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Gli Architetti di Auschwitz
A sobering story of an industrial family’s cold efficiency behind the design of the ovens at Auschwitz
Architects of Death tells the astonishing story of how the gas chambers and crematoria that facilitated the murder and incineration of more than one million people in the Holocaust were designed not by the Nazi SS, but by a small respectable family firm of German engineers. Topf and Sons designed and built the crematoria at the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, Belzec, Dachau, Mauthausen, and Gusen. At its height, 66 Topf triple muffle ovens were in operation—46 of which were at Auschwitz.
These were not Nazi sadists, but men who were playboys and the sons of train conductors. They were driven not by ideology, but by love affairs, personal ambition, and bitter personal rivalries. Even while their firm created the ultimate human killing and disposal machines, their company sheltered Nazi enemies from the death camps. The intense conflagration of their very ordinary motives created work that surpassed in inhumanity even the demands of the SS.
But the company that achieved this spectacularly evil feat of engineering typify the banality of evil. In the 1930s their family firm produced apparatus for all sorts of industries—baking, brewing, the firing of ceramics. Ovens for crematoria accounted for only a small proportion of their business, but it is for these that the Topf brothers became infamous. Their name can still be seen stamped on the iron furnaces of Auschwitz.
Architects of Death tells the astonishing story of how the gas chambers and crematoria that facilitated the murder and incineration of more than one million people in the Holocaust were designed not by the Nazi SS, but by a small respectable family firm of German engineers. Topf and Sons designed and built the crematoria at the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, Belzec, Dachau, Mauthausen, and Gusen. At its height, 66 Topf triple muffle ovens were in operation—46 of which were at Auschwitz.
These were not Nazi sadists, but men who were playboys and the sons of train conductors. They were driven not by ideology, but by love affairs, personal ambition, and bitter personal rivalries. Even while their firm created the ultimate human killing and disposal machines, their company sheltered Nazi enemies from the death camps. The intense conflagration of their very ordinary motives created work that surpassed in inhumanity even the demands of the SS.
But the company that achieved this spectacularly evil feat of engineering typify the banality of evil. In the 1930s their family firm produced apparatus for all sorts of industries—baking, brewing, the firing of ceramics. Ovens for crematoria accounted for only a small proportion of their business, but it is for these that the Topf brothers became infamous. Their name can still be seen stamped on the iron furnaces of Auschwitz.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 2017
28 people are currently reading
1248 people want to read
About the author
Karen Bartlett
11 books11 followersKaren Bartlett is a writer and journalist based in London. She has written extensively for the Sunday Times, The Times, The Guardian and WIRED from Africa, India and the US, and has presented and produced for BBC Radio. She was the youngest director of democratic reform and human rights campaign group Charter88, and began her career in the UK and South Africa. Most recently, she worked with Eva Schloss, writing her Sunday Times bestselling autobiography After Auschwitz: A Story of Heartbreak and Survival by the Stepsister of Anne Frank.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 29, 2018
The banality of evil. Even extreme evil. Even evil that can't be imagined, building the engines of the factories of death. But there it is. Hannah Arendt coined the phrase in her book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil and it is just as fitting here.
"Topf and Sons designed and built the crematoria at the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, Belzec, Dachau, Mauthausen and Gusen. At its height sixty-six Topf triple muffle ovens were in operation – forty-six of which were at Auschwitz.
In five years the gas chambers and crematoria of Auschwitz had been the engine of the holocaust, facilitating the murder and incineration of more than one million people, most of them Jews.
Yet such a spectacularly evil feat of engineering was designed not by the Nazi SS, but by a small respectable firm of German engineers: the owners and engineers of J. A. Topf and Sons. These were not Nazi sadists, but men who were playboys and the sons of train drivers. They were driven not by ideology, but by love affairs, personal ambition and bitter personal rivalries to create the ultimate human killing and disposal machines – even at the same time as their company sheltered Nazi enemies from the death camps.
The intense conflagration of their very ordinary motives created work that surpassed in its inhumanity even the demands of the SS. In order to fulfil their own ‘dreams’ they created the ultimate human nightmare."
"Topf and Sons designed and built the crematoria at the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, Belzec, Dachau, Mauthausen and Gusen. At its height sixty-six Topf triple muffle ovens were in operation – forty-six of which were at Auschwitz.
In five years the gas chambers and crematoria of Auschwitz had been the engine of the holocaust, facilitating the murder and incineration of more than one million people, most of them Jews.
Yet such a spectacularly evil feat of engineering was designed not by the Nazi SS, but by a small respectable firm of German engineers: the owners and engineers of J. A. Topf and Sons. These were not Nazi sadists, but men who were playboys and the sons of train drivers. They were driven not by ideology, but by love affairs, personal ambition and bitter personal rivalries to create the ultimate human killing and disposal machines – even at the same time as their company sheltered Nazi enemies from the death camps.
The intense conflagration of their very ordinary motives created work that surpassed in its inhumanity even the demands of the SS. In order to fulfil their own ‘dreams’ they created the ultimate human nightmare."
August 22, 2018
'Architects of Death' is the disturbing story of how one German company became complicit in the crimes of the the Third Reich. The specifics make for truly chilling reading. The once well respected firm of JA Topf & Sons, who built a whole variety of devices for use in a wealth of different industries, eventually became infamous for creating and supplying Nazi Germany with the ultimate human killing (gas chambers) and disposal machines (crematoria). The company didn't have any evil intentions but through being too wrapped up in themselves they became indifferent to what else was occurring right under their noses.
This has to one of the most spine-chilling books I have ever read. It beggars belief just how disgustingly cruel Topf & Sons were, and all for their own ends. Many books have been written about the Nazi's and their crimes, but as far as I know this is the only one that focuses in on the people who helped them achieve their aims. Well-written, meticulously researched, uncomfortable and altogether harrowing - this title takes a look at just one of the many people/organisations who supported Hitler and his cronies whilst carrying out these terrible crimes against humanity. A thoroughly compelling and informative read, but one that highlights the very worst that humanity has to offer.
It's worth noting that this is a particularly important book in todays society with the rise of far-right politics and populism. I truly hope that history does not repeat itself and we never see another tragedy on the scale of the Holocaust. Unfortunately, with the state of the world at present, this is something that could easily be repeated in the future. This book definitely serves as both a reminder and a warning to this generation and those that follow.
Many thanks to St. Martins press for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This has to one of the most spine-chilling books I have ever read. It beggars belief just how disgustingly cruel Topf & Sons were, and all for their own ends. Many books have been written about the Nazi's and their crimes, but as far as I know this is the only one that focuses in on the people who helped them achieve their aims. Well-written, meticulously researched, uncomfortable and altogether harrowing - this title takes a look at just one of the many people/organisations who supported Hitler and his cronies whilst carrying out these terrible crimes against humanity. A thoroughly compelling and informative read, but one that highlights the very worst that humanity has to offer.
It's worth noting that this is a particularly important book in todays society with the rise of far-right politics and populism. I truly hope that history does not repeat itself and we never see another tragedy on the scale of the Holocaust. Unfortunately, with the state of the world at present, this is something that could easily be repeated in the future. This book definitely serves as both a reminder and a warning to this generation and those that follow.
Many thanks to St. Martins press for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
January 24, 2020
Perché ho scelto questo libro da recensire? Questa è stata la domanda che mi è stata posta e a cui provo a rispondere adesso. Ho scelto questo libro macabro, si proprio macabro, perché sento di avere il dovere di sapere ma soprattutto, di non dimenticare mai l’orrore che si è consumato in un passato non poi così remoto e distante. Mia nonna ottantenne mi ha raccontato poco tempo fa che quando è scoppiata la guerra lei aveva solo 7 anni, ma non dimenticherà mai quel periodo nonostante siano passati tanti decenni, e mentre parlava aveva quella luce negli occhi che solo chi ha provato sulla propria pelle certi eventi può capire.
Il libro ci mostra l’orrore dell’olocausto da un’altra prospettiva, non da chi lo ha barbaramente subito, ma da chi ha contribuito a creare questo sterminio attraverso un sistema ben studiato.
.
Il libro è ben strutturato, frutto di una ricerca approfondita e particolareggiata, una scrittura oggettiva e obbiettiva che lascia ben poco spazio a interpretazioni personali.
Ho appreso tante informazioni a me sconosciute, molte delle quali, solitamente, è possibile reperire solo all’interno di documentari cavillosi. Ad esempio, ho scoperto che aziende che operano ancora oggi come Audi, Bmw, Bayer utilizzavano lavoratori forzati che essenzialmente venivano trattati alla stregua degli schiavi; ma ciò che ha reso la Topf & Figli diversa da queste aziende è stato l’impulso che ha dato allo sviluppo della tecnologia dell’Olocausto.
