Partners in Crime

Partners in Crime follows the Nazi war crimes investigation of Kurt Gerstein and Friedrich Kellner, contrasting the two German officials' divergent paths during the Holocaust. The book reconstructs their wartime experiences through documents, diaries, and testimonies from the period. Gerstein served as an SS officer supervising Zyklon B deliveries to death camps, while Kellner worked as a local court administrator who documented Nazi atrocities in his secret diary. Their parallel stories reveal the moral choices faced by German civil servants and military personnel under the Third Reich. The investigation's central question revolves around Gerstein's complex role as both a perpetrator of genocide and a potential resistor who tried to expose the mass killings to the outside world. The author examines the postwar Allied investigation process and the challenges of determining culpability. The book raises fundamental questions about moral courage, complicity, and the nature of resistance under totalitarian regimes. Through these two opposing figures, it explores how individuals navigate between preservation of conscience and participation in systemic evil.

Reviews indicate many readers found this academic analysis of the US Intelligence community's use of ex-Nazis insightful but dense. Readers appreciated: - Well-researched with extensive primary source documents - Clear explanation of CIA/FBI competition and its effects - Detailed case studies of specific Nazi collaborators - Documentation of intelligence agencies' ethical compromises Common criticisms: - Heavy academic writing style challenging for casual readers - Assumes background knowledge of post-WWII politics - Some sections get bogged down in bureaucratic details - Limited coverage of certain major figures Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (23 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (8 reviews) Notable reader comments: "Meticulously documented but requires patience to get through" - Goodreads reviewer "Important history that needs wider attention despite dry presentation" - Amazon reviewer "Would benefit from more context for general audiences" - LibraryThing review

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🔎 Adolf Eichmann's capture in Argentina was made possible by information supplied by Lothar Hermann, a German Jewish refugee who suspected his daughter's boyfriend's father was the Nazi war criminal 📚 Author Norman J.W. Goda discovered previously unknown records in German, American and Argentine archives that shed new light on the post-war activities of Nazi criminals 🏛️ The book reveals how the CIA and West German intelligence services actively protected certain Nazi war criminals they deemed useful during the Cold War ⚖️ Despite evidence of their wartime activities, many former SS officers and Nazi officials found comfortable lives in Argentina, with some even becoming advisers to Argentine President Juan Perón 🗂️ The book draws from recently declassified intelligence files that show how Nazi war criminals built extensive networks to help their former colleagues escape Europe and establish new lives in South America