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The SS Dirlewanger Brigade: The History of the Black Hunters
The Dirlewanger Brigade was an anti-partisan unit of the Nazi army, reporting directly to Heinrich Himmler. The members of the brigade were released prisoners—including men who had been convicted of burglary, assault, murder, and rape—who were believed to have the skills necessary for hunting down and capturing partisan fighters in their camps in the forests of the Eastern Front. Under the leadership of Oscar Dirlewanger, a convicted rapist, this was the group used for its special “talents” to help put down the Jewish uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto, killing an estimated 35,000 men, women, and children in one day.
Based on the archives from Germany, Poland, and Russia, The SS Dirlewanger Brigade offers an unprecedented look at one of the darkest chapters of World War II.
Based on the archives from Germany, Poland, and Russia, The SS Dirlewanger Brigade offers an unprecedented look at one of the darkest chapters of World War II.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published September 21, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 15, 2012
The Black Hunters the worse of the SS and this book exams the myth and facts of this group. A great read but not one for the casual history reader. The authors examination and analyses of the facts are very interesting and insightful.
November 25, 2021
This book is quite informative. It is also, for most of its length, a painfully dry, tedious slog, an egregious example of the dull, boring and pedantic style that academics seem obsessed with using to prove their seriousness. This may be unfair, considering the book is a translation from Ingrao's French, but I can only rate what I read, and it seems almost incredible that a story as lurid, depraved and violent as that of SS Brigade Direlewanger could have turned into such an endurance contest.
The Dirlewanger Brigade is probably the most notorious outfit of the Second World War in any army. Formed on a whim by Heinrich Himmler, who was himself acting on a passing, whimsical remark made by Adolf Hitler, it was originally composed of men convicted for poaching in Germany. Hitler, despite his vegetarianism and compassion for animals, always admired criminals and poachers were no exception. He thought it would be a good idea to make up a special ops warfare outfit made up of them, and Himmler obliged. This was the beginning of what eventually became the Brigade. It was named after and led by Oskar Direlwanger, a much-decorated, many-times wounded veteran of WWI. He was a brave man, a fanatical Nazi, a drunk, a sadist, a sexual deviant, and most likely, a psychopath. Over the course of the next few years, he used his Nazi Party connections to slowly build his special unit of some dozens of men into a full brigade with attendant weaponry. He was employed in anti-guerilla operations in Poland and the Eastern Front for the rest of the war, and the men he commanded were like "The Dirty Dozen" on steroids. They were taken from military and civilian prisons, concentration camps and even psychiatric facilities, and were regarded as little more than criminals in uniform even by the SS. Wherever they went, they left a trail of total destruction, and were notorious for not merely killing on a mass scale but also tormenting, hanging, and raping their victims: burning people alive, including small children, nurses, and even nuns, was also a common practice. They often engaged in battle with guerilla (partisan) outfits, but even more frequently were used to slaughter supposedly collaborationist civilian populations, or elsewise to round them up for use as slave labor in the Reich or elsewhere. In short, these men performed the dirtiest of all the dirty work in Hitler's empire, which says a lot in itself.
The thesis of the author is that being originally composed of poachers, the unit operated as if the enemy were "game" or domestic animals, in either case to be hunted, herded, and finally slaughtered. He goes to great lengths not to tell so much the history of the unit or of Direlwanger himself (though they are of course explored), but to show that the "Black Hunters," as they were known, were a sort of mutated outrgowth of the "cynegetic" aspect of German culture. That word is used hundreds of times in the book, and yes, I had to look it up: it means "pertaining to hunting with dogs." I think he proves his point, but the point doesn't strike me as being more than a sidelight on the story of the unit itself: the focus of the book, in my estimation, is somewhat misplaced.
