SS: Roll of Infamy

by A.D. Gooch and Christopher Ailsby

Book Overview

A complete alphabetical compendium of all the key figures of the SS from the early days of the Third Reich to the fall of Berlin In 1945.Includes biographical details of the Waffen-SS, the armed military wing of the SS. 100 photographs highlight this detailed reference. The most authoritative volume covering all the major figures of the SS.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760304092
• ISBN13: 9780760304099
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Motorbooks International
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.7" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

This is an excellent resource to have nearby for anyone who wants to read about the SS in WWII. The author gives a brief biography along with facts and photographs of over 200 individuals who held power in this fearful organization and who were responsible for ensuring that the Third Reich's evil empire succeded in it's goals of establishing Nazi rule in Europe. Here we see who these leaders were, and who left a legacy of shame and notoriety,and were responsible for the outright murder of millions of innocent people. While many were brought to account by Courts of Justice ,executed,and jailed for their evil deeds;by far too many escaped what should have been their punishment and died a natural death. Such was not the case for the millions they murdered. The author ,in my opinion,has been far to kind in his presentation of these criminals,by showing them with fine portraits,listing their "accomplishments"and medals and "honors" and glossing over their mutitude of barbarious and criminal actions. These people had no conscience or any respect for human life or any respect for conventions of military order,including the Geneva Convention. At the demise of the Nazi Regime, and the SS in particular,they were given immensely better treatment than they ever afforded to their victims. The War Amps of Canada tell the true story of The Nazi SS in Normandy in their Never Again series "Take No Prisoners" .It is the WWII story of more than 130 young Canadians who were taken prisoner by the 12th SS Jugend in Normandy.They were marched behind German lines,interrogated,and then brutally gunned down as they stood disarmed and helpless.Some of the murders were carried out under the direction of General Kurt Meyer at Abbaye Ardenne.Another German General,Wilhelm Mohnke,was responsible for the execution of soldiers of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles in and around the Chateau d' Audrieu. This was proven in Military Tribunals. Revisionist histories have attempted to argue that these executions were done in reprisals for things the Cananians did.This has never been proven and is undoubtly false. The monuments and other markers are at the locations where these murders took place,and are there as a reminder of what the SS did. These murders are only an example of the evil deeds of the SS and but a tip of the iceberg of what they did. This side of the story should be read along with the way the SS are presented in the book "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" by James Weingartner;for which I have written areview on November 14,2007. LEST WE FORGET

A very good starting point

I agree with the previous reviewer, some people are a little too pedantic for their own good. While Alisby's book does have some flaws vis-a-vis dates and supposed fates, if you are researching any particular member of the SS then this book, would be a good place to start. As any good researcher will tell you, you should cross-referencing any material with multiple sources and any flaws should be shown up. Ailsby does a fine job of given a precis of all the various branches of the SS. He covers the most nortorious members such as Himmler, Heydrich, Eichmann and Eicke and some of the more well-known members such as Dietrich, 'Panzer' Meyer, and Hausser. But there are also hundreds of bio's for members that I've never heard or read about (surprising given some of the crimes they were guilty off). This book acts as another piece to the jigsaw that is the SS and should not be overlooked.

A good resource for the money

Some people are just too picky, considering that there are roughly 400 or so names listed in the book it's not so difficult to understand how Ailsby might have made a minor error or two with regard to a date that someone died or some obscure detail of a persons escape etc., but the vast majority of information in the book is accurate. SS Roll of Infamy was never intended to be a comprehensive biography of each individual listed in the book, such a work would require several volumes of 500-600 pages each and cost ten times what this book does. SS Roll of Infamy is precisely what Ailsby intended it to be, a concise and largely accurate synopsis of the careers of some 400 of the most notorious and well known members of the SS, and is a worthy addition to anyones library as a quick reference.

A Good Intro to the men of the SS

I thought this was a good intro into the men that served in the SS. This book is an alpahbetical breakdown of the men, and some women, who served in different SS units. However, this is not a history of the SS. The book gives a brief (usually about a 1/2 page) bio of each of the members and breaks down what they did, how they came to join the SS, what medals they won, if they were tried after the war, what they did after the war, etc. The book does give a good look at all the differing aspects of the SS such as camp commandants, gauleiters, camp guards, Waffen-SS officers and soldiers, and even foreign ambassadors. This book is a good intro to the people that made up the SS, what they did, and the differing units that made up the SS.