Sep 26, 2018
Book Review: Architects of Death
NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.
Book Review: Architects of Death, by Karen Bartlett
I have read many Holocaust books, of varying types. Most Jews, especially descendants of survivors, probably have. Architects of Death: The Family Who Engineered The Death Camps, by Karen Bartlett, is different than most other Holocaust books. Architects if Death is not a book describing the struggles of a family or an individual trying to survive the horrors and depravities of the Holocaust. Architects of Death is not a book describing the horrors and depravities of the Holocaust and it is not describing the destruction of families and communities throughout Europe. Architects of Death is not a book of heroism, or of survival, or of partisans or death marches. Architects of Death is a book of death and murder, but it is a book describing how the methods of death and mass murder were designed and made possible.
The Topf family in Germany had a company building ovens and other machinery. They built ovens for cremation and incinerators. It seems they were careful to follow regulations of hygienic and proper incineration. Until the Nazis came calling.
When the Nazis came to power and started building death camps and concentration camps, they needs ways to kill more people more efficiently, and to dispose of the bodies more efficiently. They needed to ramp up the killing, and the incineration, in order to achieve the numbers they were trying to achieve in the murder of Jews and others.
The Topf family and company played a critical role in innovation and development of bigger and better ovens that would burn hotter and faster, that would incinerate the bodies quicker and more thoroughly. While the Topf family were not Nazis and were not Nazi party members, and even if some were they were not party activists, they directly benefited from their relationship with the Nazis and lived the good life while working to help the Nazis improve their processes.
The book, Architects of Death, describes the lifestyle lived by the Topf families, their corporate structure and how they worked closely with the SS and other Nazis to understand the needs and to develop the technology required. They went and visited the concentration camps to see what was needed, they witnessed murders as trials and demonstrations and they knew what was going on and they helped it happen.
The last portion of the book is a bit bittersweet as we learn of the downfall of the family, in conjunction with the end of the war and the end of the Nazis. As the Allied Forces defeated the Nazis and split Germany and the Russians took over, the Topf family was prosecuted and tried for their work with the Nazis. Even though ultimately nothing came of those trials, it did bring the Topf family down, they lost their company, even after trying to rebuild it in different fashions. The book describes the trials, the way the Topfs tried to defend themselves and their actions and deny having been anything more to the Nazis than suppliers like a baker that delivered bread to the Nazis in the morning or a milkman delivered milk and yoghurt.
If you ever wondered how the Nazis were able to come so close o succeeding in their Final Solution, if you ever wondered how the Nazis were physically able to murder so many people and dispose of so many bodies so quickly, if you ever wonder how the concentrations camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau, and others but primarily these, were able to process the murder of so many people in such a short amount of time, you must read Architects of Death.
- buy Architects of Death on Amazon.com
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