This is a brave and challenging book. Other reviews have done admirable service relating the contents of the book as well as the editing shortcomings. In my review I would like to address my reactions as I read the book and how reading this book has benefitted me.

This book is not for the faint hearted for two reasons: it is full of grusome details, and, more importantly, it may challenge all you have been led to believe.

I read the book in four nights so as not to lose the momentum of the story. At first I was put off by the endless pages of atrocities and wondered why MacDonogh has started out with them. I knew most of it anyway although a few of the stories moved me, such as the man who returned home at last, only to find the skeletons of his family hanging from the trees. But I realize in retrospect that MacDonogh was trying to create the feeling of Chaos, indeed the first part of the book is called such.

As MacDonogh moves on to describe life for the Germans in the individual national zones, a more concrete picture of the degree of insanity he is portraying begins to emerge. Every nation was in confusion and turmoil as reflected by the impossible situations in the camps. There seemed to be no way forward.

MacDonogh moves on to the the years of 1945-46 and the black markets and horrific winters that all, conqueror and conquered, had to endure. His inclusion of the attempt to reestablish arts is a welcome addition to knowledge of this time period, something I did not know.

The covering of the trials was a bit patchy and hard to follow, perhaps written by a different researcher. I enjoyed the ending and thought it brought a lot together. Concluding with the air lift and the establishment of the Cold War was the obvious place to end.

I am glad I bought and read this book along with other books on the subject. It is a story that has needs to be heard more often, lest we forget. It is not about anti-Americanism. And for those looking for context, did you not read the introduction? Indeed, you probably did not even read the book.

Patton was right, America fought the wrong enemy. There is so much more to the story that may never be made public. But this is as good a starting place as any.

The book benefitted me in several ways. To know someone is seeking the true story is always positive. I was interested to know more about Truman's and Churchill's participation and the information on Morganthau was new. This book does not try to avoid anyone's guilt, rather in seeking greater understanding of a fiendish, little understood, catastrophe in human history, it lets us all see a little more of ourselves. Most importantly, it enables us to analyze current events with a clearer knowledge of historical precedents. Thank you, Mr MacDonogh, for your efforts.

And thank you Amazon for allowing us, the average reader, an opportunity to share our thoughts publicly.

I have no doubt that much of what Mr. MacDonogh has researched is true. A friend who lived in Danzig before, during, and after the war talked about much of the same type of brutality.

If you're going to pick up this book be prepared for a few things:

- frequent descriptions of rape (mass rape, gang rape....)

- utterly pretentious language mixed with the most peculiar colloquialisms (to the point of simply not understanding the author's meaning,) and sentences with multiple pronouns and no antecedents making many passages somewhere between incoherent and just damned frustrating.

- paragraphs that mix so many bits and pieces of different barely related stories or facts that one thinks the 'return' key was used purely at random.

The content is eye opening, disturbing, and controversial. It depicts a side of the late 1940s most of us have never learned - after all, history is written by the victors.

But there is NO excuse for a book of this magnitude to have been so poorly edited. In some areas it reads like a series of note cards taped together. In other places it reads like the harangue of an axe grinding blogger. The result: the book fails to shape an understanding of how or why such atrocities took place by 'the good guys.' The inconsistency of the writing not only makes the book difficult to read, but sometimes difficult to believe.

I'm curious if the problem was a poor editor - or a writer unable to take the advice of a good editor.

Read the book - be infuriated by the actions of the Allies ... but be prepared for a poor and confusing read.

The author would have been spared any negative reviewer criticism if he had included prominently the required acknowledgement that nothing is, was, or ever could be worse than whatever the Jews suffered in WWII. If he had gone further and stated that the Germans deserved to be starved, raped, abused, and millions killed off by neglect and design of their captors, he would have turned the criticism into praise, whatever else he wrote after that.

In this book, you'll find no hypocrisy or ignoring of known atrocities directed at the Germans after the war. The Germans were subjected to planned and obvious attempts to punish them, for the sole purpose of extracting retribution/vengenance. It could be argued that the abysmal sinking of humanity, displayed by those efforts, were even lower than the actions the Germans were accused of as having committed during the war. But that won't be found in this book because this book is about truth, not about convincing the reader that the Jews were the principal and only significant victim of WWII, the only acceptable thesis when discussing war atrocities.

If you like to read truth with no spin, this book is for you. If you're looking for a another book waxing poetic about Jewish suffering, you'll be sadly disappointed. Here, you'll find the true actions of people who claimed to be better than the Germans, then set about to prove that they could set new standards in brutality, eclipsing the worst the Germans ever dished out.

Minutes after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, a co-worker from Australia told me that the attacks were directed against "tax-paying citizens" who supported the "murderous" policies of the American government. Any individual who chooses to live and work in the United States is therefore, whether they are conscious of it or not, giving support to any action or policy of the government. They are thus implicitly guilty for any government actions and hence legitimate targets for those who have experienced repression or violence due to these actions.

