Hitler's Crime Fighter
The extraordinary life of Konrad Morgen
Hitler's Crime Fighter
The extraordinary life of Konrad Morgen
Nazi Germany, June 1943, Buchenwald concentration camp. The last place you'd expect to find any form of justice. And yet justice against the SS who brutalised the prisoners here would be attempted by the unlikeliest of sources - SS officer Konrad Morgen.
Nazi Germany, June 1943, Buchenwald concentration camp. The last place you'd expect to find any form of justice. And yet justice against the SS who brutalised the prisoners here would be attempted by the unlikeliest of sources - SS officer Konrad Morgen.
Nazi Germany, despite the atrocities it carried out on an industrial scale, still had legislation and a legal system and Morgen used these laws to bring individual members of the SS to justice for their crimes. He was a fearless investigating judge and police official, and when he crossed swords with more powerful forces inside the SS, he was demoted and sent by Heinrich Himmler himself to the Eastern Front as an ordinary soldier in the Waffen SS.
Nazi Germany, despite the atrocities it carried out on an industrial scale, still had legislation and a legal system and Morgen used these laws to bring individual members of the SS to justice for their crimes. He was a fearless investigating judge and police official, and when he crossed swords with more powerful forces inside the SS, he was demoted and sent by Heinrich Himmler himself to the Eastern Front as an ordinary soldier in the Waffen SS.
But his skills were still needed and he returned to launch a series of investigations in various concentration camps, including Buchenwald. As a direct result of his work, two concentration camp commandants were shot before the end of the war and he arrested three others. Targets of his investigations included Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust, and Rudolf Höss, the infamous commandant of Auschwitz.
But his skills were still needed and he returned to launch a series of investigations in various concentration camps, including Buchenwald. As a direct result of his work, two concentration camp commandants were shot before the end of the war and he arrested three others. Targets of his investigations included Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust, and Rudolf Höss, the infamous commandant of Auschwitz.
Described by historian John Toland as 'the man who did the most to hinder the atrocities in the East', this is the incredible true story of Konrad Morgen, who pursued Nazi Germany's worst murderers from inside the SS.
Described by historian John Toland as 'the man who did the most to hinder the atrocities in the East', this is the incredible true story of Konrad Morgen, who pursued Nazi Germany's worst murderers from inside the SS.
Reviews
“The enthralling and meticulously researched true story of a fascinating figure who fought Nazi atrocities from within the SS itself. This book sheds new light on a complex historical figure and a disturbing period of history, leaving you hooked from page one.”
--Helen Fry, historian and author of MI9
“A truly astonishing story of how, in the midst of one of the greatest evils known, one man so determined to do the right thing remained resolute in his pursuit of moral justice, whatever the consequences.”
--Michael Smith, author of Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews and No Man Dies Twice
Biteback Books
304 pages