What do you think?
Rate this book
Auschwitz: A History
At the terrible heart of the modern age lies Auschwitz, a name that has become synonymous with evil. Here the utopian twentieth-century dream of employing science and technology to improve and protect human life was inverted from the latter part of the 1930s through the end of the Second World War, as the same systems were manipulated in the cause of efficient mass slaughter. Historian Sybille Steinbacher's powerful and eminently important book details Auschwitz's birth, growth, and horrible mutation into a dreadful city. How it came to be and how what followed was allowed to occur is a story that everyone needs to understand and remember.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
August 4, 2019
This is a rather short, but important text, and it gives the reader an account of Auschwitz, from the point when it was just a town, and how it turned into a horrific site used for genocide and brutal, inhumane acts. Auschwitz actually began as an emigration camp for polish people before the start of WWI, and it wasn't until 1940, that the Germans then took over it.
Steinbacher gives us a solid, honest account, and even though I've read quite a lot concerning Auschwitz, and the various other death camps, there were still parts in this book that I didn't know about, and which were of great interest.
What I did find rather alarming, is that the level of Holocaust deniers are actually on the rise. How on earth, can a person stand there, and say that it never happened? Ignorance immediately comes to mind.
Auschwitz is an important place that will always exist, and it's main purpose is to be a physical, harrowing reminder, to show exactly what evil atrocities that humans are capable of committing.
Steinbacher gives us a solid, honest account, and even though I've read quite a lot concerning Auschwitz, and the various other death camps, there were still parts in this book that I didn't know about, and which were of great interest.
What I did find rather alarming, is that the level of Holocaust deniers are actually on the rise. How on earth, can a person stand there, and say that it never happened? Ignorance immediately comes to mind.
Auschwitz is an important place that will always exist, and it's main purpose is to be a physical, harrowing reminder, to show exactly what evil atrocities that humans are capable of committing.
November 20, 2020
It is a brief but fairly detailed history about Auschwitz. The book traces the early establishment of the town and its gradual development. The author presents fairly well researched information about how the town came to be selected for the Concentration and Extermination camp during WWII. Its overs this infamous period in the town’s history from all socio-economic-cultural angle. It talks comprehensively about the issue of slave labor and how some big industrial corporations benefited from it. The administrative network is explained in depth. And in the concluding chapters the author talks about the trails, retributions and the establishment of the memorial. Overall a pocket-sized encyclopedia about the town and its history.
February 8, 2017
A Short History Of Auschwitz
In this short book, Sybille Steinbacher, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Modern and Contemporary History at Ruhr University, gives a compelling account of Auschwitz. Professor Steinbacher, and her able translator, Shaun Whiteside, writes in a concise, stark, understated, and eloquent way. She avoids the tendency to sensationalize and overdramatize and allows her material to speak for itself. The stylistic, nonsensationalistic excellence of this book adds greatly to its impact.
In brief, measured chapters, Professor Steinbacher discusses the long history of the Polish town of Oswiecim, and its history of Jewish habitation, before it became notorious as Auschwitz. She explains how Auschwitz lay in the path of Germany's eastern expansion and how it inexorably became a killing camp. It moved from a camp for political prisoners and a labor camp to, beginning in mid-1942, a death camp for Jews. She discusses how this change came about as a result of high policy within the Nazi regime and how it was implemented in the camp with mass gassing, shootings, beatings, starvations, and medical torture. She describes the role of the German corporation IB Farben in organizing the camps, using the labor of the prisoners, and providing the cyanide gas, Zyclon B, for the killings. Following her discussion of the founding of the camp, and its development into a site for mass murder, Professor Steinbacher discusses how the Nazis abandoned the camp, took the remaining prisoners on lengthy death marches, and attempted to destroy the evidence of their brutality as the Soviet Army moved closer and ultimately occupied the camp. She describes the attempt, following the end of the War, to bring some of the perpetrators of Auschwitz to justice, with mixed results. Finally, a short chapter considers those who have denied the Holocaust and the crimes perpetuated at Auschwitz. Professor Steinbacher discusses the extent to which people in the town of Auschwitz, in Germany, and in the outside world were aware of the events in the camp. She also discusses, briefly, the decision of the Allies not to bomb the camp when they learned of the ongoing atrocities. The book includes detailed maps of the complexes at Auschwitz and a good bibliography.
With its tone of restraint, careful factual presentation, and considered judgment, Professor Steinbacher's book was highly valuable in helping me think about Auschwitz.
Robin Friedman
In this short book, Sybille Steinbacher, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Modern and Contemporary History at Ruhr University, gives a compelling account of Auschwitz. Professor Steinbacher, and her able translator, Shaun Whiteside, writes in a concise, stark, understated, and eloquent way. She avoids the tendency to sensationalize and overdramatize and allows her material to speak for itself. The stylistic, nonsensationalistic excellence of this book adds greatly to its impact.
