The Making of an SS Killer
The Life of Colonel Alfred Filbert, 1905–1990

The first in-depth biography of a frontline Holocaust perpetrator from one of the SS mobile killing squads.

Alex J. Kay (Author)

9781316601426, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 April 2016

258 pages, 25 b/w illus. 2 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.43 kg

'… a concisely and coherently written, lucid, well-researched, and detailed biographical study of a Holocaust perpetrator … Throughout all chapters, Kay splendidly traces the complicated system of patronage and personal connections that were crucial in the making or breaking of a career under the Nazi regime.' Franziska A. Karpinski, The Journal of Perpetrator Research

In this pioneering biography of a frontline Holocaust perpetrator, Alex J. Kay uncovers the life of SS Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Filbert, responsible as the first head of SS-Einsatzkommando 9, a mobile killing squad, for the murder of more than 18,000 Soviet Jews - men, women and children - on the Eastern Front. He reveals how Filbert, following the political imprisonment of his older brother, set out to prove his own ideological allegiance by displaying particular radicalism in implementing the orders issued by Hitler, Himmler and Heydrich. He also examines Filbert's post-war experiences, first in hiding and then being captured, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Released early, Filbert went on to feature in a controversial film in the lead role of an SS mass murderer. The book provides compelling new insights into the mindset and motivations of the men, like Filbert, who rose through the ranks of the Nazi regime.

Introduction
1. Childhood, youth and early adulthood, 1905–32
2. Nazi Party membership and career in the SS Security Service, 1932–9
3. Brother's imprisonment and career stagnation, 1939–41
4. SS-Einsatzkommando 9 and deployment in the East, June-July 1941
5. Genocide of Belarusian Jewry, July-October 1941
6. Suspension from the Reich Security Main Office and reinstatement until the war's end, 1941–5
7. Post-war submergence and reintegration into West German society, 1945–59
8. Arrest and trial, February 1959–June 1962
9. Imprisonment and early release, 1962–75
10. Wundkanal and aftermath, 1975–90
Concluding thoughts
Sources and literature cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Fascism & Nazism [JPFQ], Jewish studies [JFSR1], The Holocaust [HBTZ1], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]