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A review by zare_i
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich by David Kinney, Robert K. Wittman
5.0
Book consists of prologue and two story lanes that intertwine at some points but in general flow in parallel. In prologue we learn how Nazi historical documentary materiel got lost during the Nuremberg Trials and ended up in private collection for almost 70 years. This gives us setup and what is actually found during the final years of WW2 up to Nuremberg trials.
From that point we are introduced to notorious Estonian, Alfred Rosenberg, his rise through Nazi party hierarchy, friendship and worship of Hitler and we can see how Rosenberg ultimately became de facto main ideologist and soul leader of the Nazi party. We follow his never-ending bickering feuds with other Nazi top leaders and finally we witness his execution after he was sentenced to death by Allied Forces war crimes court.
On the other hand we follow Robert Kampmann, former German police officer who found himself hunted down by Nazi regime in late 1930s because of his Jewish ancestry. Hunted by his former colleagues he finally found his way to America in early 1940s from where he returned to Germany in order to sanction and prosecute the Nazis. He was not without quirks of his own and descriptions of his life before emigration to America make a very interesting read indeed.
One of the reviewers noted that title had nothing to do with actual story told.
That is not true. Diary in question is Rosenberg's private diary that would be of little (if any) value to a [general] reader without the actual context (bickering between these monstrous characters is just not enough to understand the actual depths of ... evil is best fitting word here). And majority of the book is exactly that - giving context to entries from the diary that are mentioned in detail.
Highly recommended to everyone interested in the darkest period of human history.
From that point we are introduced to notorious Estonian, Alfred Rosenberg, his rise through Nazi party hierarchy, friendship and worship of Hitler and we can see how Rosenberg ultimately became de facto main ideologist and soul leader of the Nazi party. We follow his never-ending bickering feuds with other Nazi top leaders and finally we witness his execution after he was sentenced to death by Allied Forces war crimes court.
On the other hand we follow Robert Kampmann, former German police officer who found himself hunted down by Nazi regime in late 1930s because of his Jewish ancestry. Hunted by his former colleagues he finally found his way to America in early 1940s from where he returned to Germany in order to sanction and prosecute the Nazis. He was not without quirks of his own and descriptions of his life before emigration to America make a very interesting read indeed.
One of the reviewers noted that title had nothing to do with actual story told.
That is not true. Diary in question is Rosenberg's private diary that would be of little (if any) value to a [general] reader without the actual context (bickering between these monstrous characters is just not enough to understand the actual depths of ... evil is best fitting word here). And majority of the book is exactly that - giving context to entries from the diary that are mentioned in detail.
Highly recommended to everyone interested in the darkest period of human history.