In brief, measured chapters, Professor Steinbacher discusses the long history of the Polish town of Oswiecim, and its history of Jewish habitation, before it became notorious as Auschwitz. She explains how Auschwitz lay in the path of Germany's eastern expansion and how it inexorably became a killing camp. It moved from a camp for political prisoners and a labor camp to, beginning in mid-1942, a death camp for Jews. She discusses how this change came about as a result of high policy within the Nazi regime and how it was implemented in the camp with mass gassing, shootings, beatings, starvations, and medical torture. She describes the role of the German corporation IB Farben in organizing the camps, using the labor of the prisoners, and providing the cyanide gas, Zyclon B, for the killings. Following her discussion of the founding of the camp, and its development into a site for mass murder, Professor Steinbacher discusses how the Nazis abandoned the camp, took the remaining prisoners on lengthy death marches, and attempted to destroy the evidence of their brutality as the Soviet Army moved closer and ultimately occupied the camp. She describes the attempt, following the end of the War, to bring some of the perpetrators of Auschwitz to justice, with mixed results. Finally, a short chapter considers those who have denied the Holocaust and the crimes perpetuated at Auschwitz. Professor Steinbacher discusses the extent to which people in the town of Auschwitz, in Germany, and in the outside world were aware of the events in the camp. She also discusses, briefly, the decision of the Allies not to bomb the camp when they learned of the ongoing atrocities. The book includes detailed maps of the complexes at Auschwitz and a good bibliography.
With its tone of restraint, careful factual presentation, and considered judgment, Professor Steinbacher's book was highly valuable in helping me think about Auschwitz.
Robin Friedman
April 2, 2008
I can't say I found any use in this book that I haven't found in other books; besides a few tidbits about holocaust denial, and some details about post-war and historical Auschwitz the town there was nothing new in this book.
It's the pocket book Auschwitz history, it touches every subject there is to learn about the camp, the guards, the prisoners, the resistance, the factories, everything (besides the great Canada corruption scandal which got Rudolf Hoss kicked out of the place) but in such small details, mere names, dates and numbers.
This is dangerous; one of the biggest values tragedies like the holocaust can have to humanity is the education, so history won't repeat itself, but when everything is summarized so quickly and minimalistic ally, how can anything properly educational can come out of it?
The first page in the book is a dislodged, mixed up snippets of testimonies (each only a few lines) and that's about the only touch into the human experience of the crimes committed in that camp, when the best way to make people come out of the shock of the horrific details is by seeing human emotions in fellow humans who survived the camp.
I don't recommend this book, at all, not for a proper reading.
It's the pocket book Auschwitz history, it touches every subject there is to learn about the camp, the guards, the prisoners, the resistance, the factories, everything (besides the great Canada corruption scandal which got Rudolf Hoss kicked out of the place) but in such small details, mere names, dates and numbers.
This is dangerous; one of the biggest values tragedies like the holocaust can have to humanity is the education, so history won't repeat itself, but when everything is summarized so quickly and minimalistic ally, how can anything properly educational can come out of it?
The first page in the book is a dislodged, mixed up snippets of testimonies (each only a few lines) and that's about the only touch into the human experience of the crimes committed in that camp, when the best way to make people come out of the shock of the horrific details is by seeing human emotions in fellow humans who survived the camp.
I don't recommend this book, at all, not for a proper reading.
February 14, 2021
A concise but valuable guide to the history of Auschwitz. From the founding of the nearby villages to the trials that resulted from the Holocaust.
As always with this type of book, other sources will go into a lot more detail about certain aspects of the text. The page length here just isn't long enough to include everything. This doesn't mean that the book is useless as an account of what happened. It does encourage the reader to research further on any details they are interested in.
I feel the author showed restraint in some of the details of the camps. Graphic details would not have felt out of place but they are mostly not present here. It isn't an easy read despite this. It never could be. The history needs to be taught and understood so it isn't repeated.
As always with this type of book, other sources will go into a lot more detail about certain aspects of the text. The page length here just isn't long enough to include everything. This doesn't mean that the book is useless as an account of what happened. It does encourage the reader to research further on any details they are interested in.
I feel the author showed restraint in some of the details of the camps. Graphic details would not have felt out of place but they are mostly not present here. It isn't an easy read despite this. It never could be. The history needs to be taught and understood so it isn't repeated.
August 5, 2023
The main point of this brief and concise book: "Auschwitz was the focus of the two main ideological ideas of the Nazi regime: it was the biggest stage for the mass murder of European Jewry, and at the same time a crystallization point of the policy of settlement and 'Germanization'." Read it if you want to explore and understand this thesis in some detail but do not have time or patience for a more detailed study.
August 15, 2018
Bom dia.
Jelikoz jsem posledni dobou valil dost narocne literatury, rekl jsem si, ze je cas na nejake oddychove a pohodove letni cteni na plaz a tak jsem sahl po Ausvicu.
