Hitler’s Last Chance Kolberg: The Propaganda Movie and the Rise and Fall of a German City

Hitler’s Last Chance Kolberg: The Propaganda Movie and the Rise and

Fall of a German City written by Kevin Prenger and published by Frontline

Books - £22 - Hardback - Pages 192

Apologies but I couldn't get the book description to format properly on this post

but you can read it at the Pen & Sword Website.

Hitler’s Last Chance is a book/story of the city of Kolberg in Poland that was attempted to be

taken by Germany during the Second World War. The story can be split into three like most

wartime cities, you went from the city just being Kolberg, to be taken or attempted, to be taken

by Germany during the war and then the city fell to the Russians. But during this process, or at

least the part about Kolberg being taken over by Germany Goebbels saw this as a chance to

sell this story to Germany as a good or a ‘saviour’ type event as a propaganda film. Eventually,

this film would not see general publication due to the events. But the fascinating thing I

found about this story was the fact that you could see parallels with the conflict currently

going on in the Russia/Ukraine conflict, in which you have one country trying to take one city

because they believe they are doing the right thing or making the citizens free. The book is a

really nice look at propaganda, how it could be done or put into place and the reasons for it.

I think the book is more for those interested in how propaganda works and how it can be used

to influence rather than those into the wider story of the war. A book that made me think, and

one I would happily recommend to others.

The Waffen-SS Ardennes Offensive

The Waffen-SS Ardennes Offensive written by Ian Baxter and published by Pen &Sword Books - £14.99 - Softcover - Pages 128

In late 1944 under extreme pressure on both the Eastern and Western fronts, Hitler

realized he needed to force the Allies into negotiating a truce thereby saving Germany

from total defeat. Using the Christmas period to enhance the vital element of surprise,

he ordered a devastating attack through the rugged and mountainous Ardenne region

with the key Allied port of Antwerp as the objective.

This book, with its extensive text and rare and unpublished photographs with detailed captions, tells the story of the Waffen-SS offensive, known as Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine). These formidable SS armoured units with supporting Wehrmacht divisions initially achieved dramatic success making full use of the harsh winter conditions and terrain. Gradually the Allies regained the upper hand on the attackers who were increasingly suffering from lack of reinforcements and resupplies. After defeat at the pivotal battle of Bastonge, remaining Waffen-SS units withdrew and were transferred back to the Eastern Front. As described in this classic Images of War book, the Fuhrer’s gamble so nearly paid off and the ruthless fighting spirit of the elite Waffen-SS divisions caused the Allied command serious concern.

Another fascinating and informative book from the Images of War series of books. As the war was heading towards a conclusion at last, this was one of Hitler’s last rolls of the dice in which his Waffen-SS would go out and support troops and divisions in the Ardennes area and in a way this would become helpful but it wasn’t long before the allies were able to take the upper hand in control. The main problem for Germany was that they were running short on manpower and munitions leading to a number of key successes like Bastonge. This is all told through the series of rare photographs and supportive text, the ways these photos are taken are always excellent along with the quality of the pictures too. Which does make the Images of War series excellent and certainly one I would happily recommend to anyone.

Transforming Hitler's Germany

Transforming Hitler’s Germany written by Tim Heath & Annmarie Vickers and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 272

As the last flames of the Second World War flickered and died, Germany emerged into

an apocalyptic wasteland, where the Hitler Youth generation would be cursed with the

running sore of National Socialism. With the uncaged bear of the Soviet Union flexing

its muscles and the escalating tensions between East and West providing some

distraction from the funeral pyre of the Third Reich, those living in West Germany soon

understood that they were the geological bulkhead, a component in the prevention of

communism spreading throughout the infantile peace of post-Second World War Europe.

Despite all the destruction and political tensions which surrounded them, the young men and women of Germany were keen to experience the world beyond their own precarious borders. In August 1945, Tia Schuster and Lisa Kraus were two fourteen-year-old Berliners, and - like many - they found themselves shoehorned into what was to be the second ‘new era’ of their young lives. The first had brought about only death and destruction, yet this second had a cold unfamiliarity about it.

