The Dachau defendants : life stories from testimony and documents of the war crimes prosecutions / Fern Overbey Hilton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hilton, Fern Overbey, 1936-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities--Germany.

World War, 1939-1945.

War criminals--Germany--Biography.

War criminals.

Germany.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

viii, 201 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, [2004]

Summary:

In the 489 Dachau trials, 1700 criminals of Nazi Germany faced American justice. The defendants varied from major figures in the Reich, to farmers, students, and villagers. The crimes included atrocities committed against victims of all nationalities in the concentration camps and transports. In this study, a broad group of representative trials offer an understanding of World War II German culture. In demonstrating that the average citizen could be as devoted to the Nazi cause as Hitler, it hopes to reveal something about those who would not stand up to him, who tolerated him, or who joined him. It addresses the disturbing reality that many atrocities committed in the Hitler era were the result of personal decisions. Written from primary source documents including official files and reviews of the trials, the book describes the cases and provides defendants' personal details: upbringing, education, career choices, their behavior during the trials, and their lives afterward. The study concludes with an appendix, arranged by series, of all cases by number and name of the case (defendant), and a bibliography. It is illustrated with photographs of the defendants and relevant sites and events.

Contents:

1. Final Desperation: The Story of Heinrich Buuck 11

2. Marauder: The Story of Dr. Max Schmid 20

3. A Very Contrary Czech: The Story of Johann Vican 27

4. Murder in a Stable: The Commando 99 Ruse 36

5. Education: Schoolteachers at Work in the Fields of Evil 44

6. Everybody Believed It: The Story of Wilhelm Grill 58

7. Laws Governing Land Warfare: Americans in the Hands of an Angry Mob 69

8. Cassius' Dagger: A Mob in the Hands of Angry Americans 79

9. Americans as Slaves of the Third Reich: The Agonies of Berga 84

10. I Know Howard Hughes: The Agonies and Conceits of John V. Case 96

11. The Atrocity: The Story of Paul Wolfram 115

12. The Nazi Brother of Distinguished Americans: The Story of Christian Mohr 129

13. An Innocent in the Grinding Mill: The Story of Lauriano Navas 136

14. Physician, Heal Thyself: The Story of Dr. Erika Flocken 143

15. They Were Good Boys: The Story of Julius Straub and Peter Goldmann 157

16. Profiles in Darkness: The Stories of the Bitch of Buchenwald, Prince zu Waldeck, Otto Skorzeny the Hadamar Murder Factory and the Malmedy Massacre 169

17. Will We Ever Learn? An Analysis 183.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-196) and index.

ISBN:

0786417684

OCLC:

55138659