So I recently read “Death is my Trade” (1952) by Robert Merle, which recounts the story of Rudolph Hoess (alias Lang in the novel), the man who set up the holocaust. Man, what a haunting book. It had so many facets that don”t make it a typical non-fiction biography but an astonishingly modern novel.
When you approach the Holocaust, your instinct is to wonder how ordinary men with families were able to perpetrate such a large scale, industrialized form of murder. That’s what the book is about : how can an ordinary boy grow up to become a nazi cog obsessed with obedience? That’s what made it so interesting, the angle was historical, but primarily psychoanalytical ! It explores the impact of childhood trauma, misery and alienation and how this creates vulnerability that regimes can turn into desperate blind obedience. Yet it’s not overly clinical in its prose, it shows and doesn’t tell, you just follow the life of the main character. The characters and arcs make for a very well-rounded novel. It even has its fair share of cathartic moments that distinguish it from cheap crime books that only fixate on morbid facts.
And Merle doesn’t treat his main character with disgust but a very surprising form of sensitivity. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not apologetic at all, you don’t forgive Hoess, but the book does a great job at making you shake your head at how a human being can be twisted into one simple function : obeying. It explores the effects of extremist religious upbringing, incredible poverty (resulting from the treaty of Versailles, as French people Merle and I gotta aknowledge that), hateful propaganda and other factors that can turn a normal kid into an unfeeling nazi monster. You come to understand the entire holocaust was not a bloodthirsty endeavour to him, but merely his job. It’s quite chilling in that regard. At first, he doesn’t even understand why the SS would hide the project from other administrations. Terrifying, edifying book.
Also, as a sidenote, the book delves into the more practical organization of the holocaust which was pretty interesting. It answers the question of how a few thousand men can murder 6 million people and even attempt at hiding the evidence. I don’t read historical books much and it was my closest look at how a genocide happens since I saw Schindler’s List.
Warning however, the book is not for the light-hearted. You think you know shit because you know about Auschwitz and Nanking but there are still stomach-churning passages in the third act.
Anyway, incredible book. It’s written in a very simple prose that’s still very accessible and contemporary. It’s not very long even though it spans the First World War, the treaty of Versailles, WW2, the Holocaust and the Nuremberg trials. But what makes it so modern is that the lessons it delivers on alienation and maladjustment are still very topical. The Reich didn’t recruit the brightest social butterflies, they preyed on alienated, isolated young men left behind after world war 1 and comforted them with two insidious gifts : the feeling of importance and a simple solution to any existential dread, obedience. Don’t forget, your honor is your obedience.
Man, what a haunting book.
by Dontevenwannacomment