This is the "collective guilt" hypothesis and has found many adherents throughout history, and as this book outlines in gruesome detail, was manifested in the aftermath of World War II. Confident of victory and bent on revenge, many commanders and soldiers in the Allied forces proceeded to take their frustrations out on whoever was left in Germany, with sex and age not being an impediment. It did not matter whether or not German citizens had consciously supported the Nazi government, or whether they did so out of fear for their lives and the lives of their families. As the author remarks, just the ability to speak German frequently was proof enough of this support. The carnage against Germans in post-war Europe was unrelenting, with rapes, crucifixions, hangings, forced starvation, and forced marches being widespread and taking place with great enthusiasm by Russian, British, and American troops of occupation. Having endured incredible hardships in battle they did not hesitate to take matters in their own hands and direct their anger towards those who "supported" the German government. Women were "responsible" for giving birth to German soldiers, so they must be punished accordingly. Male children could grow up to be German soldiers, so they must be prevented from doing so. Female children could grow up and produce more German soldiers, so they must be prevented from doing so. Nuns represented the Catholic "support" for the Nazi Reich, so they must be raped or beaten up without reservation. Even German Jews were subjected to mistreatment, as if they had not suffered enough: many were prevented from immigrating to Palestine due to British fears that they would join a movement to overthrow British control of Palestine.

This is a book that cannot be read during eating time. This reviewer attempted this and failed. There is too much horror inside its covers to allow any vestige of peace of mind during its perusal. But it is a book that should be read by anyone insisting upon a true picture of history, no matter how it perturbs their emotional or mental equilibrium. The reader will learn that the Soviet Red Army "raped wherever it went"; of fifty thousand citizens of Hamburg who in two days in 1943 were slaughtered by British and American weapons of mass destruction; of the rape of almost three thousand women by French soldiers in Stuttgart; of the Brno death march, wherein over twenty-five thousand Germans were forced by revengeful Czechs to march several miles, beaten, harassed, and starved along the way; of the estimated 240,000 German Bohemian and Moravian deaths by the Czechs; of the beheadings of over a thousand people in Konigsberg by the Russians; and of the famous `Operation Paperclip' that involved the seizure of scientific equipment and kidnapping of German scientists by American occupation forces.

The actions of the Allied soldiers who participated in this carnage were reprehensible, with no moral justification whatsoever, and one could go on forever in condemning these actions. Needless to say these events are not reported in American textbooks used in elementary, middle, and high schools. For the most part they are ignored in college history classes also. It would seem that there is an attempt to forget they happened, which is ironic considering the penalties that one can obtain in some European countries for denying the history of the Holocaust. But like the horror of the Holocaust the carnage of the Allied occupation must reside in historical memory for all time. The alternative is a distorted and therefore useless picture of what actually happened during that time, with the horrific possibility that these actions be emulated in the future.

This was deliberate policy, as the Germans believed in a "stab in the back" theory about the end of ww1. If the allies had done this in 1918 there would not have been a second war. They needed a beating.

How true is that history is written by the victors - and the fact that MacDonogh has admirably enveavoured to give us the other side of the story is in itself admirable. Excellent research on atrocities committed just before and after the guns and bombs had silenced over Europe in May 1945. For an equally good account, to my mind somewhat more condensed than this one I also can highly recommend Doughlas Botting's "In the Ruins of the Reich"

I'm disgusted at the selfish, biased and brain-dead reviews of the leftists that give this book one star because they hate anything that could possibly make the Allies look bad or the Germans look like victims, because their selfish stuck-up elitist views of the world might possibly be challenged.

I had a grandfather and a great grandfather on BOTH sides tell me similar stories. My Great grandfather made it out alive, but with nothing. The Russians stopped their train 30 times in 15 miles, and each time came on board and took what they wanted, even worthless items, one which held cut emeralds that he traded his home and land and all his family possessions for. The Russians were cruel, taking family photos and burning them on the train. A few that protested were shot, bodies left in the seats in the crowded train. My grandfather, of the 8th, then 11th US AAC, told stories of the black market, mostly food and cigarettes (at 50 USD to 100 USD per carton!), and the loot everyone sent home day after day.

For those that don't believe the rapes, you are ignorant. Even the liberal Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a piece on a local woman who wanted to find her rapist Russian father. The evidence is irrefutable.

This book is more detailed than "OTHER LOSSES", and a sad treat to read.

After the Reich: The Brutal History of The Allied Occupation

The truth about what actually happened in Germany immediately after WW2 was and still is hardly known in most other European countries. One was obviously pre-occupied with one's own problems. This detailed study can be considered as a true eye-opener.

I share some of the contextual concerns raised by the Washington Post review, yet I also agree that the author is not obligated to retell facts that are widely known in a book devoted to exposing facts that are not widely known. So I sympathize with the plight of the author, who took on an ambitious topic and has written a highly thought-provoking, sobering look at the costs of war.

But I do think that the book fails to live up to its premise, or to the topic that it hoped to cover. For my money, I will take Gunter Grass' illuminating, brilliantly written account of what it was like to be a German POW in Allied hands after the war, the unforgettable account of the imaginary meals that would be prepared by a German master chef also in Allied captivity, than anything written here.

I find the author's writing style to be so dry, so clinical, sometimes repetitive, that it badly calls out for a decent editor. I cannot follow the chapters, sometimes they appear to be about the same thing, and there are passages that go on forever, calling out for better organization and, to be frank, just better writing.

But I thank him for bringing to light an amazing story and collecting personal testimony that is heart-rendering and that needs to be told. I just wish someone else takes on this topic and does a better job with it.

"By May 7, 1945 at least 1,800,000 German civilians had perished and 3,600,000 homes had been destroyed (20% of total), leaving 7.5 million homeless. As many as 16.5 million Germans were to be driven from their homes. Of these some 2,250,000 would die during the expulsions from the south and east."