Pokud mate v okruhu nejakyho joudu, kterej nevi co byl Ausvic, je tohle ta nejlepsi volba na seznameni s problemem. Tohle a nebo facka pres celou cunu. Cela knizka pusobi, jako by to byl delsi clanek na wikipedii, takze detailu je tak akorat a cloveku nevybuchne hlava. Jede se pekne chronologicky, od 15 stoleti, budovani lagru, mesta, peci, az po konec valky a nasledne soudni procesy. Na jednu stranu jsem byl rad, ze nemusim cist slzopudne osobni pribehy, na druhou stranu absence jakehokoliv subjektivniho pohledu zpusobila, ze to pusobilo jako bakalarka.
Nic sokujici nebo noveho jsem se asi nedozvedel, ale tak to je vicemene proto, ze vim vsechno, vsude jsem byl a mam nejvetsi penis na svete, tudiz to nemuzu knize zazlivat, ze ano.
7/10
Jelikoz jsem posledni dobou valil dost narocne literatury, rekl jsem si, ze je cas na nejake oddychove a pohodove letni cteni na plaz a tak jsem sahl po Ausvicu.
Pokud mate v okruhu nejakyho joudu, kterej nevi co byl Ausvic, je tohle ta nejlepsi volba na seznameni s problemem. Tohle a nebo facka pres celou cunu. Cela knizka pusobi, jako by to byl delsi clanek na wikipedii, takze detailu je tak akorat a cloveku nevybuchne hlava. Jede se pekne chronologicky, od 15 stoleti, budovani lagru, mesta, peci, az po konec valky a nasledne soudni procesy. Na jednu stranu jsem byl rad, ze nemusim cist slzopudne osobni pribehy, na druhou stranu absence jakehokoliv subjektivniho pohledu zpusobila, ze to pusobilo jako bakalarka.
Nic sokujici nebo noveho jsem se asi nedozvedel, ale tak to je vicemene proto, ze vim vsechno, vsude jsem byl a mam nejvetsi penis na svete, tudiz to nemuzu knize zazlivat, ze ano.
7/10
March 31, 2024
Picked this up second hand-bookshop in London. Short, concise history of Auschwitz. Matter-of-factly it traces the origin, development and undoing of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
If you’re looking for the testimonies or lived experience, this is definitely not it. I would rather recommend reading Primo Levi or other survivor’s literature.
The brevity of the book doesn't do justice to the subject-matter. And yet, despite it being a pocked-guide to history of the camp, the scope is somehow too wide. It starts with a history of the region of Auschwitz before the camps, and ends with Holocaust denial.
Some facts that stood out for me:
- The Deutsche Bahn forced Jews to buy train tickets for their journey to the death camps
- Despite knowledge of the death camps and the possibility the Allies refused to bomb the crematoria
- The immense rol of IG Farben factory right on the grounds of the death camps.
- SS calling itself the moral universe of the world, which reminds me of a certain state in the Middle-East that calls itself "the most moral army in the world".
If you’re looking for the testimonies or lived experience, this is definitely not it. I would rather recommend reading Primo Levi or other survivor’s literature.
The brevity of the book doesn't do justice to the subject-matter. And yet, despite it being a pocked-guide to history of the camp, the scope is somehow too wide. It starts with a history of the region of Auschwitz before the camps, and ends with Holocaust denial.
Some facts that stood out for me:
- The Deutsche Bahn forced Jews to buy train tickets for their journey to the death camps
- Despite knowledge of the death camps and the possibility the Allies refused to bomb the crematoria
- The immense rol of IG Farben factory right on the grounds of the death camps.
- SS calling itself the moral universe of the world, which reminds me of a certain state in the Middle-East that calls itself "the most moral army in the world".
December 11, 2017
Sybille Steinbacher’s Auschwitz: A History tells the story of the small Polish town of Auschwitz, which was converted into one of the Nazi party’s greatest concentration camps during World War II. The genre of Steinbacher’s book is historical military nonfiction.
Auschwitz was settled in the late thirteenth century by the Germans as a border town. Since it was located close to Poland's border, it was attracted by small and large trade routes. Included with the trade routes, Auschwitz acquired different cultural/religious groups, especially Jews. Catholics who controlled the town did not force punishment laws on the Jewish people, which contradicted the actions of surrounding towns. In the beginning of 1940, the Nazi party had its eye on Auschwitz. The town was in a prime location because of being close to borders. Nazis began construction on the new to come concentration camp. They took many Polish and Jewish people prisoner and forced them to work on the construction. IG Farben, a German chemical and pharmaceutical company, built a factory near Auschwitz. This company was a very large chemical company for the Germans, and they used Polish and Jewish people as well to work for a cheap price. Many workers were killed do to the harsh working conditions at IG Farben. Nobody was aware of the plan the Germans had for Auschwitz, but they soon found out. Extermination processes began at concentration camps in 1941 and were occurring in many concentration camps. The process the Germans used to kill people was horrifying. SPOILER ALERT: First, they made the prisoners strip naked, which made them think they were showering. Second, when all of the prisoners are inside the “chamber”, then the Germans lock the doors and release a gas, Zyklon B. After the prisoners were all killed, a clean up crew would go into the chamber and remove all of the bodies and take them to the crematorium. The Nazis killed mostly Jews, Gypsies, and Poles. As the war ended, Auschwitz ended it’s extermination processes. When the war ended, several hundred members of the Auschwitz SS were seen in many courts in Poland. Many of these court cases ended in the death sentence for the Germans.
