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Murderous Intellectuals- German Elites and the Nazi SS

Jonathan Maxwell
Millennial Mind Publishing (2009)
ISBN 9781589825635
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads.com (10/09)

Jonathan Maxwell’s “Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS” takes a detailed look at the top leaders of the Holocaust and tries to identify the reasons that this horrific event occurred in an attempt to help prevent future similar events. 

After starting out by presenting a short history of the Holocaust beginning all of the way back in the late 1800’s and continuing through the orders for “the final solution” to be carried out, Maxwell spends the next six chapters taking a closer look at the key players.  He first looks at the group of people that he terms “The Desk Murderers” or those who were not actually out on the fields doing the killing, like Heinrich Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg.  Maxwell then moves on to paint portraits of the SS Doctors, the Nazi Scientists, the Nazi Educators, the Nazi lawyers, and the Nazi soldiers.  After offering profiles of these key individuals, the author presents a number of theories that attempt to explain why these individuals acted in the manner that they did.  Some of the theories proposed include “the Autocratic Nature of German Society,” “Racism and Ethnic Hatred,” and “Excessive Reverence for the Opinions of Social Elites.”

Maxwell’s book looks at the events that took place from an interesting perspective.  His book is unlike any other that I have read on the subject of the Holocaust.  This fresh glimpse into the lives of the key players in this tragedy and the speculation as to what made these people do the things that they did was quite intriguing.  I recommend “Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS” to anyone interested in learning more about the figures behind these mass murders and what might have motivated these people to carry out the terrible acts of violence that they did.  


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