It's true that Ingrao's research is meticulous and deep and he refuses on principle to let the unit's horrible reputation color the actual facts as he was able to uncover them, which often contradict rumor and legend, and that he is proceeding from a very original notion. He goes the extra mile in showing the failure of many of the survivors either to be punished or to properly re-integrate themselves into German society after the war -- criminals being criminals under any regime. I've no doubt this book has great importance in and of itself for being a scholarly study of a military unit whose activities are generally written about, when they are discussed at all, in ways that frankly appeal to sado-masochistic tendencies. Ingrao never stoops to this level (quite the contrary: he's as cold as Spock). However, that is no excuse for turning such a subject into a dense, inaccessible scholarly essay with close to zero aesthetic accommodations for the reader. I found even the organization of the book to be frustrating in that he dryly examines different aspects of the brigade and of Direlwanger in an order that ruins the narrative. Indeed, the book is so dry and matter-of-fact, so eager to avoid sensationalism, that it actually goes too far in that direction and the full horror of the brigade and of Direlwanger, who was complex in his villainy rather than a cartoon of same, is somehow lost. I finished it without any emotion, not even disgust or outrage.
I would recommend this book to very, very serious scholars and students of Nazism, and to anthropologists, because it really is an anthropological study as much as history, but it is not an easy read.
The Dirlewanger Brigade is probably the most notorious outfit of the Second World War in any army. Formed on a whim by Heinrich Himmler, who was himself acting on a passing, whimsical remark made by Adolf Hitler, it was originally composed of men convicted for poaching in Germany. Hitler, despite his vegetarianism and compassion for animals, always admired criminals and poachers were no exception. He thought it would be a good idea to make up a special ops warfare outfit made up of them, and Himmler obliged. This was the beginning of what eventually became the Brigade. It was named after and led by Oskar Direlwanger, a much-decorated, many-times wounded veteran of WWI. He was a brave man, a fanatical Nazi, a drunk, a sadist, a sexual deviant, and most likely, a psychopath. Over the course of the next few years, he used his Nazi Party connections to slowly build his special unit of some dozens of men into a full brigade with attendant weaponry. He was employed in anti-guerilla operations in Poland and the Eastern Front for the rest of the war, and the men he commanded were like "The Dirty Dozen" on steroids. They were taken from military and civilian prisons, concentration camps and even psychiatric facilities, and were regarded as little more than criminals in uniform even by the SS. Wherever they went, they left a trail of total destruction, and were notorious for not merely killing on a mass scale but also tormenting, hanging, and raping their victims: burning people alive, including small children, nurses, and even nuns, was also a common practice. They often engaged in battle with guerilla (partisan) outfits, but even more frequently were used to slaughter supposedly collaborationist civilian populations, or elsewise to round them up for use as slave labor in the Reich or elsewhere. In short, these men performed the dirtiest of all the dirty work in Hitler's empire, which says a lot in itself.
The thesis of the author is that being originally composed of poachers, the unit operated as if the enemy were "game" or domestic animals, in either case to be hunted, herded, and finally slaughtered. He goes to great lengths not to tell so much the history of the unit or of Direlwanger himself (though they are of course explored), but to show that the "Black Hunters," as they were known, were a sort of mutated outrgowth of the "cynegetic" aspect of German culture. That word is used hundreds of times in the book, and yes, I had to look it up: it means "pertaining to hunting with dogs." I think he proves his point, but the point doesn't strike me as being more than a sidelight on the story of the unit itself: the focus of the book, in my estimation, is somewhat misplaced.
It's true that Ingrao's research is meticulous and deep and he refuses on principle to let the unit's horrible reputation color the actual facts as he was able to uncover them, which often contradict rumor and legend, and that he is proceeding from a very original notion. He goes the extra mile in showing the failure of many of the survivors either to be punished or to properly re-integrate themselves into German society after the war -- criminals being criminals under any regime. I've no doubt this book has great importance in and of itself for being a scholarly study of a military unit whose activities are generally written about, when they are discussed at all, in ways that frankly appeal to sado-masochistic tendencies. Ingrao never stoops to this level (quite the contrary: he's as cold as Spock). However, that is no excuse for turning such a subject into a dense, inaccessible scholarly essay with close to zero aesthetic accommodations for the reader. I found even the organization of the book to be frustrating in that he dryly examines different aspects of the brigade and of Direlwanger in an order that ruins the narrative. Indeed, the book is so dry and matter-of-fact, so eager to avoid sensationalism, that it actually goes too far in that direction and the full horror of the brigade and of Direlwanger, who was complex in his villainy rather than a cartoon of same, is somehow lost. I finished it without any emotion, not even disgust or outrage.