I would give Auschwitz: A History a four out of five rating. I never knew how tragic and terrifying Nazi concentration camps were until I read this book. My favorite part of Auschwitz: A History is practically the whole book. It walked me through the entire life of the small town and how it became a concentration camp. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about military history.
Auschwitz was settled in the late thirteenth century by the Germans as a border town. Since it was located close to Poland's border, it was attracted by small and large trade routes. Included with the trade routes, Auschwitz acquired different cultural/religious groups, especially Jews. Catholics who controlled the town did not force punishment laws on the Jewish people, which contradicted the actions of surrounding towns. In the beginning of 1940, the Nazi party had its eye on Auschwitz. The town was in a prime location because of being close to borders. Nazis began construction on the new to come concentration camp. They took many Polish and Jewish people prisoner and forced them to work on the construction. IG Farben, a German chemical and pharmaceutical company, built a factory near Auschwitz. This company was a very large chemical company for the Germans, and they used Polish and Jewish people as well to work for a cheap price. Many workers were killed do to the harsh working conditions at IG Farben. Nobody was aware of the plan the Germans had for Auschwitz, but they soon found out. Extermination processes began at concentration camps in 1941 and were occurring in many concentration camps. The process the Germans used to kill people was horrifying. SPOILER ALERT: First, they made the prisoners strip naked, which made them think they were showering. Second, when all of the prisoners are inside the “chamber”, then the Germans lock the doors and release a gas, Zyklon B. After the prisoners were all killed, a clean up crew would go into the chamber and remove all of the bodies and take them to the crematorium. The Nazis killed mostly Jews, Gypsies, and Poles. As the war ended, Auschwitz ended it’s extermination processes. When the war ended, several hundred members of the Auschwitz SS were seen in many courts in Poland. Many of these court cases ended in the death sentence for the Germans.
I would give Auschwitz: A History a four out of five rating. I never knew how tragic and terrifying Nazi concentration camps were until I read this book. My favorite part of Auschwitz: A History is practically the whole book. It walked me through the entire life of the small town and how it became a concentration camp. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about military history.
June 3, 2019
If you expect nothing more than a brief overview of the subject, then you won't have any issue with this work. Otherwise, prepare to be somewhat disappointed. The brevity of the book does something of an injustice to the depth of the atrocities committed in these camps, however, it's worth reading if you know little about the subject.
August 5, 2023
If pulls together the facts and figures but that is about it. Not very engaging? Told me stuff I didn’t know, which was good, so worth a (short) read…
April 18, 2014
A rather remarkable book. It looks at Auschwitz from the point of view of the development of the camp over time. The start as a resettlement camp for workers moving into the area to get jobs to an internment camp to house undesirables for the Reich to the concentration and extermination camp we are familiar with.
The book is rather short at about 175 pages but it does pack a lot of information into those pages. Stories of the camp leadership as well as how the mentalities of the victims are examined. My only real complaint is that there was not any footnoting of facts. The endnotes contain a good bibliography (mostly German works since the author is German) but the statements within the book are not directly cited.
If you're interested in this aspect of World War II history this book gives a good over view but is by no means comprehensive.
The book is rather short at about 175 pages but it does pack a lot of information into those pages. Stories of the camp leadership as well as how the mentalities of the victims are examined. My only real complaint is that there was not any footnoting of facts. The endnotes contain a good bibliography (mostly German works since the author is German) but the statements within the book are not directly cited.
If you're interested in this aspect of World War II history this book gives a good over view but is by no means comprehensive.
May 1, 2023
Found this much more disappointing on a second read now that I've done more research into the Holocaust - too shallow to be an introduction, and fails to capture the horrors that happened there through the voices of those that survived and those that didnt - does the job if you're looking for a one-sitting overview, but with something like this, one sitting is never enough
September 30, 2014
Not as good as the mini-series about the camp, but a good overview with some facts about the history of the area.
November 5, 2015
Um bom estudo sobre o mais famoso campo de morte. Bem escrito e de fácil leitura.
June 3, 2016
Ojo porque sabemos qué fue el holocausto y a cuantos asesinaron pero este libro te explica a la perfección el modus operandi & infraestructura. Imprescindible. En castellano lo tiene melusina.
