating.

It is a book that is exceptionally well-documented. Every statement or mention of documents, speeches, articles, etc., has its corresponding reference note. In that regard, the author deserves congratulations for the great work he had to do.

These concentration camps were accepted by a large number of Germans, who, despite knowing of their existence, chose to look the other way. Even at the end of the war, with all the evidence proving it, they still denied their existence.

It is a reading to take slowly since it is very dense, but I believe that in the end, it is worth it because it provides the opportunity to understand in more depth everything that happened not so long ago. (Translated from Spanish)