In most history books, the word "pillage" is supposed to convey to the reader all sorts of terrible things. I didn't even imagine that rape was one of them until long after college. If you've ever wondered what the word pillage actually means, at any time or place of war and its aftermath, read this book - it has all the details.

Having seen horrifying WWII Holocaust footage since I was nine years old, and having read Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans & the Holocaust", I thought I'd have no problem reading about German's getting their comeuppance at the hands of the allies after the war ended.

But reading the stories of survivors about brutal rapes, starvation, beating, suicides, and enslavement upset me so much I could only skim some of the book.

Soldiers, especially the Russians, brutally raped women from 7 to 80 years old, as revenge for what Germans did to them. Polish and Russian brigands formed robber gangs and attacked isolated farm houses at night. Russians also took more booty of all kinds back with them as "repayment" than any other occupying force. As MacDonogh puts it "virtually every sewing machine, gramophone, and wireless" was taken East (as well as millions of tons of industrial machinery). Certainly, the Nazis took a lot of art as booty, but "they were amateurs compared to the Red Army" according to MacDonogh. Unfortunately, much of what the Russians took was destroyed in fighting, burning down the remaining architectural treasures, or through sheer negligence.

Though whatever the Russians took paled in comparison to Napoleon Bonaparte, the greatest art thief of all time.

But not just the Russians -- all of the occupying forces - British, American, French, etc., if not outright taking valuables, traded food, cigarettes, and other black market items for German treasures.

After any war, the black market thrives, as people desperate to survive barter for goods. There was very little food after the war available to Germans. In urban areas, the black market thrived near rail road stations, which were also places where prostitution thrived and the homeless lived. Cigarettes became the main currency, but other popular items to trade were soap, gum, butter, flour, coffee, chocolate, alcohol, wood, and oranges. But you had to beware - some tins contained nothing but filth or the goods might be rotten. Many fabulously rich West Germans got their start in WWII black markets.

Another way to survive was to steal food or coal. Many Germans died of cold - over 60,000 in the cold 1946-47 winter alone, especially those over 60 who were most susceptible to hypothermia, though quite a few in their fifties and forties also succumbed to the cold as well.

Special trains took town and city folk to country areas to trade with farmers, who preferred that over taking the risk of going to the city and having all of their produce stolen. If no farmers were around, city folk harvest their crops and paid nothing for them. The Farmers didn't trust money - you had to exchange useful goods. Farmers also converted their crops to alcohol, apple schnapps was a popular and profitable beverage for them.

To prevent rape, women made themselves as unattractive as possible. Another strategy some young women took was to sleep with as high a Russian officer as possible for protection. Women in general sought out military men of all the occupying forces for many reasons, for food, and also companionship as so many German men had died in the war.

Many women committed suicide rather than be raped, or killed themselves afterwards - there are many tales not only of women but whole families killing themselves. The mistreated foreign workers, who'd been forced to work in Germany while the men fought, often informed Russian soldiers where to find women to rape and alcohol and food to plunder. Liquor was greatly sought after, few people were able to hide the wine in their cellars from rampaging soldiers, and this made raping even more brutal and frequent.

Germany was so destroyed by bombs that towns often had few homes remaining, and the occupying forces took over these, especially the best homes. Even those homes that survived were often destroyed, and people lived in ruins or even holes in the ground, especially orphaned children.

After the occupation, Germans were often forced into work duty, such as digging graves for ten or more hours with little food or water, so some people took to wearing fake slings.

The saga of how the great powers intended to divide Germany up is worth reading and covered in the first part of the book. Some wanted to destroy the industrial base entirely, forcing Germany to be an Agrarian nation. Others wanted to divide Germany into 4 or 5 different states. Truman saw the worst plans for Germany as "an act of revenge" and rejected them. Each nation wanted something -- France wanted German coal (among other things), and the bargaining began long before the war ended between the nations.

Much of the hardship to Germans came to those expelled from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia after the war, the details are covered in Chapters 4 and 5.

The major failing of the book for me was that MacDonogh writes almost nothing about the tens of millions of deaths caused by the Nazis. It's well-known that ordinary Germans were fully aware and even complicit in what was going on in the death camps, yet the book only has accounts of survivors who claim to have known nothing of what was going on in the concentration camps.

Interesting, flawed, and slanted view of events which includes questionable facts and scholarship. A far superior work is Endgame - 1945 by David Stafford but this is certainly a unique addition to Second World War histories (though "history" may not be appropriate to this work.) Read the Washington Post Book World review and others by scholars of the period for professional opinions of this book.

A lot has been written about World War II, and some has even been written about the aftermath regarding the development of the Cold War. However, there is not a lot of published information giving an overall view of the occupation of Germany and the development of the divided country that lasted for 40 years. After the Reich, by Giles MacDonogh, rectifies that fact. It is heavily sourced, examining individual accounts as well as publications covering certain aspects of the occupation to give a broad overview of the horrors that developed and the neglect and outright savagery that caused the deaths of huge numbers of Germans in the aftermath of the war. MacDonogh gives a vivid yet very depressing picture showing that inhumanity was not limited to the Nazis.

MacDonogh begins the book with the months leading up to the end of the war, as the Soviets were advancing through Poland and eastern Germany, raping and pillaging as much as possible. Revenge was a common motive, vengeance for every inhumane act the Nazis perpetrated on the Soviets during the almost four years of war. Others just gave into their baser instincts. Heavily covered in this book, both at the beginning as well as throughout the text, is how Austria figured into the whole issue. Many on both sides saw the Austrians almost as guilty as the Germans for what happened, yet it was always treated slightly differently.