Quello che mi ha lasciata veramente interdetta, tra le varie barbarie di cui si sono macchiati i capi dell’azienda, è che la Topf & Figli era orgogliosa del proprio operato, considerava il proprio lavoro come un progetto a sostegno dell’ideale nazionale, tra l’altro decisamente remunerativo: difatti, tradotto in denaro corrente, l’impresa guadagnò circa 30mila euro all’anno per lo sviluppo della tecnologia alla base dello sterminio della razza ebraica.
L’analisi di questa azienda e di come fu coinvolta nelle atrocità del nazismo viene illustrata per gradi, fornendo al lettore tutti gli strumenti per un’attenta analisi riflessiva. La Topf & Figli venne fondata nella seconda metà del diciannovesimo secolo e si occupava di sistemi di riscaldamento e impianti di produzione di birra e malto. Devo dire che è stato molto interessante seguirne l’evoluzione sino ai risvolti più raccapriccianti. L’azienda non si limitò a contribuire in massima parte ad attuare la soluzione finale, ovvero lo sterminio totale della razza ebraica, messa in moto dai nazisti, ma si impegnò anche attivamente nella produzione di armamenti bellici. Il contributo di questa azienda è stato determinante, in quanto non si è limitata a fornire gli strumenti richiesti dalle SS, ma essa stessa si è impegnata ad elaborare macchine sempre più precise e perfette, partecipando alle discussioni e decisioni in merito ai sistemi di ventilazione per i forni crematori sino a ideare la tecnica di ventilazione per le camere a gas.
E infine l’analisi verte sui vari soggetti che si trovavano ai vertici: Prufer, Schultze, Braun, il più pulito dei quali, lasciatemelo dire, aveva la rogna. Solitamente la parola nazismo viene associata, oltre che a Hitler, ai massimi vertici del suo partito, Himmler in primis, dimenticando che un evento di tale portata, così immensamente devastante, necessitava inevitabilmente di tutto un apparato di sostegno e collaborazione che riguardava i più svariati campi; gli impiegati della Topf & Figli insieme ai loro proprietari, si sono rivelati estremamente solerti in questo ruolo. Il libro va in profondità, oltre a riportare i fatti, analizza anche le azioni e le motivazioni che li portarono in tale direzione.
Come ho detto all’inizio questo racconto vi turberà molto, ma vi lascerà qualcosa dentro, accenderà una piccola fiammella nel vostro cuore, fiammella che dovrebbe venir alimentata dalla condivisione affinché le ceneri del passato siano la base da cui ripartire.
.
Mumu' -per RFS
Il libro ci mostra l’orrore dell’olocausto da un’altra prospettiva, non da chi lo ha barbaramente subito, ma da chi ha contribuito a creare questo sterminio attraverso un sistema ben studiato.
.
Il libro è ben strutturato, frutto di una ricerca approfondita e particolareggiata, una scrittura oggettiva e obbiettiva che lascia ben poco spazio a interpretazioni personali.
Ho appreso tante informazioni a me sconosciute, molte delle quali, solitamente, è possibile reperire solo all’interno di documentari cavillosi. Ad esempio, ho scoperto che aziende che operano ancora oggi come Audi, Bmw, Bayer utilizzavano lavoratori forzati che essenzialmente venivano trattati alla stregua degli schiavi; ma ciò che ha reso la Topf & Figli diversa da queste aziende è stato l’impulso che ha dato allo sviluppo della tecnologia dell’Olocausto.
Quello che mi ha lasciata veramente interdetta, tra le varie barbarie di cui si sono macchiati i capi dell’azienda, è che la Topf & Figli era orgogliosa del proprio operato, considerava il proprio lavoro come un progetto a sostegno dell’ideale nazionale, tra l’altro decisamente remunerativo: difatti, tradotto in denaro corrente, l’impresa guadagnò circa 30mila euro all’anno per lo sviluppo della tecnologia alla base dello sterminio della razza ebraica.
L’analisi di questa azienda e di come fu coinvolta nelle atrocità del nazismo viene illustrata per gradi, fornendo al lettore tutti gli strumenti per un’attenta analisi riflessiva. La Topf & Figli venne fondata nella seconda metà del diciannovesimo secolo e si occupava di sistemi di riscaldamento e impianti di produzione di birra e malto. Devo dire che è stato molto interessante seguirne l’evoluzione sino ai risvolti più raccapriccianti. L’azienda non si limitò a contribuire in massima parte ad attuare la soluzione finale, ovvero lo sterminio totale della razza ebraica, messa in moto dai nazisti, ma si impegnò anche attivamente nella produzione di armamenti bellici. Il contributo di questa azienda è stato determinante, in quanto non si è limitata a fornire gli strumenti richiesti dalle SS, ma essa stessa si è impegnata ad elaborare macchine sempre più precise e perfette, partecipando alle discussioni e decisioni in merito ai sistemi di ventilazione per i forni crematori sino a ideare la tecnica di ventilazione per le camere a gas.
E infine l’analisi verte sui vari soggetti che si trovavano ai vertici: Prufer, Schultze, Braun, il più pulito dei quali, lasciatemelo dire, aveva la rogna. Solitamente la parola nazismo viene associata, oltre che a Hitler, ai massimi vertici del suo partito, Himmler in primis, dimenticando che un evento di tale portata, così immensamente devastante, necessitava inevitabilmente di tutto un apparato di sostegno e collaborazione che riguardava i più svariati campi; gli impiegati della Topf & Figli insieme ai loro proprietari, si sono rivelati estremamente solerti in questo ruolo. Il libro va in profondità, oltre a riportare i fatti, analizza anche le azioni e le motivazioni che li portarono in tale direzione.
Come ho detto all’inizio questo racconto vi turberà molto, ma vi lascerà qualcosa dentro, accenderà una piccola fiammella nel vostro cuore, fiammella che dovrebbe venir alimentata dalla condivisione affinché le ceneri del passato siano la base da cui ripartire.
.
Mumu' -per RFS
October 2, 2022
You'll need a strong stomach to read this. There were anecdotes in it which literally made me sick - but also made it difficult to put this book down (morbid curiosity and disgusted-awe, I suppose) I'm not sure how anyone could find this book dry - although the writing lacks embellishment, it is very clear and concise, which I felt that helped keep things moving along and sort of compliments the setting (1930s-1950s Germany). In addition, the sheer terror of the Holocaust, which is described throughout the book, certainly mitigates any "dryness" this book might have.
One thing that I did not like was: after the author was finished telling the narrative of Topf and Sons through the 12 years of Hitler's reign, she discussed at length the interrogation transcripts between the Russians and those employees at Topf and Sons thought to be most responsible for crematorium and gas chamber contracts. Since the narrative had already been told, the interrogations felt reiterative -- although I suppose the idea was to show the discrepancies between what was stated in the interrogations vs. what was recorded over those years. At any rate, this was not a large enough portion of the book to take off a star.
This was a truly astonishing case study of how average German businesses became enveloped in state-run mass murder.
One thing that I did not like was: after the author was finished telling the narrative of Topf and Sons through the 12 years of Hitler's reign, she discussed at length the interrogation transcripts between the Russians and those employees at Topf and Sons thought to be most responsible for crematorium and gas chamber contracts. Since the narrative had already been told, the interrogations felt reiterative -- although I suppose the idea was to show the discrepancies between what was stated in the interrogations vs. what was recorded over those years. At any rate, this was not a large enough portion of the book to take off a star.
This was a truly astonishing case study of how average German businesses became enveloped in state-run mass murder.
July 27, 2018
While this is a hard read, it also puts another face on the Holocaust and people who were involved in the construction and mass murderer of human beings. There are many lessons to be learned but it also gives people a deeper understanding and insight into how human beings could commit such atrocities. It illustrate that what drives evil is not just greed and narcissism, It's a combination of choices and beliefs.
It is another documentation that teaches us that history can repeat itself when it is ignored and forgotten in an effort to move on.
It is another documentation that teaches us that history can repeat itself when it is ignored and forgotten in an effort to move on.
September 5, 2018
Karen Bartlett’s new Holocaust work, ARCHITECTS OF DEATH: THE FAMILY WHO ENGINEERED THE DEATH CAMPS possesses a powerful narrative as it examines the German manufacturing firm J. A. Topf and Sons and its role during World War II. The problem for the firm is that a few of its manufacturing products centered on ovens, crematoria, and the parts necessary to build them. These products made up only 1.85% of Topf and Sons actual products, but these items were linked to Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Dachau, and Mauthausen concentration/extermination camps.