As the late 1940s gave way to the 1950s and ‘60s, a series of new decadent eras - of rock-n-roll, fashion, flower power and sexual revolution - was on the horizon, which posed a threat to the traditional German way of life championed by the Nazi regime and post-Second World War German government. With this heady mixture of new-found freedom, the youth of Germany unwittingly became a feature of everything that both fascism and communism despised.

This unique work tells the story of the tentative steps taken by young men and women into the ‘afterlife of Nazi Germany’. Encompassing memoirs along the way, it presents a quirky portrayal of charm, humour, mischief and personal accomplishment along with a vitally important slice of (West) Germany’s social history, which has remained hidden from the literary world for decades. 

Transforming Hitler’s Germany is a book that follows the lives of a number of young people but particularly  Tia Schuster, Lisa Kraus and friends. The book follows how they saw life whilst living under the Nazi party, but then life in Germany after WW2 in Berlin. The book through notes and letters, looks at their beliefs about life post-war ranging on a number of subjects such as music, love, relationships, sexuality, education, work, growing up and also social influences that were filtering through from the west. I believe that this is an important book that looks at the social history of young people in Germany, which I know from reading I think, five previous Tim Heath books, and I personally think that the addition of Annmarie Vickers, gives an extra balance and maybe a little more female influence to the book. I always enjoy a Tim Heath book as he often concentrates on the social side or the lives and views of women and children living through WW2 Germany, something we don’t hear much about.

I would like to say finally, that being a Dad to teenage boys 18 & 19, they could learn a lot from this book, as I got a lot out of reading this first-class book. A fine book I would highly recommend to anyone interested in social history or the lives and thoughts of young people. An early contender for one of my top ten books of the year already.

Hitler's Henchmen - Nazi Executioners and How They Escaped Justice After WWII

Hitler's Henchmen - Nazi Executioners and How They Escaped Justice After WWII

written by Helmut Ortner and published by Frontline Books - £18.99 - Hardback -

Pages 136

Helmut Ortner reveals a staggering history of perpetrators, victims and bystanders in

Hitler’s Germany. He explores the shocking evidence of a merciless era – and of the

shameful omissions of post-war German justice.

Johann Reichhart was a state-appointed judicial executioner in Bavaria from 1924 until the end of the war in Europe. During the Nazi era, he executed numerous people who were sentenced to death for resisting National Socialism, including many of those involved in the 20 July 1944 bomb plot on Adolf Hitler.

As a member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, the SS organisation responsible for administering the concentration and extermination camps, Arnold Strippel served at a number of locations during his rise to the rank of SS-Obersturmführer. These included Natzweiler-Struthof, Buchenwald, Majdanek, Ravensbrück and Neuengamme, where he was responsible for murdering the victims of a series of tuberculosis medical experiments. Like Reichhart, Erich Schwinge was also involved in the legal sphere during the Third Reich. A German military lawyer, in 1931 he became a professor of law and, from 1936, wrote the legal commentary on German military criminal law that was decisive during the Nazi era.

Aside from the part they played in Hitler’s regime, these three men all had one further thing in common – they survived the war and restarted their careers in Adenauer’s Federal Republic of Germany.

In Hitler’s Henchmen, Helmut Ortner uncovers the full stories of Reichhart, Strippel, Schwinge and others like them, Nazi perpetrators who enjoyed post-war careers as judges, university professors, doctors and politicians. Had they been gutless cogs in the machinery of the Nazi state, or ideologized persecutors? Ortner reveals that it was not only their Nazi pasts that were forgotten, but how the suffering of the victims, including resistance fighters such as Georg Elser and Maurice Becaud, and their relatives was suppressed and ignored.

This book looks at various people that were part of the Nazi regime managed to escape blame and carry on a significant lifestyle after the war. The whole book was well written and quite interesting, with quite a bit of research gone into it in what is usually a complicated Nazi regime, but I should probably say that I preferred the second half of the book. Which veered off more into two lesser known assassination attempts on the life of Hitler. In summary I liked this book and I found it quite interesting, but I felt it was two books in one.

Hitler’s Father - Hidden Letters: Why the Son Became a Dictator

Hitler’s Father - Hidden Letters: Why the Son Became a Dictator written by

Roman Sandgruber and published by Frontline Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 272

The bundle of 31 letters, the pages of which had long yellowed with age, had lain

hidden in the attic where they were found for over a century. Only when the razor-

sharp script was examined further did historians discover just who had written them

– and that person, Alois, was Adolf Hitler’s father.