This makes the beginning of the book quite heavy. While MacDonogh obviously doesn't go into details of individual rapes, the near-constant refrain about the rape and pillaging, both from individual accounts as well as statistical ones, constantly wears on the reader. However, it also gets across just horrible life in Germany and Austria was in the few months after the war ended. He also details the mass starvation that was happening, as the populace lived on the bare minimum (and sometimes less) that allows sustenance. Hundreds of thousands died in this aftermath, and some thought `good riddance" to a population that they blamed for the war. This idea of "collective guilt" for the German populace is also examined by MacDonogh, where he presents figures from both sides of the controversy on whether the German civilians should be treated as a conquered people or as victims of the Nazi horror machine.

This is where After the Reich really becomes interesting, as MacDonogh details the political machinations of both sides (American/British/French against the Soviets) as they jockey for position. Stalin wanted a united Germany that acted as a buffer between the West and Poland/Czechoslovakia (where he was busy installing Communist rule), while the other Allies desperately resisted this idea, for various reasons. The French did not want a united Germany on their doorstep again, while the British and Americans did not want a prospective Soviet ally that close to France. All of this information is clearly presented by MacDonogh in a very interesting fashion.

MacDonogh ends After the Reich with the Berlin crisis and the massive airlift to keep the Soviets from taking over the entire city. Much like Germany itself, Berlin was divided into four occupation zones, but the Soviets tried to force the other Allies out in 1948 by blockading the land route from the Western zones to the city itself. This chapter is actually rather brief, but it's brimming with information. While a more detailed account can probably be found in a book on the Airlift itself, MacDonogh does an excellent job of covering the story well enough for the reader to know why it happened and how it was resolved.

After the Reich is a very important book in a number of ways. It shows us the horrors of trying to rebuild a country that's been devastated by war and its own government's evil, as well as demonstrating that all sides in war are capable of atrocities. We also see how human many of these people who commit these atrocities are. One of the most interesting chapters is on the Nuremburg trials and how the big guys (Goering, Hess, and others) treated the trials. Goering is shown scoffing at everything, Hess pretends to have lost his memory, and they all seem very human. Because of this, they seem even more evil. After the Reich is a riveting overview of the immediate postwar history of Germany, and it's valuable for that..

David Roy

I am not a particularly well-read history buff, so I am not familiar with other books about this subject and cannot make any kind of informed comparison. But I can say that MacDonogh's book offers a gripping, fact-based, and unflinching account of what happened to and worse, what was actively done to German POWs and civilians at the end of WW2 and in its immediate aftermath. Using a variety of official and eyewitness accounts - diaries and reporting by American observers, including John Dos Passos - he describes the starvation, looting, raping, torture, abuse, and general degradation of millions of people, many of them quite innocent, that took place at the hands of the victors. He is no apologist for Nazi crimes; he simply reports on what the Russian, American, British, and French armies actually did, much of it not widely reported, as they pushed into Germany and took over. He also describes the vicious abuses perpetrated by lawless civilians in places like Czechoslovakia and Poland. It is not a pretty picture - indeed, it is difficult to read, in places, because of the sheer level of atrocity that took place: women killing themselves and their children; British troops reluctanty rounding up thousands of people and turning them over to the Russians, who clearly intend to kill them all; people stripped of their clothes and freezing to death in freight cars as they're transported from the East back to Germany; women raped (sadly, by American and French troops as well as by Russians).
The book also reviews the long series of Nuremberg trials, describing how many Nazi bigwigs were only half-heartedly prosecuted - or managed to kill themselves before facing trial.
MacDonogh has done a great deal of research for this book, all of it documented, and because he is fluent in German and familiar with its history and culture, he is able to tell a compelling and therefore quite disturbing story.

_After the Reich: The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation_, published in 2007 by British journalist and historian Giles Macdonogh, is an important and taboo breaking book revealing the atrocities committed by the Allied nations following the downfall of the Third Reich. The unique factor of this book is that it is written by a mainstream historian seeking an objective perspective on the history of post-Nazi Germany. As the author explains in the Preface to this book, "This book is about the history of the Germans in defeat" and as such it will seek to show the horrors inflicted on the German people following the Third Reich. However, to do so it is necessary to make sense of the notion of collective guilt. Many historians have maintained that the Germans "deserved what they got" because of their supposed part in bringing Hitler to power and for the crimes of Hitler and the Nazis. The author on the other hand attempts to show that such notions are specious and that the vast majority of Germans who bore the brunt of Allied terror were largely innocent. In fact, some of the worst offenders were allowed to go free, while countless innocent women and children suffered for the alleged crimes of the German nation. Some of the worst atrocities committed against the German people include the notorious rapes of German women by Soviet soldiers. Further, the ultimate results of the Second World War did not pan out well for the German nation given that a large part of Germany came under the control of the Soviets, arguably worse tyrants than the Nazis had been. While Hitler certainly did not serve the German people well, it is clear that the hands of the Allies are by no means clean in this matter and the subsequent Cold War which resulted was largely a waste. To show such things, the author relies extensively on such sources as German authors, thinkers, and philosophers including such individuals as Ernst Junger, Heinrich Boll, Gunther Grass, Thomas Mann, Karl Jaspers, and Carl Schmitt who personally went through much of the subsequent Allied occupation and recorded the events that took place under it. This book remains important for what it reveals about Allied atrocities and ultimately remains a testament to the horrors of war.

