The subject matter is a person-to person exploration of the life and conscience of Nazi SS police officer Franz Stangl who between between 23 July 1942 and 19 October 1943 managed the highly efficient industrial slaughter and incineraion of one million two hundred thousand children, women and men in the German death "camp" near the Polish town of Treblinka. The title is Into That Darkness: An Examination of Conscience. I have just finished reading one of the most profound (and profoundly disturbing) books I have encountered in my 75 years of life - originally published in 1974 by the journalist Gitta Sereny (who passed away at 91 in June 2012). I much prefer Longerich, but your mileage may vary. You can read Longerich's books and forget that he even exists, as the focus is entirely on the river of facts he's sending your way. The contrast in style between Sereny's books and Longerich's books on the Holocaust and on Himmler could hardly be stronger. Since I knew little detail about Treblinka before reading this book, Sereny certainly did teach me some history, but always there was Sereny herself in the foreground. The Epilogue is her personal Declaration of Faith about freedom, individuality, and society.All this may be quite appealing to many readers, but I personally was hoping for a little more history and a little less Oprah. We are taken along on a 50-page digression in which Sereny sets Stangl to the side and recounts her attempts to get the Vatican to come clean about its relations with Nazis and ex-Nazis. We are informed about Sereny's interpretation of the looks in her interviewees' eyes, the reddening of their faces, their slowness to respond to a question. We read about her many travels to interview various people, and how they hosted her. I prefer LongerichIn this book on Stangl, as in her book on Speer, Sereny is not just the author but a prominent character herself.
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