Volker Koop – författare

Described as one of the greatest mass-murderers in history, Rudolf Hoss, was born in Baden-Baden, on the edge of Germany's Black Forest region, on 11 December 1901\. As a child, his aim was to join the priesthood, but in his early youth he became disillusioned with religion and turned instead to the Army.Hoss joined the 21st Regiment of Dragoons, his father's and grandfather's old regiment, at the age of just 14\. He served with the Ottoman Army in its fight against the British, serving in Palestine and being present at the Siege of Kut-el-Amara. During this period, he was promoted to the rank of Feldwebel, becoming, at that time, the youngest Non-commissioned officer in the German Army. He was also decorated, receiving among other awards the Iron Cross, First and Second class.In the midst of the political upheavals in post-war Germany, Hoss was drawn to the hard-line philosophies of Adolph Hitler, joining the Nazi Party in 1922\. His ruthless commitment to the Nazi cause saw him convicted of participating in at least one political assassination, for which he spent six years in prison.Predictably, Hoss joined the SS and in 1934 became a Blockfuhrer, or Block Leader, at Dachau concentration camp. His ruthless dedication led to him becoming the adjutant to the camp commandant at another concentration camp, Sachsenhausen. Then, in May 1940, Hoss was given command of his own camp near the town of Auschwitz.In June 1941, Hoss was told that Auschwitz had been selected as the site for the Final Solution of the Jewish question. Hoss set about his task with relish, and a determination to kill as many Jews as quickly and efficiently as possible. By his own estimation, he was responsible for the deaths of at least 3,000,000,000 individuals.Justice caught up with Hoss after the German surrender when he was arrested on 11 March 1946, after a year posing as a gardener under a false name. He was found guilty of war crimes and was hanged on 16 April 1947.

The renowned WWII historian''s definitive biography of the notorious German SS officer convicted of war crimes for his role in the Holocaust. Described as one of the greatest mass-murderers in history, Rudolf Höss was the longest-serving commandant of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Poland. He was one of the chief architects behind Hitler''s Final Solution. In The Commandant of Auschwitz, Volker Koop details Höss''s military career, his conversion to Nazi ideology, and his ruthless commitment to the Nazi cause. At the age of fourteen, Höss joined the 21st Regiment of Dragoons and rose through the ranks to become the youngest non-commissioned officer in the German Army. After joining the Nazi party in 1922, he was convicted of participating in at least one political assassination, for which he spent six years in prison. In 1934, Höss became a Block Leader at Dachau concentration camp. By 1940, he would be given command of his own camp near the town of Auschwitz. Charged with carrying out the Final Solution of the Jewish question, Höss set about his task with relish. By his own estimation, he was responsible for the deaths of at least 3,000,000 individuals. Justice caught up with Höss after the German surrender. He was arrested on March 11th, 1946, after a year of posing as a gardener under a false name. He was found guilty of war crimes and hanged on April 16th, 1947.

The renowned WWII historian''s definitive biography of the notorious German SS officer convicted of war crimes for his role in the Holocaust. Described as one of the greatest mass-murderers in history, Rudolf Höss was the longest-serving commandant of the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Poland. He was one of the chief architects behind Hitler''s Final Solution. In The Commandant of Auschwitz, Volker Koop details Höss''s military career, his conversion to Nazi ideology, and his ruthless commitment to the Nazi cause. At the age of fourteen, Höss joined the 21st Regiment of Dragoons and rose through the ranks to become the youngest non-commissioned officer in the German Army. After joining the Nazi party in 1922, he was convicted of participating in at least one political assassination, for which he spent six years in prison. In 1934, Höss became a Block Leader at Dachau concentration camp. By 1940, he would be given command of his own camp near the town of Auschwitz. Charged with carrying out the Final Solution of the Jewish question, Höss set about his task with relish. By his own estimation, he was responsible for the deaths of at least 3,000,000 individuals. Justice caught up with Höss after the German surrender. He was arrested on March 11th, 1946, after a year of posing as a gardener under a false name. He was found guilty of war crimes and hanged on April 16th, 1947.