The monograph begins with Hartmut Topf, the great grandson of the firm’s founder trying to come to grips with his family’s past. After the war, Hartmut wanted nothing to do with the family business as his true loves were theater, puppetry, and journalism. When he was a boy during the war his best friend Hans Laessing, was Jewish and he would disappear into the Nazi abyss. With questions about his family and his friend, Hartmut set out to learn the truth leading him to learn things he could not believe. Bartlett’s approach rests on interviews with former workers, American and Russian investigators, and Topf family members. She also relies on the works of historian Annegret Schule, the author of two books that encompass her topic. The first, BETWEEN PERSECUTION AND PARTICIPATION: BIOGRAPHY OF A BOOKEEPER AT J.A. TOPF AND SOHNE; the second, INDUSTRIE UND HOLOCAUST.
What is clear is that “company directors Ernst Wolfgang and Ludwig Topf, along with their managers, engineers, oven fitters, and ventilation experts, were not ignorant paper pushers or frightened collaborators – instead they willingly engaged with the Nazis, reaping the benefits, taking advantage they could, and pushing their designs for mass murder and body disposal further and further until they could truly be described as the engineers of the Holocaust.” By the end of the war men like Kurt Prufer, an engineer who pushed his designs and came up with plans that were so outlandish that even the SS had to turn them down.
Bartlett provides a history of the firm, but the core of the book rests on the growth of Topf and Sons as a manufacturer of numerous products that would enhance the Nazi war effort. There are numerous character portraits reflected the internecine conflict within the Topf family over control and which products should be made available to the Nazis. Ludwig and Ernst Wolfgang would take over the company in July, 1933, coinciding with Hitler’s rise to power and they immediately went down the road that would result in a loss of any moral decency or humanity they might have possessed.
In addition to building the ovens the firm employed thousands of slave laborers during the war. Roughly 40% of their labor force was made up of POWs which contributed to their deal with the devil. Perhaps the most important person in this process was Kurt Prufer who would distinguish himself as “the true pioneer of annihilation.” His own experiences during W.W.I. allowed him to develop a low level of concern for human life. He would take his engineering talents to become an expert on cremation sales and fixtures. Beginning with manufacturing crematoria for civil use in Erfurt and other towns it was feasible to change nomenclature and develop new incinerators and ventilation to fit the needs of the Final Solution. They would go so far as changing the name from crematoria in their catalogue to “incineration chamber.” The key innovation was the development in October, 1939 was the three single muffin ovens that would be used to build permanent crematoria at Buchenwald under the sadistic SS Gruppenfuhrer Oswald Pohl as opposed to temporary ovens that were mobile. As the war progressed after 1942 and the Russians moved west, these ovens could not accommodate the number of bodies the Nazis wanted to cremate leading to mechanical breakdowns and rancid smells surrounding the countryside where the camps were located.
The author provides a brief history of Buchenwald and Auschwitz, but her most important contribution is going through the documentation that the Russians and Americans uncovered as they liberated the camps and seized the Topf and Sons facilities. Bartlett takes the reader through interrogations of workers and others, most importantly Prufer and three other important engineers. There excuse was that they delivered the same products to the Nazis as they had to municipalities in the form of civil crematoria, and if they hadn’t sold the products, the SS had other firms that would provide them. Ludwig Topf would commit suicide at the end of the war, but his brother Ernst Wolfgang continued to make his case and eventually was able to avoid any punishment for his actions.
The only suggestions I have for the author is that there seems to be too much replication of war crimes documentation in the text. Perhaps they could have been placed as an appendix at the end of the book. Secondly, there seems to be an overreliance on certain sources. Otherwise, Bartlett has done Harmut justice in that she has produced the entire story of his family, a family that he admittedly feels ashamed of. To his credit, Harmut has spent a great deal of his time and resources on restitution and remembrance that have culminated in the Topf and Sons Memorial in Erfurt for those who have perished. Hopefully by educating visitors and publicizing its work the Memorial Museum will make another genocidal tragedy less likely to occur in the future.
The monograph begins with Hartmut Topf, the great grandson of the firm’s founder trying to come to grips with his family’s past. After the war, Hartmut wanted nothing to do with the family business as his true loves were theater, puppetry, and journalism. When he was a boy during the war his best friend Hans Laessing, was Jewish and he would disappear into the Nazi abyss. With questions about his family and his friend, Hartmut set out to learn the truth leading him to learn things he could not believe. Bartlett’s approach rests on interviews with former workers, American and Russian investigators, and Topf family members. She also relies on the works of historian Annegret Schule, the author of two books that encompass her topic. The first, BETWEEN PERSECUTION AND PARTICIPATION: BIOGRAPHY OF A BOOKEEPER AT J.A. TOPF AND SOHNE; the second, INDUSTRIE UND HOLOCAUST.
What is clear is that “company directors Ernst Wolfgang and Ludwig Topf, along with their managers, engineers, oven fitters, and ventilation experts, were not ignorant paper pushers or frightened collaborators – instead they willingly engaged with the Nazis, reaping the benefits, taking advantage they could, and pushing their designs for mass murder and body disposal further and further until they could truly be described as the engineers of the Holocaust.” By the end of the war men like Kurt Prufer, an engineer who pushed his designs and came up with plans that were so outlandish that even the SS had to turn them down.
Bartlett provides a history of the firm, but the core of the book rests on the growth of Topf and Sons as a manufacturer of numerous products that would enhance the Nazi war effort. There are numerous character portraits reflected the internecine conflict within the Topf family over control and which products should be made available to the Nazis. Ludwig and Ernst Wolfgang would take over the company in July, 1933, coinciding with Hitler’s rise to power and they immediately went down the road that would result in a loss of any moral decency or humanity they might have possessed.
In addition to building the ovens the firm employed thousands of slave laborers during the war. Roughly 40% of their labor force was made up of POWs which contributed to their deal with the devil. Perhaps the most important person in this process was Kurt Prufer who would distinguish himself as “the true pioneer of annihilation.” His own experiences during W.W.I. allowed him to develop a low level of concern for human life. He would take his engineering talents to become an expert on cremation sales and fixtures. Beginning with manufacturing crematoria for civil use in Erfurt and other towns it was feasible to change nomenclature and develop new incinerators and ventilation to fit the needs of the Final Solution. They would go so far as changing the name from crematoria in their catalogue to “incineration chamber.” The key innovation was the development in October, 1939 was the three single muffin ovens that would be used to build permanent crematoria at Buchenwald under the sadistic SS Gruppenfuhrer Oswald Pohl as opposed to temporary ovens that were mobile. As the war progressed after 1942 and the Russians moved west, these ovens could not accommodate the number of bodies the Nazis wanted to cremate leading to mechanical breakdowns and rancid smells surrounding the countryside where the camps were located.
The author provides a brief history of Buchenwald and Auschwitz, but her most important contribution is going through the documentation that the Russians and Americans uncovered as they liberated the camps and seized the Topf and Sons facilities. Bartlett takes the reader through interrogations of workers and others, most importantly Prufer and three other important engineers. There excuse was that they delivered the same products to the Nazis as they had to municipalities in the form of civil crematoria, and if they hadn’t sold the products, the SS had other firms that would provide them. Ludwig Topf would commit suicide at the end of the war, but his brother Ernst Wolfgang continued to make his case and eventually was able to avoid any punishment for his actions.
The only suggestions I have for the author is that there seems to be too much replication of war crimes documentation in the text. Perhaps they could have been placed as an appendix at the end of the book. Secondly, there seems to be an overreliance on certain sources. Otherwise, Bartlett has done Harmut justice in that she has produced the entire story of his family, a family that he admittedly feels ashamed of. To his credit, Harmut has spent a great deal of his time and resources on restitution and remembrance that have culminated in the Topf and Sons Memorial in Erfurt for those who have perished. Hopefully by educating visitors and publicizing its work the Memorial Museum will make another genocidal tragedy less likely to occur in the future.
July 25, 2018
Thank You to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Architects of Death should be read by anyone and everyone that doesn't want to see history repeat itself.
I have read a lot of books about The Holocaust and concentration camps but this one really emphasized just how many people died in the camps. This book deals with a company, Topf and Sons, that supplied the crematoria ovens to the Nazis for use in the concentration camps. Not only did they supply them but they engineered ways to make them more efficient throughout the war. This was not the main sales revenue for the company and actually was a very small percentage of their income. So what motivated them to supply equipment that helped the Nazis to exterminate so many people.