I would recommend this book to very, very serious scholars and students of Nazism, and to anthropologists, because it really is an anthropological study as much as history, but it is not an easy read.
August 29, 2020
This book did clear up my perspective of the Dirlewanger Brigade (or 36th Waffen SS Division), but it's a very academic analysis. It is most thoroughly researched and footnoted. It's bizarre how personal memoirs sometime seem more plausible than the facts taken from formal interrogations and written records. This author is definitely more interested in analysing history than telling it in an interesting and engaging way, and I still don't feel I've caught a glimpse of the troops on the ground. Although the Dirlewanger Brigade being so notorious and illusive, I don't know if any book really could draw a better picture than this one. I did follow up some of the references in the back (the ones in English mainly) and that helped fill in some of the blanks.
September 30, 2013
Before coming across this book in the local bookstore, Dirlewanger meant just the name of Swedish rock band to me. I was really surprised to learn that the Nazis deployed criminals and even Anti-Fascists in the murder squads on the Eastern front. Overall, this was a good book. There were just a couple of chapters that sucked - those, trying to prove a connection between the German hunting tradition and the dealings of the Dirlewanger squads.
February 12, 2018
If I ever read the word "cynegetic" again, I may scream.
I was very disappointed in this book. It read more like a sociological essay or doctoral thesis than a story of this horrible Nazi group of convicts, thugs and perverts who did the most horrific things in the name of Hitler's Germany.
The author spent way too much time comparing this military group to poachers and animal hunters (his thesis) and very little time on it's relation to the destruction of numerous villages, the murder of so many people, and it's frontline destruction of Warsaw during the uprising. Because of it's dissertation format (including footnotes), there was not the flow of a story, so much as 200 pages of notes put together to prove the author's point.
I would not recommend this book.
I was very disappointed in this book. It read more like a sociological essay or doctoral thesis than a story of this horrible Nazi group of convicts, thugs and perverts who did the most horrific things in the name of Hitler's Germany.
The author spent way too much time comparing this military group to poachers and animal hunters (his thesis) and very little time on it's relation to the destruction of numerous villages, the murder of so many people, and it's frontline destruction of Warsaw during the uprising. Because of it's dissertation format (including footnotes), there was not the flow of a story, so much as 200 pages of notes put together to prove the author's point.
I would not recommend this book.
August 21, 2023
I'm not honestly sure why this book was written, or at least by this author. Aside from a very niche, while totally legit, subject-unit, the book suffers from inconsistent writing with much of it feeling like a barely passing dissertation. I really suspect if a different author were to tackle the subject, we might see a superior book, but that's merely conjecture. As is, not recommended in general accept for those with a very specific interest in this specific unit -- and be prepared for lack of quality writing.
December 27, 2022
Depressing book to read, but factual (I guess).
Rather jumbled time-wise, as it takes multiple chapters to go thru an overview of the group, then goes back and spends more chapters dissecting it's philosophy, atrocities, etc in more detail.
Several times sounds more like a academic review trying to link the group's actions to a German "hunters mentality", how they treated humans like wild game to shoot.
Rather jumbled time-wise, as it takes multiple chapters to go thru an overview of the group, then goes back and spends more chapters dissecting it's philosophy, atrocities, etc in more detail.
Several times sounds more like a academic review trying to link the group's actions to a German "hunters mentality", how they treated humans like wild game to shoot.
December 15, 2020
Read if you are a WWII history buff and really like detail.
These guys were the worst of the worst Nazi's. They were a band of hunters brought together to hunt down and kill the partisans behind the Nazi lines. Kill, rape and plunder was their M.O. As the was was reversed on the Germans and they were in retreat, then their orders were changed somewhat.
They still were killing, raping and plundering. Another book about mans inhumanity to man.
