The Scourge of the Swastika

A History of Nazi War Crimes During World War II

By: Lord Russell of Liverpool

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

When discussing the German war crimes of the Second World War, modern histories have focused on the Holocaust. While the Final Solution was a unique and unparalleled horror, German atrocities did not end there. The Nazis terrorized their own citizens, tortured and murdered POWs, and carried out countless executions throughout occupied Europe. Lord Russell of Liverpool was part of the legal team that brought Nazi war criminals to justice, and from this first-hand position, he published the sensational, best-selling The Scourge of the Swastika in 1954. Liverpool shows that the actions of the Third Reich, including the Holocaust, were illegal, not merely immoral.

©2008 Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

so much death

this book is something that more or less summarizes the atrociousness of the german war crimes. its really something everyone should listen to.

Gruesome

This is exactly what the title describes: a litany of war crimes committed by Germans during WWII. Much of what is described is quite gruesome. While focused on Naziism, it is a cautionary tale, in that Germany was just one of many nations who committed widespread murder of its opponents in the 20th century. Others include Mao Zedong, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Chiang Kai-Shek, Hirohito, Idi Amin, King Leopold II, and Benito Mussolini, just to name a few.

Difficult but very necessary read

This should be mandatory reading for high school and college students. It’s hard to hear the atrocities committed but so important to NOT forget. The propaganda portion is happening here now.

exceptional and important!

this is not listening for everyone. We all know the Nazis did horrible things but this catalogue of the details written at the time is absolutely blood-curdling. It's hard to imagine the entire country could turn so demonically evil with the right encouragement to cut loose and do the worst most monstrous things. It's not just the Jews that you will hear about in this accounting but also many many other people that we're just the wrong people in the wrong countries that the Nazis wanted to conquer. I have read a number of books about brutal things like the Mongols and Attila the Hun. these however were at a time before high civilization. For the Germans to become this debased and this evil at the height of their civilization is what is so shocking about the accounting here. the reader is wonderful I have heard him in a number of books. Definitely worth taking a look.

avid history reader

nice over all telling of the horrific Nazi purge of the Jews. Get storeys of individuals that help you better understand the Holocaust. Not as graphic as some retellings so you can get more pertinant info.

Disgust of humanity

wow! Very sobering wake up call on the depths of human depravity. A good read before heading to Dachau or visiting other concentration camps.

Chilling acount of a horrible tragic crime.

In this chilling account of the Nazi attrocities and the subsequent war tribunal, Lord Russell gives an in depth look at the face of evil in all its horror. He describes the principal people involved, and their motivations. He shows how it started fairly modestly, but ended up killing over 10 million people for nothing more than being on some sick Nazi non approved scapegoat list. He then goes through what happened at the Nuremberg tribunal, and what happened to the men responsible for some of the worst atrocities in human history. This is a must read for anyone interested in WW2 history.

Unforgettable in its warning as to what can happen

Horrifying , tragic and heartbreaking . The small numerous details reveal the whole terrifying nightmare of that time , you are left speechless and utterly sad I admit I cried at the fate of all those who died , let us never forget what happened so it never never happens again

Lord Russell's Warning From History

Russell's account of the crimes of Nazi Germany is one of the best on the subject. It also preceded the classic Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, perhaps the finest historic work ever written about the Second World War. Russell's book was important at the time of its 1954 publication because it documented precisely not only major details of the Holocaust, which William Shirer only briefly touched upon, but also the reign of terror across Occupied Europe, especially Poland and Russia, where the majority of Hitler's victims perished, including millions of Soviet prisoners of war and Russian civilians. An immensely valuable reading and listening experience as well as a superb history lesson that is as timely today as it was during the fifties, when Holocaust denial was still in its early stages.

Best on the subject

I have listened to many books on the subject. This was the best description of the horrors that took place in the concentration camps inEurope during WWll.