August 16, 2026
‘’Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’’
(George Santayana, epigraph found in Block 4 in the Auschwitz Memorial)
Monday, August 3rd 2026. A day I will never forget for as long as I live. This is the day I visited Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau, the day when I paid my humble, tiny homage to the souls of the people - our fellow human beings - who were humiliated, reduced to nothing more than the lowest of the low, abused, violated, massacred on the altar of the most monstrous cruelty, savagery, hatred, racism. In truth? I have no words. No words at all to express, let alone describe, the sheer horror that grips your heart once you start walking through the corridor where names of the victims can be heard for days and days, when you pass the gate where the famous phrase ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (‘’Work Sets You Free’’) looms, still a menace, a dark threat, a reminder of the worst evil ever done on this Earth.
A reminder of the monsters we ALL hide inside.
Why? Because EVERYONE knew. And if they didn’t know, they suspected. At the very least. And no one reacted. Everyone nestled in their comfort, the ‘I can’t see it, it doesn’t happen’ attitude, the complacency we all love to exercise once our neighbours, even our friends, are threatened. EVERYONE saw people being exiled, ostracised, driven away from their homes, being taken into ghettos. They stood by the side of the street and watched. Maybe even coveted the now empty flats, the available jobs. EVERYONE could see the smoke rising from the chimneys. EVERYONE could smell the nightmarish odour of the burned flesh. EVERYONE had a neighbour who ‘’disappeared’’. But hey, they are Jews. Why should we care?
And this is the debt we ALL owe to these people who were led like lambs to the slaughter. And I doubt whether this debt can EVER be repaid.
This is a concise chronicle of the history of Hell on Earth. From the development plans to the reaction of the civilian population, the mechanisms of Murder and the Final Solution, the horrific daily life in the camps, the moments of liberation.
Liberation…I wonder whether this word is appropriate…Would the survivors use this word? ‘Liberation’? I don’t know…
Narrated in direct, yet sensitive writing (excellent translation by Shaun Whiteside), every page informs, every page describes a new horror, every page is a stab in the heart. The fact that I have walked and seen the spots - what a weak word to describe the pits of Hell! - makes reading Sybille Steinbacher’s book a powerful experience.
When I left Birkenau, on the way back to Krakow, the first thing I did was to text someone I hold very close to my heart. I wanted to reach out to a loved one in Athens, miles and miles away, to hear his comforting words. I told him, ‘All the books and films in the world couldn’t prepare me for what I have experienced. I broke down and cried in a corner, trying to hide my tears. We all did.’
And to that I hold. EVERYONE must visit this ‘place’ at least once. If we don’t remember, then we are worthy of our fate. The basest of fate. We are nothing more than monsters. Not animals. Never that. No animal would ever do this to another creature.
So, love, people. Love and express your love even if you become tiresome along the way. Only love can save us from our wretched selves.
*If you feel like replying with a political comment, or a private message, or attempt to leave the slightest hint of antisemitism in my post or in my inbox, you will be reported. You don’t like what I write? Unfollow me. But do NOT try my patience or my inexhaustible vocabulary. Trust me, you do NOT want to mess with me. I like a good fight, but I do not fight with imbeciles. Keep your politics to your own space. THIS is mine. *
“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
Primo Levi
(George Santayana, epigraph found in Block 4 in the Auschwitz Memorial)
Monday, August 3rd 2026. A day I will never forget for as long as I live. This is the day I visited Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau, the day when I paid my humble, tiny homage to the souls of the people - our fellow human beings - who were humiliated, reduced to nothing more than the lowest of the low, abused, violated, massacred on the altar of the most monstrous cruelty, savagery, hatred, racism. In truth? I have no words. No words at all to express, let alone describe, the sheer horror that grips your heart once you start walking through the corridor where names of the victims can be heard for days and days, when you pass the gate where the famous phrase ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (‘’Work Sets You Free’’) looms, still a menace, a dark threat, a reminder of the worst evil ever done on this Earth.
A reminder of the monsters we ALL hide inside.
Why? Because EVERYONE knew. And if they didn’t know, they suspected. At the very least. And no one reacted. Everyone nestled in their comfort, the ‘I can’t see it, it doesn’t happen’ attitude, the complacency we all love to exercise once our neighbours, even our friends, are threatened. EVERYONE saw people being exiled, ostracised, driven away from their homes, being taken into ghettos. They stood by the side of the street and watched. Maybe even coveted the now empty flats, the available jobs. EVERYONE could see the smoke rising from the chimneys. EVERYONE could smell the nightmarish odour of the burned flesh. EVERYONE had a neighbour who ‘’disappeared’’. But hey, they are Jews. Why should we care?
And this is the debt we ALL owe to these people who were led like lambs to the slaughter. And I doubt whether this debt can EVER be repaid.
This is a concise chronicle of the history of Hell on Earth. From the development plans to the reaction of the civilian population, the mechanisms of Murder and the Final Solution, the horrific daily life in the camps, the moments of liberation.