This book begins with a Preface in which the author explains his understanding of the events following the demise of the Third Reich in 1945. The author notes what he means by Germany, including all German-speaking peoples in this category and including Austria among them. The author also discusses ideas concerning the notion of "collective guilt", emphasizing the severe problematic with this notion and with the idea that many innocent people who had not supported (or even operated against) the Nazis would be lumped in with others, including countless children. In the Introduction to this book, the author goes over the demise of National Socialism noting the claims of the Allies to be "liberators" and finding fault with such claims. The author explains the ideas of Robert Vansitartt in attributing collective guilt to the German nation and blaming the Germans for both world wars. The author also explains the Morgenthau Plan of Henry Morgenthau and notes the role of Jewish suffering in the believed need for retaliation. The author also examines the situation as it existed in Austria at this time. The first part of this book is entitled "Chaos" and discusses the period following the fall of the Third Reich. The author begins by considering the fall of Vienna, noting the role of the Red Army. The author then considers liberated central Europe in 1945. The author discusses such things as liberation from the East, liberation from the West, the role of the Werewolfs in resisting the Allies (which was largely limited), and the role of the Allies in plundering the bones and relics of German nobility. The author provides graphic details of the rapes of German women, rampant prostitution, and general social misery. The author next turns to the situation in Berlin, mentioning the role of the Red Army and again providing graphic and shocking detail from the time. In particular, Russian soldiers showed little concern for the general welfare of the German people and would frequently force themselves upon German women. Following this, the author turns to the situation as it existed in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. The author again provides graphic details from the time period and mentions instances of "concentration camps" in Czechoslovakia where German prisoners were detained which are particularly graphic and gruesome. The author also discusses recovered territories in the Prussian East. The second part of this book is entitled "Allied Zones" and discusses life in Russian, American, British, and French zones as well as Austria's zones and sectors and life in all four zones. The author provides graphic details of the harsh realities of life under the occupation in the different Allied occupied zones. The author also explains the reactions of the Germans to each of the different occupying powers and their relationships with them. The author also describes the role of German women and the ban on "frat" (fraternizing with the Germans) for the Allied soldiers which played an important role during this period. The third part of this book is entitled "Crime and Punishment" and discusses the crimes and punishments of the Nazis convicted of war crimes and other atrocities. First, the author discusses the idea of guilt, the process of de-nazification, and the role of Allied propaganda. The author raises difficult questions that the Germans faced concerning the crimes of Hitler and his cronies. Following this, the author turns to the black market (mentioning the role of an underground economy) and the stealing of artworks and paintings by Allied occupiers (many of which had already been stolen by Nazis). Following this, the author turns to the status of German POWs, noting the role of the Allied camps and their particular brutality. The author also explains the problems faced by German women at the time in a nation in which they were largely deprived of German men. Following this, the author turns to the trials at Nuremberg of the worst Nazi offenders. The author mentions the role of international law in trying and convicting German Nazis of war crimes and other crimes. However, the Allies faced a particular problem in the issue of nulla poena sine lege ("there is no crime without laws") and had to find a way around this in order to convict the Nazi offenders. The author also mentions the role of smaller time Nazi criminals and the attempts to bring them to justice by the Allies (which quite often were farcical in nature). The fourth part of this book is entitled "The Road to Freedom" and deals with the fate of Germany following the defeat of the Third Reich. The author mentions the peacemaking at Potsdam and the Yalta conference, noting the particular stubbornness of Stalin as well as the role of Truman, de Gaulle, and Churchill. The author also mentions the economic situation in Germany as it existed at the time and the particularly harsh winter of 1946-7 ("the great freeze") and the horrendous conditions faced by Germans at the time. The author also mentions the Berlin airlift and attempts to reinvigorate the economy of Germany. The book ends with a Conclusion in which the author sizes up the situation in Germany following the Allied occupation, mentioning the role of the Soviets and Stalin in particular, as well as the coming European Union and the role of Germany in it.

This book offers an often gruesome and graphic account of the history of Germany under the Allied occupation following the demise of the Third Reich. While many Germans were indeed guilty of great crimes following the Second World War, there were also many who were innocent (including women and children). Many of these innocents faced horrendous atrocities at the hands of the Allies (in particular women who were frequently raped by Russian soldiers). As such, this book speaks to the true horrors of war and reveals war for the horror that it indeed truly is. This book remains important because it represents the attempt of a mainstream historian to tackle these difficult issues as they concern the role of the Allies in the aftermath of the Third Reich. As such it is to be highly recommended for all those concerned about the horrors of war and the fate of Germany and the world following the Second World War.

An excellent book. It reports in great detail a long ignored chapter of European history. I can only confirm some of what has been reported, having been an eye witness to the horrors of World War II and its aftermath myself.

History is not selective, it happens on both sides of wars, and WWII is no exception.

Mr. McDonogh's book is supported by witnesses of WWII who are still living. Among them is Gudrun Everett and her recent autobiography "I can't forget: a Journey through Nazi Germany and WWII," where she tells her personal story of a 400-mile trek that began in Nazi-occupied Poland to escape from the advancing Soviets, and her description of Occupation Forces on both sides, the great post-war suffering by Germans, and of a country that eventually was to be devided by an Iron Curtain.

Mr. McDonogh's book is important in documenting the personal experiences of such authors and thereby 20th century history - from all sides.