Very interesting book.
Architects of Death should be read by anyone and everyone that doesn't want to see history repeat itself.
I have read a lot of books about The Holocaust and concentration camps but this one really emphasized just how many people died in the camps. This book deals with a company, Topf and Sons, that supplied the crematoria ovens to the Nazis for use in the concentration camps. Not only did they supply them but they engineered ways to make them more efficient throughout the war. This was not the main sales revenue for the company and actually was a very small percentage of their income. So what motivated them to supply equipment that helped the Nazis to exterminate so many people.
Very interesting book.
January 28, 2021
It was only 76 years from yesterday that the Auschwitz concentration camped was liberated and the few survivors were able to return to their origin countries (if so lucky), where they could be given medical care and deal with the horrific physical and emotional trauma.
I can't put off this review anymore, not when another Remembrance Day has reminded us that so many people still don't believe the holocaust ever happened. It's our duty to pay respect to the millions who lost their lives, families and so much more merely due to hate. We must remember, inform ourselves and speak to others, since, as inconceivable as it is, people somehow still choose to ignore history.
In these insanely warped times it's more important than ever to be conscious of how inhuman people can be, never forget and never repeat.
This book shows the horror of the holocaust in a new perspective, not through the victims' eyes, but from the history of those who contributed to the system that made the genocide possible.
It's well-structured, clearly product of a detailed and thorough research into the Topf & Sons partecipation in the success of the concentration camps. The writing is straight-forward, stating facts, leaving little space to doubt and personal interpretations.
It doesn't try to fill the blanks between what the records state, there is no need to allude to anything when history shows so clearly how the engineering company, originally producing heating systems and brewing malting equipment, during WW2 moved onto incinerators and enormous crematoria; the latter being so spacious and imposing there is no ambiguity regarding its use. Their specifics, combined with the realization of the ventilation system, are what made the gas chambers so effective, eliminating possible doubt about Topf & Sons not being aware of how their work gave the Nazists the weapons for a large scale mass murder.
There's no use trying to justify the engineers' work, making them victims of strong-arming, when many were members of the Nazi party, proud of how their projects upheld the national ideal; in addition to the enourmous sum of dirty money they were paid to develop the technology at the root of the extermination of the Jews: about 30 thousand euros per year.
The analysis of the company and their involvement with the concentration camps is unveiled step by step, starting from it's founding to the living Topf's position, giving the readers all the tools for a careful reflection. It includes their role as weaponry suppliers, going beyond the simple satisfaction of the SS' requests, to committing to project more precise and powerful arms, participating in the the discussions and decision-taking in regards to systems that would eliminate masses at once.
It's a story that needs to be told, surely not an easy one, but one necessary to help complete the picture of one of the most tragic moments in human history. It's necessary, to light flames in our core that need to be fed by sharing, so that the ashes of the past may never be forgotten and we may never burn again.
I can't put off this review anymore, not when another Remembrance Day has reminded us that so many people still don't believe the holocaust ever happened. It's our duty to pay respect to the millions who lost their lives, families and so much more merely due to hate. We must remember, inform ourselves and speak to others, since, as inconceivable as it is, people somehow still choose to ignore history.
In these insanely warped times it's more important than ever to be conscious of how inhuman people can be, never forget and never repeat.
This book shows the horror of the holocaust in a new perspective, not through the victims' eyes, but from the history of those who contributed to the system that made the genocide possible.
It's well-structured, clearly product of a detailed and thorough research into the Topf & Sons partecipation in the success of the concentration camps. The writing is straight-forward, stating facts, leaving little space to doubt and personal interpretations.
It doesn't try to fill the blanks between what the records state, there is no need to allude to anything when history shows so clearly how the engineering company, originally producing heating systems and brewing malting equipment, during WW2 moved onto incinerators and enormous crematoria; the latter being so spacious and imposing there is no ambiguity regarding its use. Their specifics, combined with the realization of the ventilation system, are what made the gas chambers so effective, eliminating possible doubt about Topf & Sons not being aware of how their work gave the Nazists the weapons for a large scale mass murder.
There's no use trying to justify the engineers' work, making them victims of strong-arming, when many were members of the Nazi party, proud of how their projects upheld the national ideal; in addition to the enourmous sum of dirty money they were paid to develop the technology at the root of the extermination of the Jews: about 30 thousand euros per year.
The analysis of the company and their involvement with the concentration camps is unveiled step by step, starting from it's founding to the living Topf's position, giving the readers all the tools for a careful reflection. It includes their role as weaponry suppliers, going beyond the simple satisfaction of the SS' requests, to committing to project more precise and powerful arms, participating in the the discussions and decision-taking in regards to systems that would eliminate masses at once.
It's a story that needs to be told, surely not an easy one, but one necessary to help complete the picture of one of the most tragic moments in human history. It's necessary, to light flames in our core that need to be fed by sharing, so that the ashes of the past may never be forgotten and we may never burn again.
August 21, 2018
I have read a lot of books about World War II and Holocaust. Architects of Death is unlike any other book I have read on this time period. This book contains a great deal of information and most of deals with the company, Topf & Sons, that supplied the crematorium ovens that were used in Nazi concentration camps. Any book you read about the Holocaust is always hard to read because of what happened during this time period. But this book shows how one company, who's main income wasn't even from the ovens, helped not only to arm concentration camps with these ovens, but they went as far as working to make them as efficient as possible. I think that when looking at the Holocaust, it is easy to blame everything on the Nazi party, without thinking about companies, such as Topf & Sons, that helped make the Holocaust happen and on such a massive scale.
I think these types of books are important to read as it shows how even simple business man became a part of the horrific events that occurred during the Holocaust.
Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press for sending me an ARC of this book.
I think these types of books are important to read as it shows how even simple business man became a part of the horrific events that occurred during the Holocaust.
Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press for sending me an ARC of this book.
September 9, 2020
The entire world has been horrified, yet fascinated by the death camps. How could evil so perverse exist, and how could it have been quietly done, allowing for the extermination of millions.
This book dives into the story of those who were behind the construction and execution of the Concentration camps. It goes into what drove these men, how they rose through the ranks, and how the mastermind of the most evil construction came to life.
As a history teacher, I was fascinated by the story in this book, which shed more light into the background of the camps, and what motivations drove each of the men involved to more evil.
Not a comfortable read, but one that was enlightening nonetheless.
This book dives into the story of those who were behind the construction and execution of the Concentration camps. It goes into what drove these men, how they rose through the ranks, and how the mastermind of the most evil construction came to life.
As a history teacher, I was fascinated by the story in this book, which shed more light into the background of the camps, and what motivations drove each of the men involved to more evil.
Not a comfortable read, but one that was enlightening nonetheless.
November 6, 2023
Mi aspettavo un saggio che parlasse di una delle più efferate disumanità del nostro secolo, ossia della progettazione e della messa in pratica dell’Olocausto.
Invece mi sono trovata all’interno della narrazione della storia di una famiglia che ha effettivamente partecipato in maniera attiva e realistica, parlo della famiglia Topf, attraverso quasi un trentennio di vite vissute al servizio più che di un credo a parer mio di una macchina mortale stilla soldi.
La cosa che ho trovato comunque interessante, grazie a questa serie di documenti che sono giunti fino a noi, è stata sicuramente quella di aprire una finestra su tutte quelle industrie formate da uomini che nella Germania tedesca hitleriana si sono adoperate per produrre mezzi di morte di massa senza farsi troppe domande o scrupoli.
Invece mi sono trovata all’interno della narrazione della storia di una famiglia che ha effettivamente partecipato in maniera attiva e realistica, parlo della famiglia Topf, attraverso quasi un trentennio di vite vissute al servizio più che di un credo a parer mio di una macchina mortale stilla soldi.
La cosa che ho trovato comunque interessante, grazie a questa serie di documenti che sono giunti fino a noi, è stata sicuramente quella di aprire una finestra su tutte quelle industrie formate da uomini che nella Germania tedesca hitleriana si sono adoperate per produrre mezzi di morte di massa senza farsi troppe domande o scrupoli.
June 22, 2021
Title: “Architects of Death”
Subtitle: The family who engineered the death camps
Author: Karen Bartlett
Pages: 297
Chapters: 12, plus: Contents, Cast of Characters, Introduction, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Notes and Index.
Published in 2018 by St. Martin’s Press, New York.