Born Alois Schicklgruber on 7 June 1837, the identity of his biological father still undisclosed, Alois eventually became a civil servant in the Austrian customs service. At around the age of 40, Alois changed his family name from Schicklgruber to Hitler – his infamous son being born some eleven years later.

The contents of the re-discovered letters have allowed the renowned historian and author Roman Sandgruber to reassess the image that we have of Alois, offering the world a completely new and authentic impression of the man. In Hitler’s Father, Sandgruber re-examines Alois’ personality and how he significantly shaped the young Adolf.

The letters also shed further light onto the everyday life of the Hitler family as whole, a story which is often characterized by myths, inventions and assumptions. They have given the author the opportunity to recount the childhood and youth of the future dictator, painting a dramatic picture of the ‘Führer’ growing up.

These letters also help answer the question that is so often asked: How could a child from an Upper Austrian province, seemingly a failure and self-taught, rise to a position of such power? Indeed, Adolf Hitler’s father and ‘the province’ seemingly lay heavily on him until his suicide in the Führerbunker in 1945. The author examines how the young Hitler’s lowly upbringing may have affected him in the years that followed – years which shaped the history of the whole world. 

I reviewed another book recently called Lucky Hitler’s Big Mistakes, a really good book that looks at the rise and fall of Hitler and how much of it was his own fault. This book has similar aims in that it wants to look at the background of Hitler and how he became the person he was by looking at how he grew up mainly through the guidance of his father, Alois Hitler. This is often a question asked in the circles of history buffs, trying to find out why Hitler became who he was, and in many ways, by looking at this father this can be seen and answers a few questions and dispels a few myths too. It was a fascinating and interesting read, or I certainly thought so, and I have my own opinions about this subject but then maybe I should write a book about it. This is certainly a really good book and if you are interested in finding out about what’s behind the mask, this book will help. The notes and bibliography at the back of this book are excellent, I didn’t realise so many books had been written on this subject previously.

Hitler’s Traitors Dissent, Espionage and the Hunt For Dissenters

Hitler’s Traitors Dissent, Espionage and the Hunt For Dissenters compiled by

Edward Harrison and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 248

This collection of vivid essays examines some of the most fascinating aspects of the German

resistance to Hitler. It includes the first translations into English of pioneering studies on the

role of a leading Nazi in the July Plot, the flight of Rudolf Hess to Britain and the vigorous

controversy over Hugh Trevor-Roper’s investigation of Hitler’s death. The book also explores

vociferous Catholic dissent in Franconia and the conspiracies against the Third Reich of the

revolutionary New Beginning movement. Through the study of important personalities and

dramatic events this book explores the possibilities and challenges faced by Germans in

attempts to frustrate and defy Hitler’s tyranny.

I would like to say that I enjoyed the 6 different essays compiled in this book, on Rudolph

Hess, Count Wolf Heinrich von Helldorf, the Monasteries and two reports about Hugh

Trevor Roper. Whilst I can see the first two fitting in well with the title of the book, I find the

essays about the monasteries and the two about Hugh Trevor Roper don’t really fit the

title well, it’s as if the book goes off on a slightly different tangent. But as I say they are all

perfectly good essays, maybe it’s me and I haven’t grasped this book properly.

In Furious Skies - Flying with Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Second World War

In Furious Skies - Flying with Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Second World War written

by Tim Heath and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 280

When a proud Adolf Hitler revealed his new Luftwaffe to the world in March 1935, it was

the largest, most modern military air arm the world had seen. Equipped with the latest

monoplane fighter and bomber aircraft manned by well-trained and motivated crews, it

soon became evident that the Luftwaffe also possessed a high degree of technical

superiority over Germany’s future enemies.

Yet within just nine years the once-mightiest air force in the world had reached total collapse, destroyed in part by the very people responsible for creating it. By 1944, the Luftwaffe, wearied by aerial battles on multiple fronts combined with tactical mismanagement from the highest levels of command, were unable to match their enemies in both production and manpower. By this time the Luftwaffe was fighting for its survival, and for the survival of Germany itself, above the burning cities of the Third Reich, facing odds sometimes as high as ten-to-one in the air.

