Kurt Gerstein, Zeuge des Holocaust : ein Leben zwischen Bibelkreisen und SS

Gerstein (1905-1945), conservative and nationalist, was ambivalent toward Nazism but opposed its anti-Church policy and was associated with the Confessing Church. His writings contain antisemitic passages. He was twice imprisoned, and his career advancement as a mining engineer was obstructed. Partly, perhaps, as a way out, partly, as he later said, to bear witness, in March 1941 he joined the SS and was assigned to its Hygiene Institute, where he was responsible for the supply of Zyklon B. In this capacity he observed a gassing at Bełżec, visited many other concentration camps, and learned about medical experiments. Shaken by what he saw, he tried to alarm foreign diplomats, including the envoy of the Vatican, German Church circles and the Dutch resistance, but with scant success. His ability to sabotage the supply of gas was also very limited. He was plagued by moral conflict and fear of detection. At the end of the war he was in the French occupation zone; he submitted a report on what he had seen. The French imprisoned him as a war criminal. In July 1945 he committed suicide in prison. Holocaust deniers have tried to disprove the authenticity of his report. The report, together with its variants, is printed on pp. 218-238. Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-255) and index. 260 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.