Review:
The book describes the facts of the Topf family’s personal and business lives and the role the company ‘Topf and Sons’ owners and engineering staff played in supplying concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, with the crematoria ovens to incinerate thousands of prisoners during WWII. The company had already been in the crematoria business since 1914, so it had the expertise. While the percentage of its concentration camp contracts was less than two percent of its total business, the company’s active participation in designing, fitting, repairing, and enhancing capacity for maximum capacity of the crematoria was clearly evil. It was without regard to human dignity. The owners’ and engineers’ rationale that ‘some other company would have done it’ and ‘it was only a minor part of their business’ turns the stomach.
Prüfer, Sander, Braun and Schultze were all indicted. Sander died shortly after being arrested. The other three were sentenced to 25 years in a Russian labour camp. Prüfer died in 1952; Sander and Braun were released early. Topf owner Ludwig committed suicide (as had his father before him) before he could be arrested. Brother Ernst Wolfgang faced court and tribunals, but was never found guilty. He maintained his innocence.
Unfortunately, I found the writing bland and often repetitive or reiterative. There are long sections of translated quotes and interrogations records. The notes to the final chapter show that the author conducted interviews. The notes for other chapters refer overwhelmingly to the work and writings of Annegret Schüle. Three translators/researchers are extensively acknowledged by the writer: Paula Kirby, Britt Pflüger and Caterina Andreae. While reading, I wondered if it would have been better to just translate Annegret's book into English.
I found little indication that this book was edited by a professional as evidenced by various errors. No mention of an editor is made in the acknowledgements section. Since I find that much of the writing is already bereft of emotion, grammatical errors just add to an overall disappointing read. Although the front of the book lists a cast of characters, a Fopf family tree would have been helpful.
Because I’ve read quite a few WWII fiction and non-fiction books, the title and subject matter of the book grabbed my attention. I was not familiar with the Topf story. After reading the book, it seems to me that the title and subtitle are incorrect. The Topf family and their band of engineers were not themselves architects of death and they were not the ones who engineered the death camps. But they were passionately dedicated to engineer and refine the crematoria to their maximum capacity while watching bodies burn. Bodies of people who were murdered by abhorrent means and in abhorrently great numbers. The Topf name is stamped on the iron furnaces. There is literally no denying the lack of morals. They had “power without morals” (a quote from the book.)
Hartmut is the star of the book. As a conflicted member of the Topf family and great-grandchild of the company’s founder (Hartmut’s own father gave up his share in the company) Hartmut was involved with the establishment of the memorial that now stands at the Topf factory site in the town of Erfurt. The book starts and ends with him.
The best-written paragraph in my view was the last one in the Conclusion chapter: “Topf and Sons was by no means unique in serving the SS and the Third Reich…In making such a pact with the devil they were given permission to shed their civilized skin, and dream their wildest dreams, to make real their biggest professional ambitions without regard for human life or dignity. Even today their sheer detachment and disinterest creeps from the pages of the archive and lays its cold fingers upon anyone who reads it, yet it was the very ordinariness of their human motivations that makes them so easy to understand – and so appalling.”
An important read, but disappointing writing. Hence the 2*
Subtitle: The family who engineered the death camps
Author: Karen Bartlett
Pages: 297
Chapters: 12, plus: Contents, Cast of Characters, Introduction, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Notes and Index.
Published in 2018 by St. Martin’s Press, New York.
Review:
The book describes the facts of the Topf family’s personal and business lives and the role the company ‘Topf and Sons’ owners and engineering staff played in supplying concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, with the crematoria ovens to incinerate thousands of prisoners during WWII. The company had already been in the crematoria business since 1914, so it had the expertise. While the percentage of its concentration camp contracts was less than two percent of its total business, the company’s active participation in designing, fitting, repairing, and enhancing capacity for maximum capacity of the crematoria was clearly evil. It was without regard to human dignity. The owners’ and engineers’ rationale that ‘some other company would have done it’ and ‘it was only a minor part of their business’ turns the stomach.
Prüfer, Sander, Braun and Schultze were all indicted. Sander died shortly after being arrested. The other three were sentenced to 25 years in a Russian labour camp. Prüfer died in 1952; Sander and Braun were released early. Topf owner Ludwig committed suicide (as had his father before him) before he could be arrested. Brother Ernst Wolfgang faced court and tribunals, but was never found guilty. He maintained his innocence.
Unfortunately, I found the writing bland and often repetitive or reiterative. There are long sections of translated quotes and interrogations records. The notes to the final chapter show that the author conducted interviews. The notes for other chapters refer overwhelmingly to the work and writings of Annegret Schüle. Three translators/researchers are extensively acknowledged by the writer: Paula Kirby, Britt Pflüger and Caterina Andreae. While reading, I wondered if it would have been better to just translate Annegret's book into English.
I found little indication that this book was edited by a professional as evidenced by various errors. No mention of an editor is made in the acknowledgements section. Since I find that much of the writing is already bereft of emotion, grammatical errors just add to an overall disappointing read. Although the front of the book lists a cast of characters, a Fopf family tree would have been helpful.
Because I’ve read quite a few WWII fiction and non-fiction books, the title and subject matter of the book grabbed my attention. I was not familiar with the Topf story. After reading the book, it seems to me that the title and subtitle are incorrect. The Topf family and their band of engineers were not themselves architects of death and they were not the ones who engineered the death camps. But they were passionately dedicated to engineer and refine the crematoria to their maximum capacity while watching bodies burn. Bodies of people who were murdered by abhorrent means and in abhorrently great numbers. The Topf name is stamped on the iron furnaces. There is literally no denying the lack of morals. They had “power without morals” (a quote from the book.)
Hartmut is the star of the book. As a conflicted member of the Topf family and great-grandchild of the company’s founder (Hartmut’s own father gave up his share in the company) Hartmut was involved with the establishment of the memorial that now stands at the Topf factory site in the town of Erfurt. The book starts and ends with him.
The best-written paragraph in my view was the last one in the Conclusion chapter: “Topf and Sons was by no means unique in serving the SS and the Third Reich…In making such a pact with the devil they were given permission to shed their civilized skin, and dream their wildest dreams, to make real their biggest professional ambitions without regard for human life or dignity. Even today their sheer detachment and disinterest creeps from the pages of the archive and lays its cold fingers upon anyone who reads it, yet it was the very ordinariness of their human motivations that makes them so easy to understand – and so appalling.”
An important read, but disappointing writing. Hence the 2*
July 9, 2018
Great book, very insightful. A great read.
April 24, 2024
Druga wojna światowa to wydarzenie, którego cała ludzkość powinna się wstydzić. Nie potrafię wyobrazić sobie ogromu tragedii, jaki wówczas został zafundowany niektórym nacjom. Mówi się, że ludzie ludziom zgotowali ten los... Książka „Architekci śmierci. Rodzina inżynierów Holocaustu" idealnie pokazuje, że to motto jest do bólu prawdziwe.
22 marca 2017 r. Hartmut Topf przybył do Auschwitz. Jak zwykły turysta zwiedzał teren obozu, słuchając w słuchawkach słów przewodnika. Był - o ironio - gościem honorowym, goszcząc na otwarciu wystawy ukazującej działalność firmy Topf i synowie. Został zaproszony jako przedstawiciel firmy, której logo znane jest na całym świecie ze zdjęć drzwiczek do pieców krematoryjnych. Hartmut musiał przez całe życie dźwigać brzemię rodzinnej firmy, choć sam nie miał z nią nic wspólnego. Kochał teatr lalek. Był prostym lalkarzem...
Poznajemy historię rodziny Topf od samego początku. Firma została założona w 1878 r. przez mistrza piwowarskiego Johanna Topfa. Johann nie był zbyt dobrym biznesmenem i długo walczył, aby jego firma jako tako prosperowała. Rodzina była po prostu biedna. Dopiero, gdy zmieniono profil firmy interes zaczął się kręcić. Johann pozostał w interesie browarniczym, ale zajął się ulepszaniem procesu ogrzewania, który był konieczny do uwarzenia piwa. Na początku XX wieku firma śmigała aż miło. Firma Topfów miała już własny zakład i budynek administracyjny. Niestety rodzina nie należała do szczęśliwych. Byli skłóceni, walczyli o wpływy, jeden ze współwłaścicieli popełnił samobójstwo. Firma jednak nadal działała specjalizując się w budowie pieców słodowniczych. Do czasu.