Born on 17 June 1900, Martin Ludwig Bormann became one of the most powerful and most feared men in the Third Reich. An obsessive bureaucrat, it was Bormann who helped steer Hitler's apparatus of terror so effectively that he became the clandestine ruler of Nazi Germany.After joining the Nazi Party in 1927 Bormann rose through its ranks. Indeed, by July 1933 Bormann had manoeuvered himself into the position where he became the Chief of Cabinet in the Office of the Deputy F hrer, Rudolf Hess. In this role Bormann gradually consolidated his power base, so that when Hess carried out his infamous flight to the United Kingdom in 1941, Bormann stepped into his shoes.As the head of the Party Chancellery, Bormann duly took control of the Nazi Party. By the end of 1942, he was in effect Hitler's deputy and his closest collaborator. With the F hrer increasingly preoccupied with military matters, Hitler came to rely more and more on Bormann to handle Germany's domestic affairs. On 12 April 1943, Bormann was appointed Personal Secretary to the F hrer.Feared by ministers, Gauleiters, civil servants, judges and generals alike, Bormann identified strongly with Hitler's ideas on racial politics, destruction of the Jews and forced labour and made himself indispensable as the F hrer's executioner. Cold as ice, he decided the fate of millions of people.In January 1945, with the Third Reich collapsing, Bormann returned to the F hrerbunker with Hitler. Following Hitler's suicide on 30 April, Bormann was named as Party Minister, thus officially confirming his rise to the top of the Party. Late the following day he fled from the bunker in an attempt to escape the encircling Red Army; his fate remaining a mystery for many years. In October 1946 he was found guilty in absentia by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and sentenced to death.Drawing heavily on recently declassified documents and files, the historian and journalist Volker Koop reveals the full story of the most faithful member of Hitler's inner circle, an individual who, whilst little known to the German people, became the second most powerful man in the Third Reich.

A biography of the man who served as head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, Hitler''s personal secretary, and the monster who decided the fate of millions.Born on June 17, 1900, Martin Ludwig Bormann became one of the most powerful and most feared men in the Third Reich. An obsessive bureaucrat, it was Bormann who helped steer Hitler''s apparatus of terror so effectively that he became the clandestine ruler of Nazi Germany.After joining the Nazi Party in 1927 Bormann rose through its ranks. Indeed, by July 1933 Bormann had maneuvered himself into the position where he became the Chief of Cabinet in the Office of the Deputy Führer, Rudolf Hess. In this role Bormann gradually consolidated his power base, so that when Hess carried out his infamous flight to the United Kingdom in 1941, Bormann stepped into his shoes.As the head of the Party Chancellery, Bormann took control of the Nazi Party. By the end of 1942, he was Hitler''s deputy and his closest collaborator. With the Führer increasingly preoccupied with military matters, Hitler came to rely more and more on Bormann to handle Germany''s domestic affairs. On 12 April 1943, Bormann was appointed Personal Secretary to the Führer.Feared by ministers, Gauleiters, civil servants, judges and generals alike, Bormann identified strongly with Hitler''s ideas on racial politics, destruction of the Jews, and forced labor, and made himself indispensable as the Führer''s executioner. Cold as ice, he decided the fate of millions of people.In January 1945, with the Third Reich collapsing, Bormann returned to the Führerbunker with Hitler. Following Hitler''s suicide on 30 April, Bormann was named as Party Minister, thus officially confirming his rise to the top of the Party. Late the following day he fled from the bunker to escape the encircling Red Army; his fate remaining a mystery for many years. In October 1946 he was found guilty in absentia by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and sentenced to death.Drawing heavily on recently declassified documents and files, the historian and journalist Volker Koop reveals the full story of the most faithful member of Hitler''s inner circle, an individual who, whilst little known to the German people, became the second most powerful man in the Third Reich.Praise for Martin Bormann: Hitler''s Executioner"An unbelievable monster, but people still need to know about him and what he did, here fulfilled by Volker Koop, who simply doesn''t hold back." —Books Monthly (UK)

A biography of the man who served as head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, Hitler''s personal secretary, and the monster who decided the fate of millions.Born on June 17, 1900, Martin Ludwig Bormann became one of the most powerful and most feared men in the Third Reich. An obsessive bureaucrat, it was Bormann who helped steer Hitler''s apparatus of terror so effectively that he became the clandestine ruler of Nazi Germany.After joining the Nazi Party in 1927 Bormann rose through its ranks. Indeed, by July 1933 Bormann had maneuvered himself into the position where he became the Chief of Cabinet in the Office of the Deputy Führer, Rudolf Hess. In this role Bormann gradually consolidated his power base, so that when Hess carried out his infamous flight to the United Kingdom in 1941, Bormann stepped into his shoes.As the head of the Party Chancellery, Bormann took control of the Nazi Party. By the end of 1942, he was Hitler''s deputy and his closest collaborator. With the Führer increasingly preoccupied with military matters, Hitler came to rely more and more on Bormann to handle Germany''s domestic affairs. On 12 April 1943, Bormann was appointed Personal Secretary to the Führer.Feared by ministers, Gauleiters, civil servants, judges and generals alike, Bormann identified strongly with Hitler''s ideas on racial politics, destruction of the Jews, and forced labor, and made himself indispensable as the Führer''s executioner. Cold as ice, he decided the fate of millions of people.In January 1945, with the Third Reich collapsing, Bormann returned to the Führerbunker with Hitler. Following Hitler''s suicide on 30 April, Bormann was named as Party Minister, thus officially confirming his rise to the top of the Party. Late the following day he fled from the bunker to escape the encircling Red Army; his fate remaining a mystery for many years. In October 1946 he was found guilty in absentia by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and sentenced to death.Drawing heavily on recently declassified documents and files, the historian and journalist Volker Koop reveals the full story of the most faithful member of Hitler''s inner circle, an individual who, whilst little known to the German people, became the second most powerful man in the Third Reich.Praise for Martin Bormann: Hitler''s Executioner"An unbelievable monster, but people still need to know about him and what he did, here fulfilled by Volker Koop, who simply doesn''t hold back." —Books Monthly (UK)