Liberation…I wonder whether this word is appropriate…Would the survivors use this word? ‘Liberation’? I don’t know…
Narrated in direct, yet sensitive writing (excellent translation by Shaun Whiteside), every page informs, every page describes a new horror, every page is a stab in the heart. The fact that I have walked and seen the spots - what a weak word to describe the pits of Hell! - makes reading Sybille Steinbacher’s book a powerful experience.
When I left Birkenau, on the way back to Krakow, the first thing I did was to text someone I hold very close to my heart. I wanted to reach out to a loved one in Athens, miles and miles away, to hear his comforting words. I told him, ‘All the books and films in the world couldn’t prepare me for what I have experienced. I broke down and cried in a corner, trying to hide my tears. We all did.’
And to that I hold. EVERYONE must visit this ‘place’ at least once. If we don’t remember, then we are worthy of our fate. The basest of fate. We are nothing more than monsters. Not animals. Never that. No animal would ever do this to another creature.
So, love, people. Love and express your love even if you become tiresome along the way. Only love can save us from our wretched selves.
*If you feel like replying with a political comment, or a private message, or attempt to leave the slightest hint of antisemitism in my post or in my inbox, you will be reported. You don’t like what I write? Unfollow me. But do NOT try my patience or my inexhaustible vocabulary. Trust me, you do NOT want to mess with me. I like a good fight, but I do not fight with imbeciles. Keep your politics to your own space. THIS is mine. *
“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
Primo Levi
May 29, 2022
I bought this little book at the gift shop at Auschwitz I when I was there last week. I did the tour, which was very informative, but felt I wanted/needed greater understanding - if that was possible - of this horrific episode in modern history. Ms Steinbacher’s 157 page book does the job very well.
To be sure, this is not a research paper for scholars, nor is it meant to be an exhaustive account, which would have been way more than I could handle. This is a book for those like me who want an overview more detailed than the tour guide gives, but without dragging us into a minute (and miserable) academic tome. The “Acknowledgements” section of the book suggest that the author helped write a “major research project about Auschwitz” for those who want to delve deeper into the madness.
Instead, it is a concise, well-written - almost dispassionate - timeline of the major events, people and results of the horrors committed there, set in a larger context. The Nazis operated the concentration turned death camp for “only” 4 years. But it is helpful to understand the 700 year history of this area of Upper Silesia as a “little Jerusalem”, it’s geographical and economic importance through the ages and to the 3rd Reich, and it’s place in the Culture Wars of today, to really give us a proper context to understand those 4 years.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because I wished she’d included more of the photographs I saw on tour and elsewhere - they are emotional reminders that these are people like you and me we are talking about, not the faceless dead of ancient history.
To be sure, this is not a research paper for scholars, nor is it meant to be an exhaustive account, which would have been way more than I could handle. This is a book for those like me who want an overview more detailed than the tour guide gives, but without dragging us into a minute (and miserable) academic tome. The “Acknowledgements” section of the book suggest that the author helped write a “major research project about Auschwitz” for those who want to delve deeper into the madness.
Instead, it is a concise, well-written - almost dispassionate - timeline of the major events, people and results of the horrors committed there, set in a larger context. The Nazis operated the concentration turned death camp for “only” 4 years. But it is helpful to understand the 700 year history of this area of Upper Silesia as a “little Jerusalem”, it’s geographical and economic importance through the ages and to the 3rd Reich, and it’s place in the Culture Wars of today, to really give us a proper context to understand those 4 years.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because I wished she’d included more of the photographs I saw on tour and elsewhere - they are emotional reminders that these are people like you and me we are talking about, not the faceless dead of ancient history.
May 28, 2018
"(This volume’s) aim is to represent the various aspects of the history of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz in their most important contexts."
Steinbacher gives a no-frills account of Auschwitz’s evolution from a “frontier town” at the end of the 19th century to a location synonymous with genocide and horror during and post-WWII. The infamous camp began as an emigration camp for seasonal workers prior to WWI. Following WWI, Polish refugees took up tenancy and it wasn’t until the beginning of 1940 that the camp passed into German hands, serving as a retention center for political opponents. Over the course of the war, "Auschwitz was fast becoming the central showpiece of the ‘Final Solution of the Jewish Question’ within the state extermination programme."
