Hermann Goering Hitler's Second in Command

Publié le 28 janvier 2001 par Fred Ramen

The Holocaust Biographies series consists of eight profiles of key figures during the period of the Third Reich, including Adolf Eichmann and Adolf Hitler; humanitarians Oskar Schindler, Elie Wiesel, Raoul Wallenberg, and Hans and Sophie Scholl; and Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Goring, who shared in the spilling of innocent blood. Each book opens with a different map highlighting various facts, such as the number of Jews killed by country, the spread of the Greater German Reich, and the locations of ghettos, and forced labor and extermination camps. Each volume has a different narrative-style introduction that envelops the reader into the locale and mood of the period: "On a rainy day in October 1946, at an anonymous bend in the road..."

The page design, which features margins of barbed wire, and the numerous photographs are elements that aid in maintaining the reader's attention. The information-rich rear section of every volume includes a time line for context, a glossary to decipher the often-used German vocabulary, and a bibliography for further reading. One drawback of the series is the repetition of basic information from volume to volume. In addition, specifics sometimes are glossed over: "For complex reasons, it became popular after World War I to blame Jews for Germany's defeat." The series would be a fine addition to middle and junior high school libraries as a supplemental resource for the study of the Holocaust. Glossary. Index. Illus. Photos. Maps. Further Reading. Chronology.