Book World War II Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West. Pantheon. Laurence Rees (set of 2 books)
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Book 1: Auschwitz. The "Final Solution" of the Nazis
Auschwitz is the site of one of the most brutal crimes of humanity. Historians are still arguing about the number of people who died in the "death camp" - the Nuremberg trials announced a horrific figure of 4 million. Due to the destruction of some documents, its history has not been fully explored, even though more than 75 years have passed since the liberation of the camp's prisoners.
To create the book, Lawrence Rees conducted about 100 unique interviews with eyewitnesses. Through conversations with surviving former prisoners, criminal guards, and the study of archival materials, the author provides a comprehensive picture of what happened in the "death camp". Rees proves that Auschwitz was never designed to exterminate Jews, and that the "final solution to the Jewish question" was never considered its sole purpose - although these two points later became its raison d'être.
The book Auschwitz not only allows us to see a horrific miniature of an ideal society from the point of view of Nazism, but also gives us a chance to understand human nature in extreme conditions. And thanks to this awareness, we can understand a lot about ourselves."
Book 2. Behind the scenes of the war. Stalin, the Nazis and the West
Are you sure that the Second World War ended in 1945?
The end of World War II was supposed to bring "freedom" to countries that suffered from Nazi occupation, but for millions of people it did not end until the fall of communism. In the summer of 1945, many countries in Eastern Europe simply replaced the rule of one tyrant, Adolf Hitler, with another, Joseph Stalin. Ukraine was among them. Why did this happen? This remains one of the most troubling questions in world history and is at the heart of Lawrence Rees's research.
Backstage to World War II is the story of the West's relationship with Joseph Stalin, a narrative that uses material available only since the opening of the Russian archives, as well as eyewitness accounts of the period. The fascinating combination of international politics and the horrific personal experiences of the inhabitants of the post-Soviet space will make you rethink everything you know about the Second World War.