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Citizen 865: The Hunt for Hitler's Hidden Soldiers in America

Debbie Cenziper

4.32 · Rating details · 34 ratings · 12 reviews

The gripping story of a team of Nazi hunters at the U.S. Department of Justice as they raced against time to expose members of a brutal SS killing force who disappeared in America after World War Two.
In 1990, in a drafty basement archive in Prague, two American historians made a startling discovery: a Nazi roster from 1945 that no Western investigator had ever seen. The ...more

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Hardcover, 320 pages

Published November 12th 2019 by Hachette Books

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Oct 27, 2019 Paige rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction

Written in third person narrative, this might not be everyone’s preferred nonfiction writing style. It extends beyond the facts that cling to the title to explain the weather that day, what the person looked like, and other details that some nonfiction readers might not find pertinent to the main content. Before the book begins, the author explains in the Author’s Note that most of the dialogue and wartime journeys have been “reconstructed” by her through documents and interviews; the ...more

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Nov 04, 2019 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019

I was a history major in college and have always been interested particularly in both American and WWII history. But I had never heard of the subject of this book: the Trawniki men, and the decades-later quest of the Department of Justice to deport Trawniki men living on U.S. soil. The Trawniki men were a (purposefully) little-known group of Eastern European prisoners of war who the Nazis identified as perfect candidates to be the "foot soldiers of the Final Solution." They were trained at a I was a history major in college and have always been interested particularly in both American and WWII history. But I had never heard of the subject of this book: the Trawniki men, and the decades-later quest of the Department of Justice to deport Trawniki men living on U.S. soil. The Trawniki men were a (purposefully) little-known group of Eastern European prisoners of war who the Nazis identified as perfect candidates to be the "foot soldiers of the Final Solution." They were trained at a camp in the small city of Trawniki, then deployed to various locations in Poland to ruthlessly and without question support SS guards in the murder of the two million Jews living in the country. Most notably, the Trawniki men actively participated in the largest single killing of Jews in the war's history in Lublin. Their other deplorable activities include shooting hundreds and hundreds of bodies into killing pits in Polish forests, as well as moving humans in and out of gas chambers at the killing centers of Treblinka, Sobibor, and Majdanek.

The book focuses particularly on "Citizen 865" - a Ukrainian man named Jakob Reimer - who was enrolled in the Trawniki training camp and quickly rose in the ranks due to his ruthless devotion to the "cause" - so much so that he was granted German citizenship just before war's end. However, he was able to gain U.S. citizenship in 1950, lying about his service for Nazi Germany and saying he was merely an interpreter and paymaster for Trawniki.

After WWII, the U.S. Department of Justice created the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), tasked solely with rooting out the estimated hundreds of Nazis living in the U.S. unknown and deport them back to their home countries. They couldn't charge them with criminal offenses, but they could certainly make it known that they were not welcome in this country. OSI employed both historians and prosecutors to find these individuals, but the lack of evidence available was a barrier. In OSI's early years, the public supported their work. However, a huge wave of evidence became available after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1988, held by the Soviets, giving OSI unprecedented vision into identities and crimes. Paradoxically, by this time, many of these Nazis were older, seemingly gentle and sweet old men, and at the exact moment when OSI had the evidence to deport, the public wanted them to be left alone. In the eyes of many officials in the U.S. government, including infamous Holocaust denier Pat Buchanan, there should be damn good evidence to deport citizens living "peacefully" in the U.S. for decades. But for staff at OSI, these crimes could not go unnoticed. Every day, historians and prosecutors learned of the atrocities committed by men like Jakob Reimer - and could not bear the thought of him living another day in the land of the free.

This book is immaculately written and researched, giving readers the perspective of OSI historians as well as two survivors from Lublin. It provides such a deluge of horrifying, unimaginable crimes that it simultaneously desensitizes you to the level of barbarism displayed by the Trawniki men and paralyzes you with such sadness and horror that you can almost not bear to go on. However, these stories are important and deserve to be read and recognized, particularly for a killing force that is so little known among WWII history. I highly, highly recommend this book for history lovers, both WWII and U.S., even for those who think they've read everything about the subject. If you're not interested in reading the book, there's a documentary series that just came out on Netflix called The Devil Next Door, about almost the same situation, but focusing on another man in the U.S. accused of being the notorious "Ivan the Terrible" at Treblinka, John Demjanjuk, and the saga of his deportation as a "sweet old man," criminal trials, and the rest of his life.