These guys were the worst of the worst Nazi's. They were a band of hunters brought together to hunt down and kill the partisans behind the Nazi lines. Kill, rape and plunder was their M.O. As the was was reversed on the Germans and they were in retreat, then their orders were changed somewhat.
They still were killing, raping and plundering. Another book about mans inhumanity to man.
January 13, 2024
Very chilling account of how organized and methodical the Dirlewanger brigade was. History would like to remember this brigade as uncouth and uncivilized monsters but the truth is even scarier. They started out as a brigade comprised of poachers and the book very clearly lays out how an organized poacher and slaughterhouse mentality was put to devastating effect. Not for the casual reader or the faint of heart but a very worthwhile read.
March 10, 2018
Fine exposition of what really happened
A description of the brutality visited upon those, both the guilty and innocent. God help us all come Judgement Day.
A description of the brutality visited upon those, both the guilty and innocent. God help us all come Judgement Day.
December 18, 2020
A very dark look into human intelligence when a doctorate becomes a nazi
November 13, 2021
Sociopathy and brutality. Ex-prisoners selected as commandos for massacring civilians by the thousands.
April 20, 2025
First, my criticisms.
--He mistakenly calls Odilo Globocnik an "HSSPF" in Lublin. In reality, Globocnik was merely the SSPF in Lublin, with Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger being the HSSPF of the GG. Globocnik did not become an HSSPF until he was transferred to the Adriatic Coast in 1943.
--He misidentifies the Ukrainian SS as the "18th" when it was the 14th
--When discussing the unit's ops in Belarus, he identifies the locals as "Russians" and not "Belarussians."
That being said, this is a superbly endnoted history and analysis of this exceptional unit from October 1940 to May 1945. This book is more densely endnoted for this period, and with a substantial number of these endnotes being archival sources, than is the junk of Douglas Porch, Gian Gentile, Andrew Bacevich and Alexander Vindman, all of who, in books of similar length, cover several decades with sparser endnoting, very little of which includes archival sources and with a lot of it being secondary sources, news stories and Internet references.
Professor Ingrao beautifully showcases the fact of multicausality in that he demonstrates that the performance of this unit was a function of 1) time/epoch and place (October 1940 to February 1942 in Lublin was different from February 1942 to July 1944 in Belarus, which was different from Warsaw, Slovakia, Hungary and Lusatia), 2) orders from higher-higher (guarding in Lublin, romeo mike followed by encircling and pacification in Belarus, MOUT in Warsaw, Gian Gentile-style Fulda Gap warfare in Slovakia, Hungary and Lusatia), and, finally, 3) the different intakes (poachers, then common skells, then Heer and SS men court-martialed for "failure to salute", and then Communist prisoners from the camps.)
Professor Ingrao also demonstrates how the actions of the unit were not unique to the unit but widespread among the German forces, and that many other units--like the 14th Ukrainian, made a habit of blaming the unit in order to divert attention from their own atrocities. This is independently corroborated by Mark Mazower in Inside Hitler's Greece , wherein the Heer's 1st Gebirg Division did exactly what Sondereinheit Dirlewanger did in Belarus and Warsaw. Likewise, Professor Ingrao shows in the postwar section that it is impossible in a court of law to demonstrate precisely which German unit was at which particular village at which date.
This book is overwhelmingly identical to Nick Turse's Kill Anything That Moves and Charlotte Duval-Lantoine's The Ones We Let Down . Oskar Dirlewanger was fundamentally no different from Ira Augustus Hunt, Serge Labbé and Clayton Matchee. Sondereinheit Dirlewanger's routine burning down partisan villages with partisans still inside was exactly what the FBI did at Waco.
--He mistakenly calls Odilo Globocnik an "HSSPF" in Lublin. In reality, Globocnik was merely the SSPF in Lublin, with Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger being the HSSPF of the GG. Globocnik did not become an HSSPF until he was transferred to the Adriatic Coast in 1943.
--He misidentifies the Ukrainian SS as the "18th" when it was the 14th
--When discussing the unit's ops in Belarus, he identifies the locals as "Russians" and not "Belarussians."
