The Nazi Death Camps. Then and Now

The Nazi Death Camps. Then and Now*, edited by Winston Ramsey, is a fantastic reference book for anyone who is studying about or interested in Nazi Germany. The National Socialist Party was in power in Germany for 12 years and in this time they opened around 15,000 concentration and labour camps in Germany and in the occupied territories. One of the most surprising things in this book was to read about the camp at Alderney, a small British island. The research is wide and what took place there is clearly presented. The use of primary sources is great too. That chapter is written by Karola Fings.

The best way to describe how valuable this book is I shared the contents in the picture of the post. This is a huge book with relevant pictures. In the introduction there is a map with the numbers of the camps covered in the book. There are pictures and details of Nazis, documents such as letters and maps, lots of photos of victims.

Looking at those pictures is incredibly moving. For example a former train track is now a quiet street with some greenery and some parking spaces. There is a short section left as a memorial with an explanatory plaque, at Dachau. Seeing how these places look today is very telling too. How each country decided to remember and commemorate the victims of those specific camps. A few words about some of the SS men and camp staff is given on some of the stories about the camps. I highly recommend the book, is clear, well presented, very well researched, and informative. I loved the idea of comparing side by side how a place looked like in WWII and now.