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Justice at Dachau: The Trials of an American Prosecutor
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The world remembers Nuremberg, where a handful of Nazi policymakers were brought to justice, but nearly forgotten are the proceedings at Dachau, where hundreds of Nazi guards, officers, and doctors stood trial for personally taking part in the torture and execution of prisoners inside the Dachau, Mauthausen, Flossenburg, and Buchenwald concentration camps. In Justice at Da
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Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
April 8th 2003
by Broadway Books
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Start your review of Justice at Dachau: The Trials of an American Prosecutor

Each book with WWII and the Holocaust as subjects, finds its place inside my heart and never leaves me. Reading about the trials for these monsters who systematically engaged in despicable atrocities without regret, was sometimes more than I could wrap my head around. It was sometimes too intense for me to bear. For this reason, I needed a few days to clear my emotions before writing this review.
At Nuremberg, the highest echelon of Hitler's death machine was put on trial. Those on trial were the ...more
At Nuremberg, the highest echelon of Hitler's death machine was put on trial. Those on trial were the ...more

Apr 08, 2017
Regina Lindsey
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
adult-non-fiction,
adult-nonfiction,
biography,
netgalley,
nazi,
nazi-germany,
nazis,
ww-ii,
ww2,
wwii
I was offered a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Nuremberg is the name most associated with war crimes emanating out of WWII; however, there were others. Nuremberg's purpose was to try the architects, the policy makers of the Holocaust. Trials were established in each of the occupying territories to try the lower echelon, the ones who personally meted out torture. Dachau was the site in the American territory.
William Denson, age 32, was selected to try those worki ...more
Nuremberg is the name most associated with war crimes emanating out of WWII; however, there were others. Nuremberg's purpose was to try the architects, the policy makers of the Holocaust. Trials were established in each of the occupying territories to try the lower echelon, the ones who personally meted out torture. Dachau was the site in the American territory.
William Denson, age 32, was selected to try those worki ...more

The story behind the trials of several Holocaust war criminals. This book is not for the faint of heart. This goes much deeper then many Holocaust biographies dare. I had to divide up the reading because it is very depressing. I can totally understand why the trials affected this Prosecutor so deeply. The trials took a huge toll on everyone involved. Bravo to Denson for sticking to his guns and helping convict all that he could. Shame on the American government for reversing several of the sente
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I sit here in front of a blank page wondering how I can convey my horror at what a human being can do to another. Justice at Dachau lays all the many horrors at your feet and jump off the pages.
“And there’s the tragedy, that the moral fiber of normal human beings can be destroyed, with only primitive desires remaining.” ~Bill Denson
Joshua M. Greene lays at the reader’s feet the people who committed these atrocities. All the photos, court transcripts, and the accused are from Bill Denson’s reco ...more
“And there’s the tragedy, that the moral fiber of normal human beings can be destroyed, with only primitive desires remaining.” ~Bill Denson
Joshua M. Greene lays at the reader’s feet the people who committed these atrocities. All the photos, court transcripts, and the accused are from Bill Denson’s reco ...more

Focuses on the trials of former SS camp staff. Not for the faint of heart, the main subject of the book himself was down to 117 pounds and poor heath himself by 1947 due to the horror he was living with through survivor testimony and events as he worked the cases. A easy and fast reading view of the US reaction to the camp system.

Again (see previous update reviews), I can't help but question the portrayal of LTC Denson's character throughout the book. I don't want to minimalize what he accomplished, but I feel like the story could have been told without putting the grandson of a Confederate General (Colonel?) on this ridiculously high pedestal. People can sympathize with his task - the long hours, not being able to eat, nightmares, insomnia, etc - without viewing LTC Denson as a saint. I feel like that happens far too of
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The world was watching after WWII. How would the Allies handle the fallen enemies? Would they do what many have done before and take the leaders, the followers and the top of the armed forces and string them up? This is the story of how the Allies went after those who ran the concentration camps and those who followed and treated the prisoners kept there and decided that they would hold them accountable by trials. The head of the American prosecuting team was a man, William Denson. A man who in
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The French edition had a lot of typos and it really bothered me. It was written to really emphasized on the character of Denson, and the other people concerned, and that’s not what I expected at all. This personification of history made the details even harder to read though, and the accused, as well as the victims, even realer. I still would have preferred a more « theoric » kind of book, but that’s me.