Na początku XX wieku w Republice Wajmarskiej toczyła się dyskusja na temat istoty kremacji i zasad, jakie powinna spełniać. Ustalono wiele procedur, które miały na celu zachować godność człowieka nawet podczas spalania jego zwłok i w trakcie dalszego postępowania z prochami. Kremacja była uważana za najbardziej etyczny i higieniczny sposób postępowania ze zwłokami. Było to o tyle wygodne, że ilość zwłok - wraz ze zwiększaniem się ilości obozów pracy - była coraz większa. I tu dochodzimy do istoty sprawy. Kurt Prűfer, będący w firmie specjalistą od pieców jest idealnym przykładem tego, jak bardzo Niemcy udawali, że to, co robią, jest zupełnie normalne. Prace nad ulepszeniem pieców krematoryjnych były prowadzone w zupełnej znieczulicy. Dopóki dotyczyły zwykłego chowania zmarłych, nie budziły zastrzeżeń. Ale kiedy zaczęto je ulepszać tak, aby w ciągu doby spalić jak najwięcej zwłok więźniów... Potworne. Czytając o planowanych ulepszeniach, które miały powodować taśmowe spalanie zwłok, taśmociągach do przesuwania ludzkich ciał, pracach nad tym, aby dym nie wydzielał zapachu... coś strasznego. Czytałam i nie wierzyłam własnym oczom. Najgorsze jest to, że z książki wynika, że Oni naprawdę uważali, że nie robią nic złego. Przecież polityka Hitlera jest korzystna dla Niemców, a cel uświęca środki.
Książka napisana jest z historyczną zaciętością. Nie jestem historykiem i nie potrafię ocenić jej wartości pod tym kątem, ale niewątpliwie wiedza, którą niesie w sobie jest przedstawiona w taki sposób, że wchodzi do głowy i serca, i długo tam pozostaje. Niby bez emocji, niby sucho przedstawia fakty, ale są one tak straszne, że trudno o nich zapomnieć. Książa warta polecenia każdemu, kto choć trochę interesuje się literatura obozową. Jestem przeciwniczką tego, co się obecnie wyrabia w literaturze. Bibliotekarka z Auschwitz, położna z Auschwitz, tatuażysta z Auschwitz... wszystko sfabularyzowane, spłaszczone i miałkie o niewielkiej wartości. Takie książki powinny być zakazane. Szukajmy książek, które mają do coś do przekazania i tu polecam „Architektów śmierci” Rewelacyjna pozycja pokazująca, jak bardzo Niemcy oswoili śmierć. Jak bardzo źle traktowali inne narody. I jak niewiele rozumieli.
22 marca 2017 r. Hartmut Topf przybył do Auschwitz. Jak zwykły turysta zwiedzał teren obozu, słuchając w słuchawkach słów przewodnika. Był - o ironio - gościem honorowym, goszcząc na otwarciu wystawy ukazującej działalność firmy Topf i synowie. Został zaproszony jako przedstawiciel firmy, której logo znane jest na całym świecie ze zdjęć drzwiczek do pieców krematoryjnych. Hartmut musiał przez całe życie dźwigać brzemię rodzinnej firmy, choć sam nie miał z nią nic wspólnego. Kochał teatr lalek. Był prostym lalkarzem...
Poznajemy historię rodziny Topf od samego początku. Firma została założona w 1878 r. przez mistrza piwowarskiego Johanna Topfa. Johann nie był zbyt dobrym biznesmenem i długo walczył, aby jego firma jako tako prosperowała. Rodzina była po prostu biedna. Dopiero, gdy zmieniono profil firmy interes zaczął się kręcić. Johann pozostał w interesie browarniczym, ale zajął się ulepszaniem procesu ogrzewania, który był konieczny do uwarzenia piwa. Na początku XX wieku firma śmigała aż miło. Firma Topfów miała już własny zakład i budynek administracyjny. Niestety rodzina nie należała do szczęśliwych. Byli skłóceni, walczyli o wpływy, jeden ze współwłaścicieli popełnił samobójstwo. Firma jednak nadal działała specjalizując się w budowie pieców słodowniczych. Do czasu.
Na początku XX wieku w Republice Wajmarskiej toczyła się dyskusja na temat istoty kremacji i zasad, jakie powinna spełniać. Ustalono wiele procedur, które miały na celu zachować godność człowieka nawet podczas spalania jego zwłok i w trakcie dalszego postępowania z prochami. Kremacja była uważana za najbardziej etyczny i higieniczny sposób postępowania ze zwłokami. Było to o tyle wygodne, że ilość zwłok - wraz ze zwiększaniem się ilości obozów pracy - była coraz większa. I tu dochodzimy do istoty sprawy. Kurt Prűfer, będący w firmie specjalistą od pieców jest idealnym przykładem tego, jak bardzo Niemcy udawali, że to, co robią, jest zupełnie normalne. Prace nad ulepszeniem pieców krematoryjnych były prowadzone w zupełnej znieczulicy. Dopóki dotyczyły zwykłego chowania zmarłych, nie budziły zastrzeżeń. Ale kiedy zaczęto je ulepszać tak, aby w ciągu doby spalić jak najwięcej zwłok więźniów... Potworne. Czytając o planowanych ulepszeniach, które miały powodować taśmowe spalanie zwłok, taśmociągach do przesuwania ludzkich ciał, pracach nad tym, aby dym nie wydzielał zapachu... coś strasznego. Czytałam i nie wierzyłam własnym oczom. Najgorsze jest to, że z książki wynika, że Oni naprawdę uważali, że nie robią nic złego. Przecież polityka Hitlera jest korzystna dla Niemców, a cel uświęca środki.
Książka napisana jest z historyczną zaciętością. Nie jestem historykiem i nie potrafię ocenić jej wartości pod tym kątem, ale niewątpliwie wiedza, którą niesie w sobie jest przedstawiona w taki sposób, że wchodzi do głowy i serca, i długo tam pozostaje. Niby bez emocji, niby sucho przedstawia fakty, ale są one tak straszne, że trudno o nich zapomnieć. Książa warta polecenia każdemu, kto choć trochę interesuje się literatura obozową. Jestem przeciwniczką tego, co się obecnie wyrabia w literaturze. Bibliotekarka z Auschwitz, położna z Auschwitz, tatuażysta z Auschwitz... wszystko sfabularyzowane, spłaszczone i miałkie o niewielkiej wartości. Takie książki powinny być zakazane. Szukajmy książek, które mają do coś do przekazania i tu polecam „Architektów śmierci” Rewelacyjna pozycja pokazująca, jak bardzo Niemcy oswoili śmierć. Jak bardzo źle traktowali inne narody. I jak niewiele rozumieli.
September 1, 2020
MURDER INC.
“I heard several earth-shattering screams one after another, so I looked through a gap in the wooden boarding and saw a Russian, still in his uniform, tied to one of the sliding shelves used with the crematorium chamber and pushed into the oven while he was still alive. His dying screams were the most horrific thing I ever heard in my life.”
On the surface of it Topf and Sons sounds like it could pass for a quaint and almost homely business, but make no mistake about it these guys were the market leaders in crematoria and were integral to the overall efficiency, capacity and performance of the furnaces that worked constant overtime at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Mauthausen and elsewhere too, they went to great lengths to assist the Nazis, even boasting of working out of hours in order to help perfect and improve the efficiency of their ovens and ensure more corpses could be burned at a quicker rate.
Elsewhere we learn that Krupp used 75,000 forced labourers, Audi (then known as Group Auto Union) more than 20,000, BMW exploited more than 50,000 and the chemical and pharma outfits BASF, Bayer and Hoescht had 80,000 between them. Although Vartlett exposes the myth of the Nazi machine as one of slick efficiency, after all just how efficient can a starved, diseased workforce with zero morale be?...
It also makes you think about elsewhere in the world today, what about all of those multi-billion dollar corporations who play a vital part in the extermination of innocent civilians on this very day?...Think of all of those factories sneakily working away in unsuspecting locations throughout the US, UK, France and other so called “civilised” nations. This wouldn’t be possible on the scale it exists, if it wasn’t for various weapon manufacturers with the full backing and support of democratically elected leaders, who make it a priority to help sell these murderous weapons. The vast majority of the mainstream media often go to great lengths to disguise or ignore this. Weapons which are sold to dictators and theocracies with the full knowledge that they will be used to oppress, terrify, torture and kill innocent civilians, but that’s OK because it’s good for the economy or creates jobs...it is also worth reminding ourselves who votes those leaders in in the first place?...
October 13, 2025
Karen Bartlett’s Architects of Death: The Family Who Engineered the Holocaust is a meticulously researched and profoundly unsettling account of the Topf family — the German engineers whose technical ingenuity facilitated one of humanity’s darkest chapters. Bartlett traces how this family-run firm, once respected for its craftsmanship and innovation, became complicit in designing and refining the crematoria and gas chamber technologies used in Nazi concentration camps. The result is a work that intertwines biography, moral inquiry, and historical documentation into a chilling portrait of ordinary people’s descent into extraordinary evil.
