Longtime readers will know that I have really liked most of the history series by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. I decided to check out Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History as a followup to reading Young Hitler: The Making of a Fuhrer.

I wasn’t sure what to expect because some of the books in this series are seriously great looks at history with fresh and unique information while others are just repackaged to take advantage of fans like me. This one was mostly good.

I did glean some really good information and learned a lot about what happened to former SS officers following the war. I knew that many countries treated the end of the war as a draft lottery for scientists but this book shows that it was much more planned, strategic and widespread than I imagined.

The real interesting part of the book was reading about Israel’s response (both public and private) to the search for these war criminals. At times it seemed like an afterthought pursued by only a few doggedly determined hunters. Other times, it was a well thought-out and funded plan to murder – not bring to justice – former SS. I am not going to go into whether or not their murder is justice… it just surprised me.

Overall, this was a good read that had very little “filler” material.

by Chris Doelle