Told through the eyes of the fighter and bomber crews themselves, this book explores previously unpublished first-hand accounts of the rise and fall of one of the most formidable air forces in twentieth-century military history. It paints a haunting picture of the excitement, fear, romance intertwined with the brutality, futility and wastefulness that is war.

My hopes were high with this book having read 4-5 of Tim Heath’s books, in my opinion, if you need information on German WWII history or the Third Reich, there is nobody much better than Tim Heath. This particular book looks at the world of being a German pilot or part of the bombing crews in the Luftwaffe, hailed as an air force that was becoming the best in the world. The biggest problem though wasn’t really with the planes and pilots, it was with the German high command, mainly Hermann Goering. It has since been seen by historians and writers that the weak link was Goering, and this was evidenced in this book by the pilot community, where Goering may have been a celebrated pilot in WWI his tactical planning, his need to save face and addictions caused him to fail himself and the Luftwaffe.

This book gives excellent attention to the thoughts and opinions of German flyers, and I think

this is what echoes in all of Heath’s books, the ability to get first-hand accounts of real people

who are doing the work on the ground or experiencing the realities of what is going on in the

thick of events. I should also say that the fans who love to read about the technical details of

planes, equipment and weaponry will not be disappointed with this book. This has been

another thoroughly good book to read, very well researched and written in excellent detail.

This book is a must for anyone wanting to read about the Luftwaffe. A quality book.

A Tailor in Auschwitz

A Tailor in Auschwitz written by David van Turnhout & Dirk Verhofstadt and

published by Pen & Sword - £22 - Hardback - Pages 240

David Van Turnhout and Dirk Verhofstadt traced the story of David's Jewish grandfather,

Ide Leib Kartuz. Fleeing from antisemitism and violence, he came to Antwerp in 1929

and set up business as a tailor. The family he left behind ended up in the ghetto of

Radomsko. Each and every member of the family was gassed at Treblinka. In Belgium,

Kartuz joined the resistance movement, but was arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and

deported to Auschwitz. On arrival there, his wife and two children immediately died a

horrible death.

He survived in a unit of tailors where he repaired camp clothing and SS guards' uniforms, sometimes receiving special orders from SS officers. Kartuz endured an inhuman death march to Mauthausen. After the war, back in Antwerp, he made tailored suits for bankers and other business people. His final battle was against the Belgian state, for recognition as a Belgian citizen, member of the resistance and war victim. Very few people realise how difficult it was for Jewish people to survive after liberation.

The authors dig deep into the core of the Holocaust and investigate every trail from Radomsko to Miami. In the Auschwitz archives, they discover unpublished witness statements by tailors in Block 1. And completely unexpectedly, they also discover a cousin of Ide's, living in Florida. She had survived as a child by hiding in an attic in Brussels and speaks for the first time about those dark days. It took the authors a year to wind their questing way through important discoveries and setbacks but in this tribute, an unknown piece of history has finally been given a face.

This book is the story and struggle of Jewish tailor Ide Leib Kartuz who had been sent along with millions of other Jews to concentration camps in Europe during WW2 at the hands of Hitlers Nazi’s. The one reason that kept Kartuz from being killed in the concentration was his expertise and skills as a tailor, German guards and staff would appreciate the work and skill he could do in making clothing for the guard's wives and families. Kartuz would be picked up pre-war as a successful tailor but would make his way back there after the war to carry on his profession, but we find out about all the suffering and hell that went on. While the book is never going to be an easy read, this book is written well and an emotional story has now been written, sharing the levels of depravity that man can stoop to. Along with many other books like this, this book can tell a story that should never be forgotten. It is though heartwarming to know that Ide Leib Kartuz would go on to live to a good age.

Hitler’s Armed SS - The Waffen SS at War 1939-1945

Hitler’s Armed SS - The Waffen SS at War 1939-1945 written by

Anthony Tucker-Jones and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25.00 -

Hardback - Pages 240

The Waffen-SS was one of the most formidable German military formations of the

Second World War – feared for its tenacity and ruthlessness in battle, notorious for

the atrocities it committed. As a distinct fighting force derived from the Nazi Party’s

SS organization, it stood apart from the other units of the German army. Its origins,

structure and operational role during the war are often misunderstood and the

controversy still surrounding its conduct makes it difficult today to get an accurate

picture of its actions and its impact on the fighting. Anthony Tucker-Jones, in this

concise and fluently written account, provides an absorbing and clear-sighted

introduction to it.