I believe Bartlett’s strength lies in her disciplined restraint. She presents the evidence with clarity and precision, refusing to sensationalize the material or indulge in overwrought emotion. Yet, despite her factual approach, the book is not devoid of empathy. There is a quiet moral intelligence at work in her writing — a recognition of human complexity without the dilution of accountability. Each revelation is presented with measured gravity, allowing the horror to speak for itself.
Reading Architects of Death was a painful experience, as it confronted me with the banality and bureaucracy of atrocity. Still, I do not turn away from such histories. It is vital to engage with both the uplifting and the abhorrent chapters of our past — to understand how ordinary ambition, professional pride, and moral blindness can converge into mechanisms of immense suffering. Through this engagement, we honor those who were lost and acknowledge the uncomfortable truths about what humanity is capable of, both for good and for ill.
In the end, I think Bartlett’s work stands as a stark reminder that history’s architects are not always its heroes. Architects of Death compels us to look unflinchingly at the machinery of destruction — not to sensationalize its horror, but to understand its origins and implications. It leaves the reader with a sober awareness: that remembrance is not only an act of mourning but also an act of moral vigilance.
I believe Bartlett’s strength lies in her disciplined restraint. She presents the evidence with clarity and precision, refusing to sensationalize the material or indulge in overwrought emotion. Yet, despite her factual approach, the book is not devoid of empathy. There is a quiet moral intelligence at work in her writing — a recognition of human complexity without the dilution of accountability. Each revelation is presented with measured gravity, allowing the horror to speak for itself.
Reading Architects of Death was a painful experience, as it confronted me with the banality and bureaucracy of atrocity. Still, I do not turn away from such histories. It is vital to engage with both the uplifting and the abhorrent chapters of our past — to understand how ordinary ambition, professional pride, and moral blindness can converge into mechanisms of immense suffering. Through this engagement, we honor those who were lost and acknowledge the uncomfortable truths about what humanity is capable of, both for good and for ill.
In the end, I think Bartlett’s work stands as a stark reminder that history’s architects are not always its heroes. Architects of Death compels us to look unflinchingly at the machinery of destruction — not to sensationalize its horror, but to understand its origins and implications. It leaves the reader with a sober awareness: that remembrance is not only an act of mourning but also an act of moral vigilance.
August 21, 2018
I have read a fair few books on the Holocaust prior to starting this one. I've also visited Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen and Dachau. I have a fair knowledge of what went on, how it started (been to Wannsee too), read about the perpetrators, the survivors and the stories of those who didn't. As regards to the methods of extermination, everyone knows about the gas but, apart from reading about the people who worked the ovens, the Sonderkommandos, I have never actually given much thought to the ovens themselves and how they came to be chosen, designed, modified and indeed improved to better serve their heinous task.
It's not an easy read by any means. None of the books on this topic are, or should be, but this one especially got to me in places and I did have to take breaks from it often. But, I hasten to add, I never once thought of giving up. It's too important a topic for it ever to get swept under the carpet. The memorials exist so that we do not forget what happened.
That a company can provide a product to do a task so horrible is one thing. But when they then go further to tweak the design to make it more efficient to cope with the sheer number of people... well, words on occasion fail me and they do here. Nothing I can say in a review will ever do the book the justice that it so deserves. For people with an interest in the subject, it will definitely add another layer to the atrocities. It's a book that I am glad I read as it definitely gave me more food for thought. But also, a book that I very much wish would never have been needed to be written.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
It's not an easy read by any means. None of the books on this topic are, or should be, but this one especially got to me in places and I did have to take breaks from it often. But, I hasten to add, I never once thought of giving up. It's too important a topic for it ever to get swept under the carpet. The memorials exist so that we do not forget what happened.
That a company can provide a product to do a task so horrible is one thing. But when they then go further to tweak the design to make it more efficient to cope with the sheer number of people... well, words on occasion fail me and they do here. Nothing I can say in a review will ever do the book the justice that it so deserves. For people with an interest in the subject, it will definitely add another layer to the atrocities. It's a book that I am glad I read as it definitely gave me more food for thought. But also, a book that I very much wish would never have been needed to be written.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
August 12, 2018
5 out of 5 Stars
I received a free Kindle copy of The Architects of Death by Karen Bartlett courtesy of Net Galley and St. Martin's Press, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.
I requested this book as I have read a great deal about the holocaust, but never one that covered this subject. This is the first book by Karen Bartlett that I have read.
This book is well written and researched. The subtitle "The Family Who Engineered the Death Camps" is an accurate description of the contents of the book. It explains how the Topf family companies worked with the Nazi Government to design and install the ovens used for cremation of the victims of the holocaust. It also details how they worked to improve the efficiency of the ovens.
While this book is a very good read, the reader must be braced for some graphic descriptions of the process. I recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in the holocaust as it addresses one facet that has not been covered before.
I received a free Kindle copy of The Architects of Death by Karen Bartlett courtesy of Net Galley and St. Martin's Press, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.
I requested this book as I have read a great deal about the holocaust, but never one that covered this subject. This is the first book by Karen Bartlett that I have read.
This book is well written and researched. The subtitle "The Family Who Engineered the Death Camps" is an accurate description of the contents of the book. It explains how the Topf family companies worked with the Nazi Government to design and install the ovens used for cremation of the victims of the holocaust. It also details how they worked to improve the efficiency of the ovens.
While this book is a very good read, the reader must be braced for some graphic descriptions of the process. I recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in the holocaust as it addresses one facet that has not been covered before.
August 7, 2018
A dark, disturbing but well researched and presented account of how one firm collaborated with and profited from their collusion with the Third Reich. The Topf family firm , Topf and Sons became notorious as the producers and installers of the crematorium ovens used in concentration camps throughout the Reich controlled territories. Not only did they build and install the ovens, they had staff solely devoted to finding ways of making them more efficient , and expanded into ventilation systems for the gas chambers.
The author has gone to great effort to research her subject, and the result of that effort is a book that is rich in detail. Despite this, the detail never becomes dull or overwhelming, it is very well presented in a way that is easy to understand and engaging for the reader. While the subject matter obviously makes for difficult reading at times, this is a book that is worth reading, it certainly highlights how easy it is for a small company to become blinded by greed and lose all sense of humanity in the pursuit of money and power.
The author has gone to great effort to research her subject, and the result of that effort is a book that is rich in detail. Despite this, the detail never becomes dull or overwhelming, it is very well presented in a way that is easy to understand and engaging for the reader. While the subject matter obviously makes for difficult reading at times, this is a book that is worth reading, it certainly highlights how easy it is for a small company to become blinded by greed and lose all sense of humanity in the pursuit of money and power.
November 3, 2018
Having never heard the story of the Topf family and their contribution to the Nazi killing machine, this had an interesting premise. On the plus, it is well researched and well documented. There are a considerable number of direct quotes and uses of internal and court documents. On the minus, the writing is rather bland. It’s more matter-of-fact than engaging. Some of this is due to the inclusion of so many long quotes, which breaks up the narrative.
February 13, 2019
Libro acquistato nel Giorno della Memoria. La mia votazione non è molto alta in quanto l'autrice si è spesso soffermata e per troppo tempo a descrivere i rapporti contrastati fra i dipendenti/padroni dell'azienda Topf, rallentando oltre modo la narrazione. Per il resto il libro è ben scritto, una prosa semplice e scorrevole che offre un quadro a tinte fosche (e come potrebbe non esserlo) di tutto il business della morte (ebbene sì), sviluppatosi in concomitanza dell'ascesa del partito nazista.
March 29, 2019
Thought provoking read about how average workers contributed to the atrocities of the SS as just another aspect of their profession. The detachment and callous disregard of their human responsibility is appalling, but the ease of how this happened is truly shocking. A great historical example of how easily one can fall into a deal with the devil. Well researched and delivered, especially for such a dark subject, despite editorial errors throughout.
July 7, 2019
Very good in trying to understand the 'banality of evil' of those who participated on the periphery of the Holocaust. While the members of the Topf family didn't 'pull the triggers' they did facilitate the murders of millions. By giving the Nazis a means to the end by providing the ovens, which they so proudly attached the family name, they show us all how we ourselves and others are bound by a simple acts of responsibility.
March 28, 2023
An amazing novel of something that is almost incomprehensible.There are some that think the HOLOCAUST was not possible because they think it impossible to kill and dispose of that many human beings in such a short time.Read this book and you will think differently.Technology was developed that would enable the mass murder of millions of innocent people.This was done in a large part,thanks to the family described in this book.You need to read it.
