The Pharmacist of Auschwitz Trisha Posner 9781909979413 Books
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The Pharmacist of Auschwitz is the little known story of Victor Capesius, a Bayer pharmaceutical salesman from Romania who, at the age of 35, joined the Nazi SS in 1943 and quickly became the chief pharmacist at the largest death camp, Auschwitz.
Based in part on previously classified documents, Patricia Posner exposes Capesius’s reign of terror at the camp, his escape from justice, fueled in part by his theft of gold ripped from the mouths of corpses, and how a handful of courageous survivors and a single brave prosecutor finally brought him to trial for murder twenty years after the end of the war.
The Pharmacist of Auschwitz is much more, though, than a personal account of Capesius. It provides a spellbinding glimpse inside the devil’s pact made between the Nazis and Germany’s largest conglomerate, I.G. Farben, and its Bayer pharmaceutical subsidiary. The story is one of murder and greed with its roots in the dark heart of the Holocaust. It is told through Nazi henchmen and industrialists turned war criminals, intelligence agents and zealous prosecutors, and intrepid concentration camp survivors and Nazi hunters.
Set against a backdrop ranging from Hitler’s war to conquer Europe to the Final Solution to postwar Germany’s tormented efforts to confront its dark past, Posner shows the appalling depths to which ordinary men descend when they are unrestrained by conscience or any sense of morality. The Pharmacist of Auschwitz is a moving saga that lingers long after the final page.
The Pharmacist of Auschwitz Trisha Posner 9781909979413 Books
In the days before World War II, Victor Capesius was a successful young pharmaceutical salesman whose bosses and customers included many Jews. He was very good at customer service and was quite popular with his clients and his employers. Then Europe was infected with a wave of antisemitism driven by fascists. Jews lost their doctors' licenses and were thrown off the boards of pharmaceutical companies. Capesius, a Lutheran, was not immediately impacted by these changes, but soon he was drafted into Hitler's SS, in which he was assigned to serve as a pharmacist at the Auschwitz concentration camp, one of the major cogs in the Nazi killing machine.Readers will see that at Auschwitz, Capesius degenerated from a seemingly everyday law-abiding citizen into a despicable killer and opportunist. Although he would deny it after the war, Capesuis handled the poisons that were used in the gas chambers and assisted in providing tools and drugs that were used in inhumane medical experiments on the prisoners. He stole gold fillings from corpses and used the money after the war to start his own company. Equally revolting to the Capesius story line is the role of big business in the extermination program. One company, for example, made huge profits by selling the chemicals that were used in the gas chambers. Another company was willing to pay for the results of the cruel medical experiments. Call me naive, but I had never considered that companies profited from the operation of the death camps.
Much of the book is devoted to the lengthy legal proceedings after the war ended. Post-war politics played a big role in who would be charged and who would not. England and the United States wanted a strong West Germany to stand up to the Soviet-backed East Germany. Prosecution of lesser-known war criminals like Capesius took a back seat to rebuilding the economy of West Germany. Capesius wasn't put on trial until the 1950s. Amazingly, it appeared his expensive legal team would succeed in getting him acquitted. He escaped the death penalty, but eventually he served time. Very few business executives were ever convicted of war crimes, and remnants of some of the companies that appeared to be complicit are still in business today. The research behind this book is very thorough, with the survivors' witness testimony being especially painful and compelling. Although the subject matter is depressing, the historical, humanitarian, and legal aspects of the book make it a worthwhile read.
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The Pharmacist of Auschwitz Trisha Posner 9781909979413 Books Reviews
Beautifully researched and documented history of what actually happened at Auschwitz. Highly informative social history, too, in that it follows the case against perpetrators during the holocaust and does not cover up just how negligent the German public was about prosecuting the most heinous criminals, many of whom simply escaped much punishment if any at all. Also, fascinating trip into the apparently deluded state of mind of this man, and the curious support his family continued to give him. Made me realize just how thankful we all should be for Eisenhower, who said, "Photograph all of this, because if you do not, no one will ever believe it!" And, even so, there are the deniers to this day.