He traces its development under Himmler from modest beginnings in the early 1930s as Hitler’s personal protection squad of elite soldiers to a force which eventually amounted to thirty-eight divisions. Towards the end of the war, many Waffen-SS units were formed from foreign volunteers and proved to be of poor quality, but its premier panzer divisions thoroughly deserved their reputation as tough fighters.

Through accounts of the Waffen-SS’s major battles on the Eastern Front, in Normandy and finally in defence of Germany, a detailed picture emerges of the contribution it made to the German war effort, especially when Hitler’s armies were in retreat. The parts played by the most famous Waffen-SS formations – Das Reich, Totenkopf, Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler among them – and their commanders – men like Dietrich and Hausser – can be seen in the wider context of the war and Germany’s defeat. 

This book is most definitely a fascinating and informative one, written by a renown historian and one of my favourite writers Anthony Tucker-Jones. This book looks at one of Germany’s most accomplished and fearsome fighting forces, although some might say they were often notorious in some of their exploits. The book takes the reader right from its origins when it was seen as Hitler’s Bodyguard unit to what it would become, divisions of elite fighters serving as Germany’s elite soldiers by the end of the war. The Waffen SS would go from being notorious evil in the flattening of the Warsaw Ghettos to being seen as elite standard competent soldiers. Towards the end of the war, due to Germany losing many soldiers the standard of soldiers became less and more of a poorer standard than would be hoped for on Germany’s part. 

This book has a good number of first-hand accounts from the soldiers at points and operations throughout the war such as the Eastern Front and Normandy which give an excellent insight and wider knowledge. There are a good number of SS-specific photographs throughout, which really do add weight to the quality of the book. A really good book especially if you are interested in reading about how the German army was run and operated.

Hill 112 The Key to Defeating Hitler in Normandy

Hill 112 The Key to Defeating Hitler in Normandy written by Tim Saunders

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 328

‘He who holds Hill 112 holds Normandy’ seemed an unlikely maxim when the hill

is viewed from a distance, but on reaching its plateau, the vistas unfold in every

direction across a huge swath of Normandy. For the Germans, it was their vital

defensive ground, but for the British, it was an essential stepping stone en route

to the River Orne and access to the open country south to Falaise.

The Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division lost Hill 112 to 4th Armoured Brigade when the Scots captured the Tourmauville Bridge intact, but the essence of Hill 112’s tactical problem soon became clear. It was impossible for armour to survive on its broad plateau, while the infantry could only hold the skeletal orchards and woods at the cost of crushing casualties. With II SS Panzer Corps preparing to attack the British, the toe hold was given up and 11th Armoured Division was left holding a bridgehead across the River Odon.

Ten days later, 43rd Wessex Division was ordered to resume the advance to the Orne with Hill 112 its first objective. As the west countrymen and tanks rose to advance, they met withering fire from the stronghold that Hill 112 had become. The scene was set for one of the grimmest battles of the campaign.

For six weeks from the end of June into August, when the Allied advances finally gained momentum, Hill 112 was far too important to let the opposition hold and exploit it. Consequently, it was regularly shelled and mortared, and shrouded with smoke and dust, while soldiers of both sides clung to their respective rims of the plateau.

By the end, Hill 112 had developed a reputation as evil as that of any spot on the First World War’s Western Front.

The battle for Hill 112 is an important one as it was of strategic advantage to both sides. What we have in this book is an excellent story of a battle, on a few important levels such as the everyday man on the frontline to the tactical planning level of the higher ranking officers. In some parts of the story, the fighting and combat does get a bit grim or harsh, but this is why Hill 112 was so important in that it took people to commit the ultimate sacrifice for the cause. I must admit that this book did have me hooked throughout and had me reading it in just a couple of sittings. This is down to a gripping story, but also a well-written book by an author/historian who clearly has some experience in these circumstances. The book is supported by some great historical sources, photographs, maps, tactics and charts. This was a really good read and one I would certainly recommend to others.