That being said, this is a superbly endnoted history and analysis of this exceptional unit from October 1940 to May 1945. This book is more densely endnoted for this period, and with a substantial number of these endnotes being archival sources, than is the junk of Douglas Porch, Gian Gentile, Andrew Bacevich and Alexander Vindman, all of who, in books of similar length, cover several decades with sparser endnoting, very little of which includes archival sources and with a lot of it being secondary sources, news stories and Internet references.
Professor Ingrao beautifully showcases the fact of multicausality in that he demonstrates that the performance of this unit was a function of 1) time/epoch and place (October 1940 to February 1942 in Lublin was different from February 1942 to July 1944 in Belarus, which was different from Warsaw, Slovakia, Hungary and Lusatia), 2) orders from higher-higher (guarding in Lublin, romeo mike followed by encircling and pacification in Belarus, MOUT in Warsaw, Gian Gentile-style Fulda Gap warfare in Slovakia, Hungary and Lusatia), and, finally, 3) the different intakes (poachers, then common skells, then Heer and SS men court-martialed for "failure to salute", and then Communist prisoners from the camps.)
Professor Ingrao also demonstrates how the actions of the unit were not unique to the unit but widespread among the German forces, and that many other units--like the 14th Ukrainian, made a habit of blaming the unit in order to divert attention from their own atrocities. This is independently corroborated by Mark Mazower in Inside Hitler's Greece , wherein the Heer's 1st Gebirg Division did exactly what Sondereinheit Dirlewanger did in Belarus and Warsaw. Likewise, Professor Ingrao shows in the postwar section that it is impossible in a court of law to demonstrate precisely which German unit was at which particular village at which date.
This book is overwhelmingly identical to Nick Turse's Kill Anything That Moves and Charlotte Duval-Lantoine's The Ones We Let Down . Oskar Dirlewanger was fundamentally no different from Ira Augustus Hunt, Serge Labbé and Clayton Matchee. Sondereinheit Dirlewanger's routine burning down partisan villages with partisans still inside was exactly what the FBI did at Waco.
January 26, 2025
This is a book that compares a hunter ideology with a German SS anti partisan unit, the infamous Dirlewanger Brigade which started out with a few scores of poachers interred in concentration camps, then swelled with criminals and “asocials” from the same camps along with SS convicts and at the end with ideologue opponents (communists), many who used the opportunity to defect to the Soviets when given the chance.
The group was led by Oskar Dirlewanger whose half of his adult life was embroiled in war, and who also wrote a doctoral thesis about economy (which was also very political), and was thrown out of the Nazi Party because of drunk driving (and wrecking the car) and having sex with minors, but then was taken back in to lead his black hunters in anti partisan warfare in Belarus, using civilians to walk the forest roads to clear minefield dug down by partisans.
The author compares the brigade’s partisan hunting with “Pirsch” – the solitary hunt for the King Stag – and the large-scale sweep operations with “Battue” – the hunt with beaters. This comparison is based on the founders of the brigade who liked to hunt themselves (except Hitler who was a vegetarian and found hunting to cruel for his taste), but also frowned on the black hunters, seeing them like something like a berserker or participant in the Wild Hunt, which was okay to do in liminal places, like the forest and marshland of Belarus.
The Brigade is also compared to herders when it comes to the annihilation of villages by burning (often with the poor villagers inside) and Oskar Dirlewanger as a Landsknecht from the Thirty Years War with his carousing, taste for women and brutal way of waging war.
If you just look for a story about the Dirlewanger Brigade, you might want to pick another book as this is also an academic book (but easy to read) delving into anthropology about the hunt. But it also makes it easier to read as it puts the atrocities into context.
The group was led by Oskar Dirlewanger whose half of his adult life was embroiled in war, and who also wrote a doctoral thesis about economy (which was also very political), and was thrown out of the Nazi Party because of drunk driving (and wrecking the car) and having sex with minors, but then was taken back in to lead his black hunters in anti partisan warfare in Belarus, using civilians to walk the forest roads to clear minefield dug down by partisans.