Born on 17 June 1900, Martin Ludwig Bormann became one of the most powerful and most feared men in the Third Reich. An obsessive bureaucrat, it was Bormann who helped steer Hitler's apparatus of terror so effectively that he became the clandestine ruler of Nazi Germany.After joining the Nazi Party in 1927 Bormann rose through its ranks. Indeed, by July 1933 Bormann had manoeuvered himself into the position where he became the Chief of Cabinet in the Office of the Deputy Fuhrer, Rudolf Hess. In this role Bormann gradually consolidated his power base, so that when Hess carried out his infamous flight to the United Kingdom in 1941, Bormann stepped into his shoes.As the head of the Party Chancellery, Bormann duly took control of the Nazi Party. By the end of 1942, he was in effect Hitler's deputy and his closest collaborator. With the Fuhrer increasingly preoccupied with military matters, Hitler came to rely more and more on Bormann to handle Germany's domestic affairs. On 12 April 1943, Bormann was appointed Personal Secretary to the Fuhrer.Feared by ministers, Gauleiters, civil servants, judges and generals alike, Bormann identified strongly with Hitler's ideas on racial politics, destruction of the Jews and forced labour and made himself indispensable as the Fuhrer's executioner. Cold as ice, he decided the fate of millions of people.In January 1945, with the Third Reich collapsing, Bormann returned to the Fuhrerbunker with Hitler. Following Hitler's suicide on 30 April, Bormann was named as Party Minister, thus officially confirming his rise to the top of the Party. Late the following day he fled from the bunker in an attempt to escape the encircling Red Army; his fate remaining a mystery for many years. In October 1946 he was found guilty in absentia by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and sentenced to death.Drawing heavily on recently declassified documents and files, the historian and journalist Volker Koop reveals the full story of the most faithful member of Hitler's inner circle, an individual who, whilst little known to the German people, became the second most powerful man in the Third Reich.

In den ''Nürnberger Rassengesetzen'' hatten die Nationalsozialisten ihre rassischen Wahn­ideen festgeschrieben. Immer wieder aber machte Hitler von seinem ''Gnadenrecht'' Gebrauch, Juden zu ''Ehrenariern'' zu erklären oder jüdische ''Mischlinge'' aufzuwerten. Zu ''Ehrenariern'' wurden Weggefährten erklärt, die sich um die ''Bewegung'' verdient gemacht hatten. Soldaten, die sich im Ersten Weltkrieg bewährt hatten, durften in der Wehrmacht weiterdienen. Bei wirtschaftlichem oder persönlichem Interesse zögerte das NS-­Regime nicht, ''Ehren­arier'' zu ernennen oder ''Deutschblütigkeit'' zu bescheinigen. Besonders häufig erhielten Publikumslieb­linge von Film und Theater Sondergenehmigungen, auch wenn sie Juden waren oder jüdische Familienangehörige hatten. Einer der bekanntesten ''Ehren­arier'' war Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch, der eine herausragende Stellung im Reichs­luftfahrtministerium einnahm und die menschenverachtenden, oft tödlichen ''Humanexperimente'' der Luftwaffe in den Konzentrationslagern verantwortete. Unter Hitlers persönlichem Schutz stand der Linzer Eduard Bloch, der jüdische Hausarzt seiner Mutter. Die besondere Aufmerksamkeit Himmlers richtete sich auf den öster­reichischen ''Halbjuden'' Robert Feix, einen Lebens­mitteltechniker, der u. a. das Geliermittel Opekta erfand.