This grim book is one which should be read. One should not be surprised that it can arouse strong emotions, many of which are on display in some of the other, often lengthy, reviews on these web pages. This reader, a non-historian whose ethnicity and age place him far from the fray which can arouse such emotions, found the book answered his questions--those of a disinterested, but curious amateur. Macdonogh uses a direct journalistic style to lay out a fact-based case that the allied occupation of Germany was a harsh one. This should not come as a surprise, but one rarely hears of any of the details. They should be known, and they are highly unpleasant. They also have resonance in present-day Iraq. Moreover, the case he presents is consistent with a few conversations I have had with American enlisted men of my father's generation, as well as that of a close colleague who grew up hungry in a displaced persons' camp because he was a four-year-old who spoke German, but did not live in Germany.

I can quibble with a few elements of style: occasionally, the author displayed the uncomfortable whiff of aristocratic aloofness, for some unknown reason he informed us when American soldiers in his narrative happened to be black, and I occasionally would have preferred to learn how a broader range of historians have treated this era. These are minor points, and should not prevent the interested reader from buying this worthy book.

Haven't had a chance to read this book,although I intend to soon.
Up front,however, I'd like to say I've never felt any sympathy for any German,civilian or soldier. What were Russian soldiers doing in Germany in the first place?They were there because their country was invaded by a bunch of genocidal maniacs who regarded every Slav as subhuman,fit for only slavery or murder.(And the slaughter was NOT the work of a bunch of fanatical SS men.Tens of thousands of ordinary German soldiers cheerfully participated in mass shootings and other unspeakable atrocities.At home German civilians used deported civilians from occupied countries as expendable slave labor.) As they witnessed the handiwork of the poor,suffering German soldiers (and civilians!) in their own country and in the countries which they liberated as they marched into the Reich many Red Army men developed a raging desire for revenge-go figure!Germany could have fared much worse.The civilized world would have been justified in sowing their land with salt,as the Romans did Carthage,and sending the surviving population off to Russia as slaves to repair the damage they did.In fact,that might have been a better solution than the one arrived at by the victors.Why not turn Germany over to the Jews?.Anyone feeling sympathy for them should read a few books on how they treated the civilians in Poland,and Russia (and Denmak,and Belgium...)

"After the Reich" is one of the first books to tackle the Occupation, from 1945 through roughly 1948, and the author is nothing if not thorough. The problem? The book tries to skirt the line between academic and popular history, and doesn't quite succeed on either score. At times, the author wallows in minutia, tosses about phrases in German, French, and even Latin (without translation), and generally falls prey to the academic historian's tendency to plow through a topic in strict A, B, C linear fashion. But once you get through the first half of the book, the author shakes off these trappings and starts telling us the real story--how people were truly affected, the political backbiting among the allies, how the West caved to the Russians, tart commentary about the French, and more. So this is worth the read, but be prepared to skim the first half of the book.

After reading this book I found myself confused. It was obviously one of the worst histories ever written of the World War II era but what was worse, the naked pro-Nazi angle or the terrible inaccuracies and poor editing found withing.

Let me start with what I see as the pro-Nazi angle. Mr. MacDonogh tries to convince us that the Germans had fought this honorable war and then when invaded by the allied armies who raped, pillaged and rampaged their way throughout Germany. He pays short attention to the Nazi crimes done in the name of the German people and supported by many of them. For each mention of the Holocaust there are several mentions of supposed allied war crimes which the British are interestingly not as invested in as the American's, French or Russians.

So it might be better to say that the author is also overtly pro-British as he attributes the allied victory and successful rehabilitation of Germany to Britain and makes no mention at all of the Marshall Plan. Also, the author maintains that the US Army threw out food rather than give it to the German people. This is out and out false. My father served in Germany in 1945-46 as a supply cook and can attest to the exact opposite being what was done.

Aside from his belief that the Nazi's suffered terribly and did nothing to deserve this fate, there are several errors such as calling the US Military Academy westpoint and not West Point. I suggest that in the future Mr. MacDonogh get his facts straight and hire a better editor.

I am very aware of the horrendous crimes the Nazi army division SS had committed on Jews in general, and on other people who opposed them. I am also aware of the many terrible deaths due to the Nazi military invasions in Poland, Belarus, and Russia. These facts are widely known, Mr. MacDonogh is a historian so he also knows that. However, the terrible crimes committed by Nazi war criminals cannot mean that one is not allowed to mention the terrible crimes committed on German civilians in the aftermath of the war, and for some German minorities during and at the beginning of the war. Overall, we are talking about 70 million Germans who lived back then. Yes, amongst them there were millions of Germans who had not been war criminals and who were not responsible for the horrendous crimes committed during the Nazi dictatorship. And yes, millions of these people had to endure a collectivist "revenge", which in many cases meant awful rape, torture and murder of men, women and children alike. At first sight, if one remembers the horrific and unique Holocaust this "reaction" seems justifiable (for the war criminals it would certainly be, but not for the millions of others), but at the same time it's collectivist nature clearly remains wrong and sharply violates basic human rights. And very importantly, most Jews who survived the Holocaust did never engage in such revenge (sometimes even the German Jews who had survived the Holocaust were expelled). In some cases it was even Nazi collaborators who engaged in "revenge". I also want to remind the public, that many people in Eastern Europe did not engage in "revenge". It was some people and politicians who are responsible for the way things worked out for these civilians, and some people who profited from it. Thus, also this collectivist "revenge" was not committed by just everybody. I do recommend Giles MacDonogh's After the Reich: The Brutal History of The Allied Occupation, I also recommend A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, Second Edition, Fully Revised and Updated by Alfred-Maurice de Zayas. In addition, I recommend the memoirs by Lev Kopelev (The Education of a True Believer and To be preserved forever), a Russian-Jewish humanist who had protested the violence against German civilians by the Soviet army in East Prussia and who was consequently sentenced with 10 years in Soviet labor camps, and Victor Gollancz's work Our Threatened Values. On the contrary, as opposed to the topic Dresden (which has some important moral implications due to its late occurence), I do not necessarily recommend the releases "The End: Hamburg 1943" or "Inferno: The fiery destruction of Hamburg 1943", because they merely have documentary value and treat events which are good to know, yet not challenging to the same degree. To say MacDonogh's release were anti-American is firstly baseless, and secondly means to completely miss the point. On the contrary, the book applies American values such as human rights of the individual regardless of ethnic heritage. Apart from that, "comprehensibility" (in the context of revengeful feelings and propaganda at the time) and "justifiability" (ok'ing crimes in the legal and moral sense, even today) of collective, ethnically-based "revenge" are two distinct issues which shouldn't be mixed up.

