Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands, 1945
Desperate rats will devour one another to survive. At the end of  World War II, the members of the captured Nazi hierarchy were  indeed desperate to survive. Craven and cringing, they  dissembled with their captors, attempting to sacrifice one  another to escape inescapable guilt. As historian Overy  (Russia's War) points out, though there was never any doubt  about the criminality of the Nazi regime, subjecting that regime  to judicial process was very risky: if the case were not proven,  the accused might actually go free. Overy presents excerpts of  the pretrial interrogations that provided the Allies with much  of the information they needed to convict those responsible for  the war and its atrocities. Overy's descriptions of the  interrogations and illuminating commentary reveal the leaders of  the "master race" to be weak-willed cowards. It was typical for  the primary defendants to deny responsibility for the barbarity  that occurred right under their noses or to feign incredulity  that such fantastic cruelty could even occur. Copiously  annotated and supported by an extensive bibliography,  Interrogations is highly recommended, especially for academic  libraries with a strong emphasis on 20th-century or military  history. Michael F. Russo, Louisiana State Univ. Libs., Baton  RougeCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.