Steinbacher’s bevy of evidence elucidates that the SS knew the evils going on, they knew the end goal, and they knew how to achieve that goal. Thus, all were complicit in organized mass murder, although the perpetrators excused themselves from guilt by defining their victims as inferior, hiding murder behind a veil of “moral legitimacy.” Steinbacher also exposes companies that benefitted from Auschwitz and other camps. Himmler and Goring, both within Hitler’s inner circle, colluded together to entice businesses to take advantage of Auschwitz. Himmler viewed this as the realization of a long-held dream – "harness[ing] prisoner labour to economic ends." IG Farben, perhaps the greatest business beneficiary, even went so far as to build "one of the biggest…and most expensive investment projects of the German Reich in the Second World War”
I appreciate this book for being exactly what the title promises and recommend it as a serious read to any World War II/Holocaust scholar who is looking for a deeper understanding of the ever-present question of “HOW?” This book gives an honest, thorough, and blunt portrayal of Auschwitz’s devolution into the central hub of the Nazi death machine. These pages focus on accurately memorializing a place that will forever be emblematic of the horrors man is capable of committing. Nothing is spared, nothing is ignored. Steinbacher lays out the horrible truths of Auschwitz’s history in a matter-of-fact way that allows readers to infuse their own emotions along the way. Of course it is a tough read, as any graphic history of a death camp can be expected to be, but it is well worth your time.
Steinbacher gives a no-frills account of Auschwitz’s evolution from a “frontier town” at the end of the 19th century to a location synonymous with genocide and horror during and post-WWII. The infamous camp began as an emigration camp for seasonal workers prior to WWI. Following WWI, Polish refugees took up tenancy and it wasn’t until the beginning of 1940 that the camp passed into German hands, serving as a retention center for political opponents. Over the course of the war, "Auschwitz was fast becoming the central showpiece of the ‘Final Solution of the Jewish Question’ within the state extermination programme."
Steinbacher’s bevy of evidence elucidates that the SS knew the evils going on, they knew the end goal, and they knew how to achieve that goal. Thus, all were complicit in organized mass murder, although the perpetrators excused themselves from guilt by defining their victims as inferior, hiding murder behind a veil of “moral legitimacy.” Steinbacher also exposes companies that benefitted from Auschwitz and other camps. Himmler and Goring, both within Hitler’s inner circle, colluded together to entice businesses to take advantage of Auschwitz. Himmler viewed this as the realization of a long-held dream – "harness[ing] prisoner labour to economic ends." IG Farben, perhaps the greatest business beneficiary, even went so far as to build "one of the biggest…and most expensive investment projects of the German Reich in the Second World War”
I appreciate this book for being exactly what the title promises and recommend it as a serious read to any World War II/Holocaust scholar who is looking for a deeper understanding of the ever-present question of “HOW?” This book gives an honest, thorough, and blunt portrayal of Auschwitz’s devolution into the central hub of the Nazi death machine. These pages focus on accurately memorializing a place that will forever be emblematic of the horrors man is capable of committing. Nothing is spared, nothing is ignored. Steinbacher lays out the horrible truths of Auschwitz’s history in a matter-of-fact way that allows readers to infuse their own emotions along the way. Of course it is a tough read, as any graphic history of a death camp can be expected to be, but it is well worth your time.
May 27, 2021
A small book, loaded with details, about how a town that was intended to become a model of Eastern settlement, linking industrialization, urban improvement and population restructuring, became a town known as a concentration camp, an extermination camp and an area of forced labour deployment. The decision of the company IG Farben to build a large factory in Auschwitz was instrumental in the expansion of the camp.
Considerable research has been done resulting in a book that provides a detached description of the expansion and placement of the different buildings, along with the administrative positions and areas of responsibility. While detailed information is provided on the living quarters and the extermination process, they are presented in such a detached manner, that the reader does not feel any horror about the atrocities that took place in Aschwitz.
Considerable research has been done resulting in a book that provides a detached description of the expansion and placement of the different buildings, along with the administrative positions and areas of responsibility. While detailed information is provided on the living quarters and the extermination process, they are presented in such a detached manner, that the reader does not feel any horror about the atrocities that took place in Aschwitz.
March 25, 2023
I purchased this book when I visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps back in November of last year when traveling to Krakow. This experience was truly the greatest privilege of my lifetime, but I left in need of more knowledge as to how the camps first came to be.
Steinbacher’s book is able to offer a historical and geopolitical background that the visit at the camps cannot, in a good timely manner, cover. While it does not deliver an assemblage of heartfelt testimonies from the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau, it rather provides an objective and detailed depiction of the history of the camps’ evolution during and after the Nazi occupation. Short but brimming with details, this book illustrates how at the terrible heart of the modern age does lie the establishment of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps.
Steinbacher’s book is able to offer a historical and geopolitical background that the visit at the camps cannot, in a good timely manner, cover. While it does not deliver an assemblage of heartfelt testimonies from the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau, it rather provides an objective and detailed depiction of the history of the camps’ evolution during and after the Nazi occupation. Short but brimming with details, this book illustrates how at the terrible heart of the modern age does lie the establishment of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps.
July 24, 2019
A short, yet concise book that delves into the heart of the web of the National Socialist camp system, the chapters are well sectioned and focused on the topics at hand, exploring the why's, what's, and so what?'s of the Final Solution to the Jewish Question.