I am very aware of the horrendous crimes the Nazi army division SS had committed on Jews in general, and on other people who opposed them. I am also aware of the many terrible deaths due to the Nazi military invasions in Poland, Belarus, and Russia. These facts are widely known, Mr. MacDonogh is a historian so he also knows that. However, the terrible crimes committed by Nazi war criminals cannot mean that one is not allowed to mention the terrible crimes committed on German civilians in the aftermath of the war, and for some German minorities during and at the beginning of the war. Overall, we are talking about more than 60 or 70 million Germans who lived back then. Yes, amongst them there were millions of Germans who had not been war criminals and who were not responsible for the horrendous crimes committed during the Nazi dictatorship. And yes, millions of these people had to endure a collectivist "revenge", which in many cases meant awful rape, torture and murder of men, women and children alike. At first sight, if one remembers the horrific and unique Holocaust this "reaction" seems justifiable (for the war criminals it would certainly be, but not for the millions of others), but at the same time it's collectivist nature clearly remains wrong and sharply violates basic human rights. And very importantly, most Jews who survived the Holocaust did never engage in such revenge (sometimes even the German Jews who had survived the Holocaust were expelled). In some cases it was even Nazi collaborators who engaged in "revenge". I also want to remind the public, that many people in Eastern Europe did not engage in "revenge". It was some people and politicians who are responsible for the way things worked out for these civilians, and some people who profited from it. Thus, also this collectivist "revenge" was not committed by just everybody. I do recommend Giles MacDonogh's After the Reich: The Brutal History of The Allied Occupation, I also recommend A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, Second Edition, Fully Revised and Updated by Alfred-Maurice de Zayas. In addition, I recommend the memoirs by Lev Kopelev (The Education of a True Believer and To be preserved forever), a Russian-Jewish humanist who had protested the violence against German civilians by the Soviet army in East Prussia and who was consequently sentenced with 10 years in Soviet labor camps, and Victor Gollancz's work Our Threatened Values. On the contrary, as opposed to the topic Dresden (which has some important moral implications due to its late occurence), I do not necessarily recommend the releases "The End: Hamburg 1943" or "Inferno: The fiery destruction of Hamburg 1943", because they merely have documentary value and treat events which are good to know, yet not challenging to the same degree. To say MacDonogh's release were anti-American is firstly baseless, and secondly means to completely miss the point. On the contrary, the book applies American values such as human rights of the individual regardless of ethnic heritage. Apart from that, "comprehensibility" (in the context of revengeful feelings and propaganda at the time) and "justifiability" (ok'ing crimes in the legal and moral sense, even today) of collective, ethnically-based "revenge" are two distinct issues which shouldn't be mixed up.

I am very aware of the horrendous crimes the Nazi army division SS had committed on Jews in general, and on other people who opposed them. I am also aware of the many terrible deaths due to the Nazi military invasions in Poland, Belarus, and Russia. These facts are widely known, Mr. MacDonogh is a historian so he also knows that. However, the terrible crimes committed by Nazi war criminals cannot mean that one is not allowed to mention the terrible crimes committed on German civilians in the aftermath of the war, and for some German minorities during and at the beginning of the war. Overall, we are talking about more than 60 or 70 million Germans who lived back then. Yes, amongst them there were millions of Germans who had not been war criminals and who were not responsible for the horrendous crimes committed during the Nazi dictatorship. And yes, millions of these people had to endure a collectivist "revenge", which in many cases meant awful rape, torture and murder of men, women and children alike. At first sight, if one remembers the horrific and unique Holocaust this "reaction" seems justifiable (for the war criminals it would certainly be, but not for the millions of others), but at the same time it's collectivist nature clearly remains wrong and sharply violates basic human rights. And very importantly, most Jews who survived the Holocaust did never engage in such revenge (sometimes even the German Jews who had survived the Holocaust were expelled). In some cases it was even Nazi collaborators who engaged in "revenge". I also want to remind the public, that many people in Eastern Europe did not engage in "revenge". It was some people and politicians who are responsible for the way things worked out for these civilians, and some people who profited from it. Thus, also this collectivist "revenge" was not committed by just everybody. I do recommend Giles MacDonogh's "After the Reich", I also recommend "A terrible revenge" by Alfred-Maurice de Zayas. In addition, I recommend the memoirs by Lev Kopelev ("Education of a true believer" and "To be preserved forever"), a Russian-Jewish humanist who had protested the violence against German civilians by the Soviet army in East Prussia and who was consequently sentenced with 10 years in Soviet labor camps, and Victor Gollancz's work "Our threatened values". On the contrary, as opposed to the topic Dresden (which has some important moral implications due to its late occurence), I do not necessarily recommend the releases "The End: Hamburg 1943" or "Inferno: The fiery destruction of Hamburg 1943", because they merely have documentary value and treat events which are good to know, yet not challenging to the same degree.