Über eine Million Menschen wurden in Auschwitz ermordet, die meisten davon Juden. Dreieinhalb Jahre lang befehligte Rudolf Höß dieses größte Vernichtungslager des ''Dritten Reichs'' und setzte als Himmlers Helfer die geplante ''Endlösung der Judenfrage'' um: Ab 1942 begann er mit der systematischen Ermordung von Menschen mit dem Giftgas Zyklon B und rühmte sich, Giftgas sei eine ''vernünftige'' und ''hygienische'' Verbesserung des Massenmordes. Höß war autoritätshörig, ehrsüchtig und seelisch abgestumpft. Er gehorchte Befehlen blind und bedingungslos, Unrechtsbewusstsein war ihm fremd. Seine Dienstbeflissenheit bei der Erteilung und Ausführung der unmenschlichen Befehle kontrastiert mit seiner Selbstwahrnehmung in seinen ''Autobiographischen Aufzeichnungen'', in denen er sich als durchaus sensiblen Menschen beschreibt. Nach Kriegsende wurde Höß vom Obersten Polnischen Volksgericht zum Tode verurteilt und im April 1947 vor seiner früheren Dienstvilla auf dem Lagergelände von Auschwitz erhängt. Dieses Buch korrigiert eine Vielzahl von Lebenslügen des KZ-Kommandanten. Dieser Titel liegt auch als EPUB für eReader, iPad und Kindle vor. Es gewährleistet die wissenschaftliche Zitierfähigkeit durch die Kennzeichnung der Seitenzahlen der Printausgabe. Zusätzlich sind Inhaltsverzeichnis, Weblinks und das kommentierte Register interaktiv.

Martin Bormann (1900–1945) war einer der am meisten gehassten NS-Funktionäre. Als Leiter der Partei-Kanzlei der NSDAP im Rang eines Reichsministers und Privatsekretär Hitlers wurde er von Ministern, Gauleitern, Beamten, Richtern und Generälen gefürchtet. Bormann identifizierte sich mit Hitlers Vorstellungen von Rassenpolitik, Judenvernichtung und Zwangsarbeit und machte sich als sein Vollstrecker für die Detail- und Schmutzarbeit unentbehrlich. Eiskalt entschied er über das Schicksal von Millionen Menschen. Nach Hitlers Selbstmord verlor sich zunächst Bormanns Spur. Im Oktober 1946 wurde er vom Internationalen Militärgerichtshof in Nürnberg in Abwesenheit schuldig gesprochen und zum Tod verurteilt. 1972 wurde in Berlin sein Skelett gefunden. Er wurde offiziell für tot erklärt. Inzwischen wurde nachgewiesen, dass Bormann am 2. Mai 1945 zur Giftkapsel gegriffen hatte. Zahlreiche, erst seit Kurzem zugänglich gewordene Dokumente ermöglichen es jetzt, die Biographie von Hitlers treuestem Vasallen neu zu schreiben. Volker Koop führt dem Leser die Machtfülle und Skrupellosigkeit des im Schatten des »Führers« operierenden zweitmächtigsten Mannes im Dritten Reich vor Augen.

Die 1935 auf Veranlassung Heinrich Himmlers gegründete "Studiengesellschaft ''Deutsches Ahnenerbe'' e.V." hatte vor allem eine Aufgabe: Sie sollte die rassische Überlegenheit des "arischen Menschen" nachweisen. Neben obskuren Aktivitäten wie der Wiederbelebung germanischer Thingstätten erhielt die Organisation bald eine Reihe von verbrecherischen Sonderaufträgen: vom Kunstraub in den von Deutschland besetzten Gebieten bis hin zur Ermordung Hunderter von KZ-Häftlingen zu pseudowissenschaftlichen Zwecken. Dieses Buch erfasst und beschreibt erstmals die Geschichte einer verharmlosten SS-Organisation in ihrer ganzen Dimension.

Ein verdrängtes Kapitel der deutschen Geschichte: Tausende Deutsche brachten ihre Begeisterung für Adolf Hitler in Versform und sandten ihre Gedichte an die NSDAP, an die Reichskanzlei oder an das Propagandaministerium in Berlin. Volker Koop hat diese bislang unbeachteten Quellen wiederentdeckt und ordnet sie - und die oftmals erhaltenen Begleitschreiben - in den zeithistorischen Kontext ein. Zahlreiche Originaltexte geben Zeugnis von dem psychologischen Ausnahmezustand des Volkes der "Dichter und Denker", das in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus diesen Anspruch verwirkt hatte.

Hitler ließ sich fast jeden Abend mehrere Spielfilme vorführen. Propagandaminister Goebbels stellte schönen Schauspielerinnen nach und versuchte nebenbei vergeblich, den deutschen Film auf Hollywood-Niveau zu bringen. Viele NS-Größen verfügten über private Kinosäle, in denen sie ungestört ausländische Musicals und Komödien genießen konnten. Gauleiter und Generäle bemühten abstruse Argumente, um den Zeichentrickfilm "Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge" sehen zu dürfen …Volker Koop enthüllt in diesem Buch nicht nur die Lieblingsfilme des "Führers" und seiner Getreuen, sondern beschreibt auch, wie sich zahlreiche Filmschaffende bei den Nazis anbiederten und von deren Gunst profitierten.