The author compares the brigade’s partisan hunting with “Pirsch” – the solitary hunt for the King Stag – and the large-scale sweep operations with “Battue” – the hunt with beaters. This comparison is based on the founders of the brigade who liked to hunt themselves (except Hitler who was a vegetarian and found hunting to cruel for his taste), but also frowned on the black hunters, seeing them like something like a berserker or participant in the Wild Hunt, which was okay to do in liminal places, like the forest and marshland of Belarus.
The Brigade is also compared to herders when it comes to the annihilation of villages by burning (often with the poor villagers inside) and Oskar Dirlewanger as a Landsknecht from the Thirty Years War with his carousing, taste for women and brutal way of waging war.
If you just look for a story about the Dirlewanger Brigade, you might want to pick another book as this is also an academic book (but easy to read) delving into anthropology about the hunt. But it also makes it easier to read as it puts the atrocities into context.
November 4, 2017
V překladu Černí lovci, nakladatelství Víkend v r.2009, překlad Anna Štorkánová.
Černí lovci, tak se říkalo mužům speciální jednotky SS, vytvořené na výslovnou žádost Heinricha Himmlera. Zvláštnímu poslání odpovídal i specifický nábor: dlouho se skládala výlučně ze zadržených osob, poslaných původně do vězení a pak do koncentračních táborů za přestupky související výhradně s lovem a myslivostí. Postupem času se členy jednotky stali i pachatelé jiných trestných činů. Jednotka pojmenovaná po svém veliteli Oscaru Dirlewangerovi brzy získala smutný primát - nejkrutější jednotka třetí říše, vytvořená mimo jiné pro boj proti partyzánům. Kdo byli muži v černých uniformách, kteří po sobě zanechali krvavou stopu v Haliči, na Ukrajině, v Polsku i na Slovensku? Autor přináší šokující svědectví o činech příslušníků této jednotky, kteří plenili, kradli, korumpovali, znásilňovali a s lidmi zacházeli tak krutě, až to připadá neuvěřitelné.
Zajímavá kniha z pohledu informací o existenci této jednotky. Občas ale až moc podrobné informace o počtu příslušníků a dalších detailů, které vlastně s informační hodnotou knihy nijak nesouvisí.
Autor také velmi obsáhle a opakovaně filosofuje o podobnosti boje s lovem, což jde někdy na úkor vypovídající hodnotě knihy.
Černí lovci, tak se říkalo mužům speciální jednotky SS, vytvořené na výslovnou žádost Heinricha Himmlera. Zvláštnímu poslání odpovídal i specifický nábor: dlouho se skládala výlučně ze zadržených osob, poslaných původně do vězení a pak do koncentračních táborů za přestupky související výhradně s lovem a myslivostí. Postupem času se členy jednotky stali i pachatelé jiných trestných činů. Jednotka pojmenovaná po svém veliteli Oscaru Dirlewangerovi brzy získala smutný primát - nejkrutější jednotka třetí říše, vytvořená mimo jiné pro boj proti partyzánům. Kdo byli muži v černých uniformách, kteří po sobě zanechali krvavou stopu v Haliči, na Ukrajině, v Polsku i na Slovensku? Autor přináší šokující svědectví o činech příslušníků této jednotky, kteří plenili, kradli, korumpovali, znásilňovali a s lidmi zacházeli tak krutě, až to připadá neuvěřitelné.
Zajímavá kniha z pohledu informací o existenci této jednotky. Občas ale až moc podrobné informace o počtu příslušníků a dalších detailů, které vlastně s informační hodnotou knihy nijak nesouvisí.
Autor také velmi obsáhle a opakovaně filosofuje o podobnosti boje s lovem, což jde někdy na úkor vypovídající hodnotě knihy.
May 13, 2025
This book does an amazing job sticking very strictly to the facts of what is known to have happened to a group of Nazis that may have done infinitely more horrible things than can be proven. A somewhat dry and direct approach, it errors on the side of fact over entertainment. This is not a bad thing but it should be noted.