Hitler’s Spy Against Churchill

Hitler’s Spy Against Churchill written by Jan-Willem van den Braak

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 312

From the summer of 1940 until May 1941, nearly twenty German Abwehr agents were

dropped by boat or parachute into England during what was known as Operation Lena,

all in preparation for Hitler's planned invasion of England. The invasion itself would never

happen and in fact, after the war, one of the Abwehr commanders declared that the

operation was doomed to failure.

There is no doubt that the operation did indeed become a fiasco, with almost all of the officers being arrested within a very brief period of time. Some of the men were executed, while others became double agents and spied for Britain against Germany. Only one man managed to stay at large for five months before eventually committing suicide: Jan Willem Ter Braak. Amazingly, his background and objectives had always remained unclear, and none of the other Lena spies had ever even heard of him. Even after the opening of the secret service files in England and the Netherlands over 50 years later, Jan Willem Ter Braak remained a 'mystery man', as the military historian Ladislas Farago famously described him.

In this book, the author – his near-namesake – examines the short and tragic life of Jan Willem Ter Braak for the first time. Using in-depth research, he investigates the possibility that Ter Braak was sent to kill the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and discovers why his fate has remained largely unknown for so long.

This is quite an intriguing little book that has all the elements of an espionage thriller,

with a bit of light fiasco thrown into the mix. This book follows the story mainly of one

man, Jan Willem Ter Braak, although he was part of a group of people trained to act

as agents or spies in order to start an invasion of Britain during the war. Ter Braak

was a rather evasive or reclusive character who nobody really got to know well. So

here lies the mystery around a man who nobody really knew or what he got up to.

This book I found was quite gripping and was a really quick but enjoyable read, and

I had never heard of this story before either. A book I really enjoyed and would most

certainly recommend it.

Himmler - Hitler's Henchman

Himmler - Hitler’s Henchman written by Ian Baxter and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £14.99 - Softcover - Pages 119

Heinrich Himmler has a strong claim to be Adolf Hitler’s most powerful subordinate.

He was certainly the main architect of the Holocaust. Appointed Reichsfuhrer-SS in

1929 he built the SS into a million strong paramilitary force and took control of the

Nazi concentration camps system. From 1943 he became Chief of German Police

and Minister of the Interior with command of the Gestapo as well as the

Einsatzgruppen, who committed appalling atrocities and murder in occupied Eastern

Europe and Russia.

Despite his lack of military experience in the closing stages of the War he was appointed by Hitler as Commander of Army Group Vistula. Realising the war was lost, Himmler attempted to open peace talks with the Allies. Learning of this, Hitler dismissed him of all his posts in April 1945. Detained and arrested by British forces, he committed suicide on 22 May 1945.

The wartime career of this cruel and capable man is captured brilliantly with contemporary fully captioned images in this Images of War series work.

A book about one of the most evil men in history, Heinrich Himmler was one of Adolf Hitler’s henchmen, one of the chosen few for the Third Reich. Himmler was the one who became the main architect for the campaign to rid the world of the Jewish population as he took control of the Nazi concentration camp system. Along with this he was also responsible for the SS, German police system and Minister of the Interior and also headed up the detested Gestapo & Einsatzgruppen. As you can see he certainly wasn’t the nicest of men to know in life. 

The book does look at his early life for a moment but the three chapters in the book, concentrate on the early invasion of the East, being the architect of Genocide and his role as War Lord. The information in the book is very comprehensive and detailed and is supported throughout with a great number of photographs which is primarily what the aim of the book is. But my only downside of the book is many of the photographs are very similar, it reminds me of a Tory minister being shown around workplaces during an election campaign so that the workers can wonder at the visiting gentry. But to be honest, most of these photos seem to be official-type publicity photos, so one shouldn’t really be surprised. I love the Images of War Series, and even this book I should think fits nicely into the range.

Britain's Plot to Kill Hitler

Britain’s Plot to Kill Hitler - The True Story of Operation Foxley & SOE

written by Eric Lee and published by Greenhill Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 216.

Operation Foxley was the name of the secret plan supported by Winston Churchill to

assassinate Hitler in 1944-45. More than 75 years after its conception, the assassination

plan remains shrouded in mystery. Eric Lee’s new book is the product of painstaking

research and sheds more light on this plan. Lee also asks what would have happened if

Foxley had been executed successfully.