Thank you to Hachette and Netgalley for the ARC. ...more

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Sep 13, 2019 Sue Kelso rated it it was amazing

I consider myself well read and knowledgeable about world events and government affairs. I never knew there was a branch of the government that their sole goal was to hunt down Nazi's that lied their way into the US.

After the war our Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act to allow in refugees from WW2. (Side note-can you imagine our current Senate having the guts to do this now?). Nazi's falsified their backgrounds to become US Citizens.
The OSI in their research found a training camp for ...more

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Nov 21, 2019 Daniel Sepúlveda rated it liked it

Puntaje: 3.2 Estrellas.

Primero que todo, muchas gracias a Hachette por la copia digital de este libro!

Citizen 865 es un libro de no ficcion en el que la autora nos relata la historia de un grupo de investigadores estadounidenses que tienen como mision desenmascarar a antiguos miembros del movimiento Nazi que llegaron a Estados Unidos despues de la guerra con una nueva identidad para no pagar por los crimenes y las atrocidades que cometieron.

La verdad este libro me abrio los ojos a una realidad ...more

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Aug 25, 2019 Ionia rated it really liked it

Absolutely worth the time to read. Even if you are not a history buff or interested in WWII, this book will likely be interesting enough to hold your attention for the duration.

There have been many news stories in recent memory and even a few documentaries about Nazi participants being found in the US, but this was the first time that I really felt like I could understand how they were searched out and why, after so many years, they were still able to be confronted with the past and tried at ...more

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Oct 02, 2019 Abby rated it it was amazing

I would rate this book a solid 4-1/2 stars! Excellent read! I thought I was up on my Holocaust history, but this book definitely showed me that I was totally wrong! The author did an exceptional job in researching this book! She brought to light the daily struggles of the Jews during the 40's and the hardship they endured in the name of survival and freedom ... also, the three decades of dedication from the men and woman of the OSI who worked hard to bring these perpetrators to justice, so that ...more

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Oct 21, 2019 Lyndi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-2019

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
More than thirty years after the end of WWII, a new criminal division was created in the Department of Justice to track, expose, and deport Nazi war criminals living secretly in America. Peter Black recruited to this Office of Special Investigations, and while researching he finds references to Trawniki, a center built to train new recruits in the deportation and extermination ...more

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Oct 02, 2019 Pamela Rubin rated it it was amazing

The brutal reality and unspeakable atrocities of the Holocaust take on a new dimension in Citizen 865. Written with meticulous detail, Cenziper weaves a story of love and survival while revealing what a relentlessly dedicated group of historians unearthed in their search for justice. Shocking revelations remind us, especially now, how we must never be complacent about anyone, anywhere who does not honor our shared humanity. Truly couldn't put this book down.

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Oct 06, 2019 Michael Rubin rated it it was amazing

I am a WW II buff and have read countless books on the subject but this one is different. Cenziper's book is about people -- a couple that miraculously survives the war; the Nazi-hunters in the DoJ who persevered despite coming under attack themselves; and the Nazis who settled here in plain sight. It is an incredible story, wonderfully told and I can't wait for the movie.

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Aug 11, 2019 CloudOfThoughts_Books Keirstin rated it really liked it

Citizen 865 by author Debbie Cenziper is a great crime/history novel with plenty of thrill! I loved reading this, it wasn’t complicated to read and was a great paced. Definitely recommend, history isn’t my usual genre but this book did not disappoint!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Nov 28, 2019 Paul Vogelzang rated it it was amazing

I didn't know about any of this, the Trawniki men. Fascinating. Transparency: I interviewed investigative journalist, Debbie Cenziper for Smithsonian (Cenziper is a wonderful interview!), and the publisher shared the book with me. However, this is an important, excellent book.

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Aug 12, 2019 Christina Miranda rated it it was amazing

Citizen 865 was a fantastic read. The layout of the book was a tad bit difficult to follow at times but the overall story was wonderfully written. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

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