March 13, 2018
not what I was expecting. lost interest in it. a subject I am normally interested in.
May 20, 2021
gaat soms wat te ver in zijn vergelijking met het jachtgebeuren waardoor dit een wat teleologische aanpak lijkt.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2023
Bien documenté mais l'auteur avoue ses limites. Des thèses parfois un peu simplistes.
October 24, 2011
Ta książka to coś więcej niż kolejna nudna monografia kolejnej jednostki wojskowej, nawet jeżeli ta jednostka jest jedną z najbardziej skurwysyńskich w jednej z najbardziej skurwysyńskich wojen. Wśród opisów masakr i mordów autor snuje antropologiczne i socjologiczne rozważania opisujące dlaczego właśnie myśliwi stanowili znakomity materiał do tego rodzaju oddziału, jak ich przeszłość i okrucieństwo okazywane zwierzętom łatwo przeniosły się na ludzi, ale też jak powojenne społeczeństwo niemieckie zaczęło konstruować dyskurs usprawiedliwiający nazizm, próbując przenieść winę na takich społecznych odszczepieńców jak czarni myśliwi. Przecież nawet Hitler brzydził się polowaniem i zabijaniem zwierząt dla sportu.
Podsumowując: godna polecenia analiza studium ciągu zbrodni (wobec Żydów, białoruskich chłopów i mieszkańców Warszawy w czasie Powstania Warszawskiego) odniesionych do statusu i dyskursu myśliwego. Odrobina Foucault i byłaby książka idealna.
___________
This book is something more than another boring monography of yet another military unit, even if we talk of one the worst of the worst units of all time. Along the slaughters & murders author creates sociological & antrophological deliberations writing why exactly black hunters were the best material for such a unit, how their past and cruelty shown to animals were easily carried to human beings, and also how the post-war german society started to construct discourse justifing nazism, trying to transmit blame to such a social renegates like black hunters. yet the Hitler loathed the hunt and killing animals for sport, right?
To sum up: worth noticing & worth reading study of series of crimes (towards the Jews, Belarussian peasants and people killed during the Warsaw Uprising) related to the status and discourse of the hunter in european culture. A little of Foucault and it would be an ideal book.
Podsumowując: godna polecenia analiza studium ciągu zbrodni (wobec Żydów, białoruskich chłopów i mieszkańców Warszawy w czasie Powstania Warszawskiego) odniesionych do statusu i dyskursu myśliwego. Odrobina Foucault i byłaby książka idealna.
___________
This book is something more than another boring monography of yet another military unit, even if we talk of one the worst of the worst units of all time. Along the slaughters & murders author creates sociological & antrophological deliberations writing why exactly black hunters were the best material for such a unit, how their past and cruelty shown to animals were easily carried to human beings, and also how the post-war german society started to construct discourse justifing nazism, trying to transmit blame to such a social renegates like black hunters. yet the Hitler loathed the hunt and killing animals for sport, right?
To sum up: worth noticing & worth reading study of series of crimes (towards the Jews, Belarussian peasants and people killed during the Warsaw Uprising) related to the status and discourse of the hunter in european culture. A little of Foucault and it would be an ideal book.
December 14, 2024
Very good history of the SS Dirlewanger Brigade and its commander, Oskar Dirlewanger. The book is written in a dry and academic style, however, which makes it difficult for the reader grasp the enormity and cruelty of this unit's horrific actions. For example, that some victims were killed using injections of strychnine is mentioned only once, and that very briefly. (To be fair, nearly all the book's notes refer to German sources, and since I neither read nor speak German it is possible that the odious details are discussed in more detail in those notes and/or in the sources cited in the bibliography.)
June 13, 2015
A bit disappointing. Too much psychohistory. Author seems determined to prove this infamous group was no worse than other SS. Hard to believe when even other SS thought they were over the top with their brutality.
May 24, 2012
Ciekawa książka, ale brakowało mi map i zdjęć. Poza tym, autor ma fiksację na punkcie porównywania zbrodniczej działalności tej jednostki do działań łowieckich. To filozofowanie jest nudne.
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