Concocted in 1944 by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), Foxley’s objective was to kill Hitler and any high-ranking Nazis or members of the Fuhrer’s entourage who might have been present at the time.

Different methods of assassination had been considered by the SOE, but were ultimately deemed too complicated. These methods included derailment and destruction of the Hitler’s personal train, the Fuhrerzug, by explosives, and also clandestine means such as slipping a tasteless poison into Hitler’s drinking and cooking water. Some of the ideas were considered quite bizarre, including one scheme to hypnotise Rudolf Hess and return him to Germany to kill Nazi leaders. The Americans and Soviets had their own plans to kill Hitler too, with some equally strange ideas (including injecting female hormones into the Fuhrer's vegetables).

Eventually, after intel gathered revealed that Hitler took a routine, solitary walk every morning to the Teehaus on the Mooslahnerkopf Hill from the Berghof residence, a plan was created to assassinate Hitler using a sniper rifle fitted with a silencer.

A perfect investigation for readers who enjoy reading about modern history, and the Second World War in particular. It is also tailored to those with an interest in the “secret war”, covering topics like the SOE, and military intelligence.

This is quite an intense feeling book from the start as the reader learns about various plots and plans not just from the British side and SOE, we also learnt that there were schemes to assassinate Hitler by the Americans & Soviets too. I understand there had to be lots of secrecy and deviance, but I did think as it seemed many were looking to assassinate Hitler, could there not have been some plotting between interested sides. I enjoyed the way this book was presented as the first half is written by the author but the second half contains photocopies of the various sources of information and files/documentation which kind of made it feel even more realistic as you were reading through the info that was being passed around at the time. Although I must admit there were only a couple I found weren’t that easy to read.

I really enjoyed this book as it felt as if it was half story and half fact. I quite enjoy the author’s

writing and really enjoyed his previous book Night of the Bayonets, his writing feels very well

explained but to the point. I’ve taken notes of some of the excellent books from the bibliography,

and I’ll be reading these in the near future hopefully. Overall, I would happily recommend this

book for anyone into their World War II history.

How the World allowed Hitler to Proceed with the Holocaust

How the World allowed Hitler to Proceed with the Holocaust written by

Tony Matthews and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25.00 - Hardback - Pages 480

In July 1938 the United States, Great Britain and thirty other countries participated in a vital conference at Évian-les-Bains, France, to discuss the persecution and possible emigration of the European Jews, specifically those caught under the anvil of Nazi atrocities. However, most of those nations rejected the pleas then being made by the Jewish communities, thus condemning them to the Holocaust.

There is no doubt that the Évian conference was a critical turning point in world history. The disastrous outcome of the conference set the stage for the murder of six million people. Today we live in a world defined by turmoil with a disturbing rise of authoritarian governments and ultra right-wing nationalism. The plight of refugees is once more powerfully affecting public attitudes towards those most in need. Now, on the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the end of the Second World War, it’s time to reflect on the past to ensure we never again make the same mistakes.

Tragedy at Évian also shines a spotlight on some of the astonishing and courageous stories of heroic efforts of individuals and private organisations who, despite the decisions made at Évian, worked under extremely dangerous conditions, frequently giving their own lives to assist in the rescue of the Jewish people.

This is one of those books that leaves you astounded with disbelief and bewilderment at how ineffectual people can be. The book focuses primarily on the Evian-les-Bains Conference in France and how a good number of countries knew of the impending problems and disaster for the Jews, and yet very few did anything about it. A book that seems very apt at the moment with the conflict happening in Ukraine with millions of people being displaced to neighbouring countries. In a way, it seems now more and more people are aware of the situation to migrant people, whereas back at the start of WWII it seems the world was far less aware of these situations.

I must admit that when I started reading this book I thought it might be a bit hard going or not the most lively or interesting read when the main focus is on the conference. But actually, it is a very good book, comprehensive and detailed but it runs smoothly and is very interesting, so huge credit to the author Tony Matthews for his writing. Whist the book can be hard reading at times due to the wretched subject matter, it does feel like an important book to read and learn from. Certainly a good book I would happily recommend to others and a good subject matter that needs writing about.