MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By Nikolaus Wachsmann

State prisons played an indispensable part in the terror of the Third Reich, incarcerating many hundreds of thousands of men and women during the Nazi era. This important book illuminates the previously unknown world of Nazi prisons, their victims, and the judicial and penal officials who built and operated this system of brutal legal terror.

Nikolaus Wachsmann describes the operation and function of legal terror in the Third Reich and brings Nazi prisons to life through the harrowing stories of individual inmates.

Drawing on a vast array of archival materials, he traces the series of changes in prison policies and practice that led eventually to racial terror, brutal violence, slave labor, starvation, and mass killings. Wachsmann demonstrates that “ordinary” legal officials were ready collaborators who helped to turn courts and prisons into key components in the Nazi web of terror. And he concludes with a discussion of the whitewash of the Nazi legal system in postwar West Germany.

Yale University Press, May 26, 2015, 538 pages

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By MARTIN J. BOLLINGER

"STALIN'S SLAVE SHIPS" delves into one of the darkest chapters of Soviet history, exploring the horrific reality of the Gulag fleet operating in the remote region of Kolyma. Through meticulous research and compelling narratives, Martin J. Bollinger unveils the harrowing experiences of prisoners forced onto these maritime labor camps, painting a vivid picture of their suffering and resilience. This book not only exposes the brutality of the Soviet regime but also sheds light on the complicity of Western powers in enabling this system of oppression. A chilling and eye-opening account that is essential for understanding the depths of human cruelty and the complexities of political dynamics during that era.

Westport. Praeger. 2003. 223p.