July 23, 2018
Factual reporting of the company owners and several employees responsible for the creation and manufacturing of the crematorium ovens used in Nazi concentration camps.
Unfortunately while very detailed, this book was too dry for my taste.
I do thank goodreads and the book's sponsors for the opportunity to win and read this book.
Unfortunately while very detailed, this book was too dry for my taste.
I do thank goodreads and the book's sponsors for the opportunity to win and read this book.
October 25, 2023
*Spoilers*
The nazis lost. They were terrible. This book describes how terrible they were.
It's a rather niche book that gets into the mindset of a businessman and engineer during the nazi era. What drove them? Petty rivalries, greed, and that's about it. They knew what was happening. They just didn't care. Hard book to read because of the subject material.
The nazis lost. They were terrible. This book describes how terrible they were.
It's a rather niche book that gets into the mindset of a businessman and engineer during the nazi era. What drove them? Petty rivalries, greed, and that's about it. They knew what was happening. They just didn't care. Hard book to read because of the subject material.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2018
The information in this book was enlightening, overwhelming and saddening. in the past to say the German people had no knowledge of what was going on in the camps is outrageous. Many of them we assisting every day.
February 7, 2024
An in-depth horrifying history of the people behind the creation and engineering of the crematoriums of the Nazi concentration camps. One of the most disturbing books I've ever read but a necessary story to tell to prevent hatred.
January 7, 2019
It's an important book but it does not bring to the fore the Topf brothers in flesh and blood - and reduces them to heresay and caricatures. Topf machines and macabre 'innovations' were used in concentration / detention camps but there is no documentary proof given (apart from a few pictures), and the statements of only one or two workers is used to confirm the same. The conditions of the camps are breezed through. It is reasonable to assume that initially failures in an ill-kempt camp by arrogant management resulted in deaths and a need for crematoriums was felt due to fear of spread of disease - for e.g. how many died working in the industrial units within the camps Bartlett talks of?- Didn't the Topf officials know large number of minorities were being sent there? - but the author does not even recognize such a possibility, entering immediately into 'the final solution' and labors through the eventual elaborate designs for gas chambers and mass cremations by two rivals within the Topf company (no diagrams given for these either). And that's the crux of the book. No mention is made of any user training or on-site inspection by any Topf company representative. Was the crematorium technology created during Holocaust used in some other genocide or mass disappearances too? There have been plenty of governments in 60s, 70s, 80s and post-9/11 who have been accused of picking up 'suspects / persons of interest' who were never seen again.
Also the title declaring Topfs as 'architects and engineers of death' is wrong: instead a more rightful phrase would be that they were aiders, abettors, benefactors of a system of economy run to persecute, annihilate and loot the minorities and prisoners during war.
Memorable passages:
The Topf and Sons memorial is unique in being the only Holocaust memorial on the historic site of a company. ‘This place has a special aura,’ Memorial Director Annegret Schule says. ‘We can show here how easy it is for a human being to ignore his responsibility towards his fellow human beings in his daily work. If I go to the memorial in Buchenwald I cannot identify myself with the SS, because I would never have become a member. But I can relate to people who harm other people by doing their normal jobs. This is happening all the time. Visitors are motivated to think about this. Processes that are completely normal within any companies have led to atrocities.’
Until the autumn of 1939, Oswiecim was an unassuming town with 12,000 non-Jews and 5,000 Jews in an industrial part of Upper Silesia with good railway connections. But the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 transformed the town’s fate in unimaginable ways. Suddenly the Nazi regime had three large, and completely self-created, problems to solve: how to find homes and land for the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of ‘ethnic Germans’ that it agreed with the Soviet Unibion would be allowed to emigrate from the Baltic states and northern Romania; how to manage a large Polish population (which the Nazis regarded as a sub-human species to be traded as slave labor); and what to do with Poland’s two million Jews. The first of these issues had been resolved by the spring of 1940. Poland was divided into two areas - the ‘New Reich,’ technically a part of Germany where ethnic Germans would live in homes and on land Poles had recently been evicted from, and the ‘General Government’ an area that encompassed Warsaw, Krakow and Lublin where Poles would live. Jews would initially be ‘relocated’ to ghettos within the cities - starting with the Lodz ghetto in February 1940. Oswiecim fell within the area designated as the ‘New Reich’ but its industrial landscape meant few ‘ethnic Germans’ would be resettled there. Instead the town was renamed Auschwitz, and its native population moved out to make way for a new concentration camp, initially planned on the site of an old barracks and horse-braking yard.
Yet when Auschwitz’s first and most important commandant stepped off the train on 30 April 1940; he surely had no idea that within the course of five years he would be presiding over the site of the biggest single mass murder in world history. Instead the dream of SS Haupturmfuhrer Rudolf Hoss was the create a model concentration camp, based on the lessons he had learned after six years’ service in the SS, first at Dachau and then Sachsenhausen.
Later Sander would weakly justify his behavior by claiming he was a ‘German engineer’, much like an engineer working in aircraft construction, who felt obliged to use his knowledge ‘in order to help Hitler’s Germany to victory, even if that resulted in the destruction of human life.’
Although furnace construction was excluded from the notice, the first order (from American military after the war) was for a crematorium oven for the city of Erfurt.
‘No one in our company was guilty of anything at all, either morally or objectively. It is no empty phrase when I describe my company and the entirety of its conduct throughout the twelve years of the Hitler regime with the phrase: ‘Morality without Power.’ - Ernst Wolfgang Topf, 1958
Also the title declaring Topfs as 'architects and engineers of death' is wrong: instead a more rightful phrase would be that they were aiders, abettors, benefactors of a system of economy run to persecute, annihilate and loot the minorities and prisoners during war.
Memorable passages:
The Topf and Sons memorial is unique in being the only Holocaust memorial on the historic site of a company. ‘This place has a special aura,’ Memorial Director Annegret Schule says. ‘We can show here how easy it is for a human being to ignore his responsibility towards his fellow human beings in his daily work. If I go to the memorial in Buchenwald I cannot identify myself with the SS, because I would never have become a member. But I can relate to people who harm other people by doing their normal jobs. This is happening all the time. Visitors are motivated to think about this. Processes that are completely normal within any companies have led to atrocities.’
Until the autumn of 1939, Oswiecim was an unassuming town with 12,000 non-Jews and 5,000 Jews in an industrial part of Upper Silesia with good railway connections. But the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 transformed the town’s fate in unimaginable ways. Suddenly the Nazi regime had three large, and completely self-created, problems to solve: how to find homes and land for the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of ‘ethnic Germans’ that it agreed with the Soviet Unibion would be allowed to emigrate from the Baltic states and northern Romania; how to manage a large Polish population (which the Nazis regarded as a sub-human species to be traded as slave labor); and what to do with Poland’s two million Jews. The first of these issues had been resolved by the spring of 1940. Poland was divided into two areas - the ‘New Reich,’ technically a part of Germany where ethnic Germans would live in homes and on land Poles had recently been evicted from, and the ‘General Government’ an area that encompassed Warsaw, Krakow and Lublin where Poles would live. Jews would initially be ‘relocated’ to ghettos within the cities - starting with the Lodz ghetto in February 1940. Oswiecim fell within the area designated as the ‘New Reich’ but its industrial landscape meant few ‘ethnic Germans’ would be resettled there. Instead the town was renamed Auschwitz, and its native population moved out to make way for a new concentration camp, initially planned on the site of an old barracks and horse-braking yard.
Yet when Auschwitz’s first and most important commandant stepped off the train on 30 April 1940; he surely had no idea that within the course of five years he would be presiding over the site of the biggest single mass murder in world history. Instead the dream of SS Haupturmfuhrer Rudolf Hoss was the create a model concentration camp, based on the lessons he had learned after six years’ service in the SS, first at Dachau and then Sachsenhausen.
Later Sander would weakly justify his behavior by claiming he was a ‘German engineer’, much like an engineer working in aircraft construction, who felt obliged to use his knowledge ‘in order to help Hitler’s Germany to victory, even if that resulted in the destruction of human life.’
Although furnace construction was excluded from the notice, the first order (from American military after the war) was for a crematorium oven for the city of Erfurt.
‘No one in our company was guilty of anything at all, either morally or objectively. It is no empty phrase when I describe my company and the entirety of its conduct throughout the twelve years of the Hitler regime with the phrase: ‘Morality without Power.’ - Ernst Wolfgang Topf, 1958
March 19, 2019
This was a good follow up to The Tattooist of Auschwitz. The author confirmed some of the same details and it explained so many questions I had.
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