Der SS-Staat

The standard work on Nazi crimes

As a self-proclaimed opponent of National Socialism, Eugen Kogon was deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp in September 1939, where he remained imprisoned until 1945. After his liberation, he worked as a chronicler for the US Army while simultaneously working on a manuscript that he wanted to destroy multiple times due to its horrific content. In 1946, he published the book "The SS State" - a comprehensive account of the atrocities in concentration camps and the first historical analysis of the Nazi terror system. This unique report is based not only on 150 individual protocols but also on Kogon’s own experiences as a concentration camp inmate. Shockingly, precisely, and unflinchingly, it describes one of the darkest chapters of our history, confronting the public for the first time with a reality that had previously been deemed unimaginable. A historical work of the highest order, it is still regarded today as the standard reference on Nazi crimes worldwide.