An important book of one man's fight for justice for the people who were exterminated in Dachau.
The accounts of the prisoners' crimes are harrowing, and the strain on William Denson, not used to such tragedies and horror took its toll.
At the end he became a broken man, but this story should be told.
Recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Ankerwyck via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review. ...more
The accounts of the prisoners' crimes are harrowing, and the strain on William Denson, not used to such tragedies and horror took its toll.
At the end he became a broken man, but this story should be told.
Recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Ankerwyck via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review. ...more

There are some books that are a bitter pill to swallow but none the less be done. I knew upon. Seeing the title and reading the inside flap I should read it. Whether or not I could continue reading it once I started was another matter all together. Having had several family members perish in Dachau and reading thus book was to go back in time and to experience through words written what they suffered in life and death. I to put it down several times in tears. But something stired deep inside and
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Powerful, haunting, disheartening, important, hopeful, all of those words fit this book. It’s a powerful picture of the difference Denson’s persistent drive to obtain justice made. It’s a haunting glimpse of the evil man is capable of. It’s a disheartening illustration of the injustice of political expediency. It’s important from the legal, political, and historical because it so clearly shows how they tie together sometimes not with the best results. It’s hopeful because of Denson’s sustaining
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All over by Christmas… Yes, that's been said so many times about so many things military, but I didn't know that was the American expectation for war crimes proceedings against the dogsbodies of the Nazi regime, at their place of work, Dachau concentration camp. This book is a brilliant, redolent history of the Holocaust, in at times quite horrific detail, and a sterling biography of a man who history had almost forgotten. In leading four major trials against groups of camp workers from the wors
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William Denson was an attorney who prosecuted the Nazis who committed crimes at Dachau, Mauthausen, Flossenburg, and Buchenwald concentration camps. He spent two years (1946-1948) at Dachau. This is the story of his struggle, highlights of the cases, and the aftermath in which several sentences were lightened.
I almost quit reading this one several times. This book was such a mental assault, I simply didn't know if I could digest it all, or if I wanted to. Up to this point, I had been reading sin ...more
I almost quit reading this one several times. This book was such a mental assault, I simply didn't know if I could digest it all, or if I wanted to. Up to this point, I had been reading sin ...more

This was a story that needed to be told. The Nazi trials, besides being an important closure to the landmark events of the Holocaust, are rife with grand themes of humanity, justice, and retribution; and Greene investigates the particulars of the cases without ever losing his sense of these overarching issues. The court cases can be a little dry and technical, and, given the magnitude of the crimes on trial, it sometimes seems as if Greene is not quite as condemnatory as he might have been. Stil
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Thisi is a greatt book.Wherea the Nuremberg trials dealt with Reich officials the Dachau trials dealt with prison guards athe common people involved in what the prosecutor deemed"the Common Design" This book ably points out that the purpose of the Concentration Camps was ultimately to kill those prisoners interned in the camps. PErhaps a legal mkind ould have presented ot better from a legal perspectivebut;it is an important book dealing with war crimes and politics and finally I thik it makes a
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I don't know why I picked up this book. I never heard anyting about it but the topic was intriguing and it didn't disappoint. This book gives some insights into the thinking of those cruel humans who inflicted such horror on the lives of hundrds of thousands of innocent human beings. Some of the things they did are described and hard to imagine but thanks to the William Denson and his colleagues many were brought to justice.
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I enjoy reading books on WW II, nonfiction. This book was a WOW!!! These trials went on at the same time as Nuremburg. These trials were so much more touching to the heart, as they were about the bad doctors, the tortures, and the annihalition. These trials should have been given more publicity than Nuremburg.
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Play Book Tag: Justice at Dachau by Joshua M. Greene - 4 Stars | 1 | 13 | Apr 08, 2017 05:23AM |
Joshua M. Greene earned his M.A. at Hofstra University, where he taught Hinduism and Holocaust history until his retirement in 2013. His books on war crimes trials and survivor testimony have been published in six languages. He has spoken at the Pentagon, the Judge Advocates College, the New York Public Library Distinguished Author series, and lectures frequently before state bar associations. In
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