This account of a Nazi pharmacist responsible for "selections"--deciding who would live and who would die--and other dreadful acts at Auschwitz reads like a novel. Author Patricia Posner traces the life story of Victor Capesius, an ethnic German from Romania, who became part of the "medical" leadership at Auschwitz. There he was responsible for handling the Zykon B used to kill new arrivals to the camp, and he personally stole gold fillings from the teeth of corpses. Disgustingly, he used the wealth thus acquired to fashion a comfortable life for himself in post-war Germany. This story is well told and readable as a simple narrative, but there is a more profound and important message contained therein. Posner reminds us clearly and graphically how both the United States and Germany sought to sweep Nazi atrocities under the rug after the war, and how they worked actively to assure that responsible individuals and corporations were not punished. I. G. Farben, and its subsidiary Bayer, for whom Capesius worked before the war, and who helped the Nazis in innumerable ways, were not held accountable for their actions. In a rush to reestablish Germany business and focus attention on Communism, both the US and Germany surrendered to moral cowardice and expediency. Rather than punish those, like Capesius, responsible for killing millions of Jews and others, nearly all corporate and legal elites who had directly aided and benefited from the Final Solution were reintegrated into Germany's ruling class, as the US and German governments sought to pretend the past did not occur. Posner surely did not intend this when she began "The Pharmacist of Auschwitz," but it's a clear warning to American citizens today of what happened, what can happen, what is happening now again in a morally blind US. Read this book as a historical story, or read it as an exercise in moral development. Either way, it's a great read.
I love reading history, but I do not normally read history from a century during which I lived. This book reminds me why.
This book is well-written and a compelling read. It is also uncomfortable to read. Knowing this man was once a neighbor, well-regarded and considered a decent man by those he worked with and then witnessing his deeds and behavior during his trial describes the textbook sociopath. However, if he is a sociopath, then every individual who served the Third Reich would have to be labeled the same, and that is statistically impossible.
It is easier to reconcile the evil man does to whole swathes of humanity when viewed through the lens of ancient history, but quite another when you realize sane people living in your "own time" can commit such horrors and behave as if in wonder why such a fuss is made. I was quite stunned to see pharma giant Bayer - still successful and very much respected - play such a huge role in the Holocaust. Makes me wonder how they walked away unscathed. Maybe I will have to find a book about that.
In the days before World War II, Victor Capesius was a successful young pharmaceutical salesman whose bosses and customers included many Jews. He was very good at customer service and was quite popular with his clients and his employers. Then Europe was infected with a wave of antisemitism driven by fascists. Jews lost their doctors' licenses and were thrown off the boards of pharmaceutical companies. Capesius, a Lutheran, was not immediately impacted by these changes, but soon he was drafted into Hitler's SS, in which he was assigned to serve as a pharmacist at the Auschwitz concentration camp, one of the major cogs in the Nazi killing machine.
Readers will see that at Auschwitz, Capesius degenerated from a seemingly everyday law-abiding citizen into a despicable killer and opportunist. Although he would deny it after the war, Capesuis handled the poisons that were used in the gas chambers and assisted in providing tools and drugs that were used in inhumane medical experiments on the prisoners. He stole gold fillings from corpses and used the money after the war to start his own company. Equally revolting to the Capesius story line is the role of big business in the extermination program. One company, for example, made huge profits by selling the chemicals that were used in the gas chambers. Another company was willing to pay for the results of the cruel medical experiments. Call me naive, but I had never considered that companies profited from the operation of the death camps.
Much of the book is devoted to the lengthy legal proceedings after the war ended. Post-war politics played a big role in who would be charged and who would not. England and the United States wanted a strong West Germany to stand up to the Soviet-backed East Germany. Prosecution of lesser-known war criminals like Capesius took a back seat to rebuilding the economy of West Germany. Capesius wasn't put on trial until the 1950s. Amazingly, it appeared his expensive legal team would succeed in getting him acquitted. He escaped the death penalty, but eventually he served time. Very few business executives were ever convicted of war crimes, and remnants of some of the companies that appeared to be complicit are still in business today. The research behind this book is very thorough, with the survivors' witness testimony being especially painful and compelling. Although the subject matter is depressing, the historical, humanitarian, and legal aspects of the book make it a worthwhile read.
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