KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

De: Nikolaus Wachsmann

Narrado por: Paul Hodgson

In KL, Wachsmann fills this glaring gap in our understanding. He not only synthesizes a new generation of scholarly work, much of it untranslated and unknown outside of Germany, but also presents startling revelations, based on many years of archival research, about the functioning and scope of the camp system. Examining, close up, life and death inside the camps, and adopting a wider lens to show how the camp system was shaped by changing political, legal, social, economic, and military forces, Wachsmann produces a unified picture of the Nazi regime and its camps that we have never seen before.

A boldly ambitious work of deep importance, KL is destined to be a classic in the history of the 20th century. Many books have explored the general history of the Holocaust and the Nazis, or anatomized individual concentration camps. But there has, surprisingly, never been a comprehensive history of the camps that integrates the stories of both the broad development of the system and daily life in the camps. In KL (the widely used acronym for konzentrationslager, German for concentration camps), Wachsmann offers an unprecedented account of the development of the camps, similar in scope and approach to Anne Applebaum's best-selling and award-winning Gulag: A History (2003). We will publish on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of most of the camps in April 1945.

Wachsmann is the first to synthesize a new generation of original scholarship on the camps, much of it only available in German and little-known in the English-speaking world. And he has unearthed a wide range of new documents, offering startling new revelations about the history of the camps.

©2015 Original Material by Nikolaus Wachsmann (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Nikolaus Wachsmann has written an admirable historical overview of the Nazi concentration camps, effectively combining decades of recent scholarship with his own original research. He captures both the trajectory of dynamic change through which the camp system evolved as well as the experiences and agency - however limited - of the prisoner community. This is an impressive and valuable book." (Christopher R. Browning, Frank Porter Graham Professor of History Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

"It is hard to imagine that Nik Wachsmann's superb book, surely to become the standard work on Nazi concentration camps, will ever be surpassed. Based on a huge array of widely scattered sources, it is a gripping as well as comprehensive and authoritative study of this grim but highly important topic." (Ian Kershaw, author of The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944 – 1945)

An Essential Book

As I listened to KL I couldn’t help but feel a great desire for revenge and retribution against the Nazis. I wanted them to pay for their terrible crimes against innocent men, women and children. I also wanted justice for those victims. These wishes are almost impossible to realize except in one way: never forget. Never turn away from the horror. Expose it to the light of scrutiny by compassionate, logical people. Pass that knowledge to others. The Nazis hid their crimes as much as they were able from their fellow countrymen and especially from the rest world. They knew that what they were doing was absolutely terrible. An unforgivable and almost endless slew of atrocities was not accepted by the world. The best revenge, retribution and justice is the unflinching exposure of the horrors that they so willingly committed, and so carefully tried to hide. This book is a mighty vengeance. It sheds bright light on disgusting, cowardly, evil murderers. It leaves them no place to hide themselves or their crimes. It is hard to listen to the endless cruelties that were committed. It is essential that you do. We must never look away or forget. Humanity has a great potential for good, but it also has an incredibly profound attraction to evil.

Lots of deatil

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At the top

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Any additional comments?

The details, like the exact numbers of inmates in a particular month at each camp, were sometimes a bit much, especially at the beginning, but it came together in the end.

Incredible!

Amazing book, not just about statistics and number but a true in depth look at this dark period of history. I recommend for anyone looking for more info on this subject

outstanding

outstanding audio book, narration and an insightful text that really shows the power of the KL as a cornerstone mobilizing a nation with an almost dark psychology.

Interesting content, well read.

Comprehensive history of a troubling period. The reader's voice is pleasing and his national accents help liven the experience. It's very long, and packed with numbers and details - if you listen while driving you may need to repeat sections to firmly grasp the content. Strongly recommend for fans of history, or those who are curious of how governmental terror can arise.