In times of uncertainty of what is true and what is not, exacerbated by the current portrayals of media and its relationship with politics and the common man; in a time when conspiracy theories run wild, and as the number of Holocaust deniers only seems to rise, rather alarmingly, Steinbacher's book is a testament to the true atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust in World War II; that these events must never be forgotten, that how the Holocaust came to be is something that everyone needs to understand.
In times of uncertainty of what is true and what is not, exacerbated by the current portrayals of media and its relationship with politics and the common man; in a time when conspiracy theories run wild, and as the number of Holocaust deniers only seems to rise, rather alarmingly, Steinbacher's book is a testament to the true atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust in World War II; that these events must never be forgotten, that how the Holocaust came to be is something that everyone needs to understand.
October 26, 2026
There’s a lot of books about Auschwitz but not many are like this one, its chapters are broken down into sections of history.
The history looks at the area of Auschwitz going right back to the 1500’s, how there was a Jewish labour camp there between WW1 & WW2.
It looks at how the camp came into existence, how it developed and evolved and how it came to operate on a scale that to this day still shocks the world.
It continues to explain the days leading up to the end of the war, how the Nazi’s destroyed the gas chambers and burnt documents in a bid to hide what had occurred from the world.
It goes on to explain post Nuremberg trials and subsequent trials, the latest being a British trial of Auschwitz-denier David Irving in 2000.
The history looks at the area of Auschwitz going right back to the 1500’s, how there was a Jewish labour camp there between WW1 & WW2.
It looks at how the camp came into existence, how it developed and evolved and how it came to operate on a scale that to this day still shocks the world.
It continues to explain the days leading up to the end of the war, how the Nazi’s destroyed the gas chambers and burnt documents in a bid to hide what had occurred from the world.
It goes on to explain post Nuremberg trials and subsequent trials, the latest being a British trial of Auschwitz-denier David Irving in 2000.
July 17, 2018
One of the most horrifying books I’ve ever read.
If you struggle believing in the Christian doctrine of total depravity, you need to grapple with the diabolical evils of Auschwitz.
If you struggle believing that humans are exceptional creatures, made in the image of God Himself and therefore worthy of dignity, value, and respect, you need to grapple with the incredible stories of perseverance through unimaginable hate.
We are far more evil than we could ever fear, yet far more loved than we could ever imagine.
If you struggle believing in the Christian doctrine of total depravity, you need to grapple with the diabolical evils of Auschwitz.
If you struggle believing that humans are exceptional creatures, made in the image of God Himself and therefore worthy of dignity, value, and respect, you need to grapple with the incredible stories of perseverance through unimaginable hate.
We are far more evil than we could ever fear, yet far more loved than we could ever imagine.
May 14, 2019
An interesting insight into the concentration and extermination of the Jewry. The book was obviously written and designed to be concise but at time it felt too concise and read more like a list of facts thatln a coherent story.
As the first book i have read on the subject it definately did its job and taught me the facts.
If you want a more detailed account I would recommend something a little thicker.
As the first book i have read on the subject it definately did its job and taught me the facts.
If you want a more detailed account I would recommend something a little thicker.
November 5, 2019
Short but interesting account of the place that is now most associated with the Nazi's worst crimes. This has a account of the town of Auschwitz, how it came about from the medieval period to WW2, the building of the camp, who worked there and how it was administered as well as the aftermath and some of the history of the perpetrators.
Very quick to get through as well as being a good starting point for students of the Holocaust or the Third Reich.
Very quick to get through as well as being a good starting point for students of the Holocaust or the Third Reich.
February 27, 2023
This book crams an extraordinary amount of information into its’ 160 pages. Having visited Auschwitz I already had a feel for the horrors perpetrated at the camp, but the connivance and acceptance of these horrors by capitalist businesses, the German military and even local residents was beyond shocking, as was the Allies refusal to bomb the gas chambers/crematoriums despite having precise information on their function.
This book ought to be a school set-book.
This book ought to be a school set-book.
June 10, 2023
The book not only covers the events that happened on the camp but also the circumstances in which it was built and what happened after the war was over. It's a compact resume with lots of valuable information. I took one star off only because the way it was written confused me sometimes, and the extensive names and locations made it hard for me to follow. Nonetheless, is a recommended reading for anyone who wants to know more about the background and history of this place.
February 26, 2020
A brief, comprehensive overview of the camp and the nearby town. There's a lot that Steinbacher doesn't say, some omissions are more glaring than others, but for an introduction you can't go far wrong.
I particularly admired her decision to include a short chapter on the 'revisionist' historians, or holocaust deniers. It's a topic that's rightfully sensitive but increasingly difficult to avoid.
I particularly admired her decision to include a short chapter on the 'revisionist' historians, or holocaust deniers. It's a topic that's rightfully sensitive but increasingly difficult to avoid.
December 21, 2018
It is a brief but very detailed book that shows how the Nazis transformed mass extermination into a factory process. All the details of the main firms that contributed to the process are given, with descriptions that make clear that no one was innocent.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews