Top Nazi : SS General Karl Wolff : the man between Hitler and Himmler

A German expert on the Third Reich gives us this dense but useful biography of one of Heinrich Himmlers right-hand men. A youthful veteran of WWI, Wolff was a bank officer and advertising agent during the 20s, but rose rapidly in the ranks of the SS after joining the Nazis in the early 30s. He spent much of his career as Himmlers chief of staff, and the author establishes his numerous connections to the Holocaust and dismisses his postwar claims of ignorance. Wolff was also something of a «fixer,» arranging for a German racing driver to escape penalties for marrying a woman of Jewish ancestry and planning a gigantic castle to be the meeting place of the senior SS officers as a new order of Teutonic nights. In the second half of the war, Wolff participated in abortive negotiations with the Soviets for a separate peace, commanded the SS in Italy and was involved in plans to seize the pope. The authors extreme thoroughness makes the book primarily a scholarly resource, but it is also a worthwhile portrait of a criminal with complex motives. Top Nazi Publishes In English For The First Time Documents Recently Unearthed In The Russian Archives. They Show How Karl Wolff Met Secretly For Seven Days With Stalin's Representative, V. Merkulov Of The Nkvd (secret Police), Behind German Lines In The Town Of Mtsensk In February 1942. Most Likely Dispatched By Hitler Himself, Wolff Heard Proposals For A Cease-fire On The Eastern Front And A Military Alliance Against The U.s. And Britain, As Well As Stalin's Promise To Exterminate The Jews In The Soviet Union. Over 185 German Divisions Could Then Be Moved West To Fight The Allies In North Africa, With Potentially Catastrophic Consequences. Stalin Would Also Join The Axis At That Point. The Deal Fell Through. The Document From The Russian Archives Describes Statements And Offers Made By Wolff That Directly Contradict The Pristine Image Of Himself As A Marginal Figurehead That He So Strenuously Cultivated After The War. Karl Wolff Steadfastly Claimed Ignorance Of The Holocaust. After Being Spared At Nuremberg, He Was Found Guilty By A German Court In 1964 Of Ordering The Transport Of 300,000 Jews From The Warsaw Ghetto To Treblinka In 1943. Although Found Guilty Of Providing Railway Boxcars, He Was Quickly Released Due To Poor Health And Spent The Remainder Of His Life In Comfortable Retirement Until His Death In 1984--jacket. Where Did You Serve? -- Got The Source Of Life -- In The Good Graces Of The Führer -- Kristallnacht: The Night Of Broken Glass -- Megalomania As National Illness -- ... And Tomorrow The Entire World! -- The Messiah For The Next 2000 Years -- Even The Guard Must Obey -- Take Over The Vatican! -- The Pope And The Anti-christ -- When Everyone Betrays ... -- Caught In The Middle -- Cooperation Has Its Price -- Prisoner At Nuremberg -- The General Representative -- Eichmann's Accomplice -- An Enigmatic Personality. Jochen Von Lang. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 393-396) And Index. Translated From The German. The only biography of SS General Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff, who for many years would function as Himmlers adjutant within the SS. One of Hitlers favorites, he played an increasingly key role until he was appointed head of the German SS & police in 1943 in Italy, where he negotiated a secret surrender to Allen Dulles. Foreword Where did you serve? GOT the source of life In the good graces of the Fhrer Kristallnacht: the night of broken glass Megalomania as national illness ...& tomorrow the entire world! The messiah for the next 2000 years Even the guard must obey Take over the Vatican! The pope & the anti-Christ When everyone betrays... Caught in the middle Cooperation has its price Prisoner at Nuremberg The general representative Eichmann's accomplice An enigmatic personality Appendices I-IV Bibliography Index