I am very aware of the horrendous crimes the Nazi army division SS had committed on Jews in general, and on other people who opposed them. I am also aware of the many terrible deaths due to the Nazi military invasions in Poland, Belarus and Russia. MacDonogh is a historian so he knows that. However, the terrible crimes committed by Nazi war criminals cannot mean that one is not allowed to mention the terrible crimes committed on German civilians in the aftermath of the war, and for some German minorities during and at the beginning of the war. Overall, we are talking about more than 60 or 70 million Germans who lived back then. Yes, amongst them there were millions of Germans who had not been war criminals and who were not responsible for the horrendous crimes committed during the Nazi dictatorship. And yes, millions of these people had to endure a collectivist "revenge", which in many cases meant awful rape, torture and murder. At first sight, if one remembers the horrific Holocaust this "reaction" seems justifiable, but at the same time it's collectivist nature clearly remains wrong and violates basic human rights. And very importantly, most Jews who survived the Holocaust did never engage in such revenge. In some cases it was even Nazi collaborators who engaged in "revenge". I also want to remind the public, that many people in Eastern Europe did not engage in "revenge". It was some people and politicians who are responsible for the way things worked out for these civilians, and some who profited from it. Thus, also this "revenge" was not committed by just everybody. I do recommend Giles MacDonogh's "After the Reich", I also recommend "A terrible revenge" by Alfred-Maurice de Zayas. On the contrary, as opposed to the topic Dresden (which has some important moral implications due to its late occurence), I do not necessarily recommend the releases "The End: Hamburg 1943" or "Inferno: The fiery destruction of Hamburg 1943", because they merely have documentary value and treat events which are good to know, yet not challenging to the same degree.

I am very aware of the horrendous crimes the German's former Nazi army division SS has committed on Jews in general, and on other people who opposed them. I am also aware of the many terrible deaths due to the Nazi military invasions in Poland, Belarus and Russia. MacDonogh is a historian so he knows that. However, the terrible crimes committed by the SS cannot mean that one is not allowed to speak about the terrible crimes committed on German civilians in the aftermath of the war, and for some German minorities during and at the beginning of the war. Overall, we are talking about more than 60 or 70 million Germans who lived back then. Yes, amongst them there were millions of Germans who had not been war criminals and who were not responsible for the horrendous crimes committed during the Nazi dictatorship. And yes, millions of these people had to endure a collectivist "revenge", which in many cases meant rape, torture and murder. If one remembers the horrific Holocaust this "reaction" is understandable, but at the same time it's collectivist nature is still wrong and against basic human rights. And very importantly, most Jews who survived the Holocaust did never engage in such revenge. In some cases it was even Nazi collaborators who engaged in "revenge". I also want to remind the public, that many people in Eastern Europe did not engage in "revenge". It was some people and politicians who are responsible for the way things worked out for these civilians. Thus, also this "revenge" was not committed by everybody. I do recommend this book, I also recommend "A terrible revenge" by Alfred De Zayas. On the contrary, as opposed to the topic Dresden (which has some important moral implications due to its late occurence), I do not recommend releases such as "The End: Hamburg 1943" or "Inferno: The fiery destruction of Hamburg 1943", because they merely have documentary value of something much less challenging.

I am very aware of the horrendous crimes the German's former Nazi army division SS has committed on Jews in general, and on other people who opposed them. I am also aware of the many terrible deaths due to the Nazi military invasions in Poland, Belarus and Russia. MacDonogh is a historian so he knows that. However, the terrible crimes committed by the SS cannot mean that one is not allowed to speak about the terrible crimes committed on German civilians in the aftermath of the war, and for some German minorities during and at the beginning of the war. Overall, we are talking about more than 60 or 70 million Germans who lived back then. Yes, amongst them there were millions of Germans who had not been war criminals and who were not responsible for the horrendous crimes committed during the Nazi dictatorship. And yes, millions of these people had to endure a collectivist "revenge", which in many cases meant rape, torture and murder. If one remembers the horrific Holocaust this "reaction" is understandable, but at the same time it's collectivist nature is still wrong and against basic human rights. And very importantly, most Jews who survived the Holocaust did never engage in such revenge. In some cases it was even Nazi collaborators who engaged in "revenge". I also want to remind the public, that many people in Eastern Europe did not engage in "revenge". It was some people and politicians who are responsible for the way things worked out for these civilians. Thus, also this "revenge" was not committed by just anyone.

Very fascinating and well-written book.

Much of the criticism directed against this book is unwarranted and absurd. The book does present brutalities inflicted upon the Germans in a context. However, its focus is not on the Holocaust or brutalities inflicted upon Russians.

Whether one thinks these brutalities were justified or excusable is irrelevant. They still need to be discussed and evaluated by histoirians and the public at large.

However,I am hesitant to elevate these unjust acts to the equivalency of genocide or "ethnic cleansing". But an objective historian would gather all the evidence before reaching that conclusion. And the public has heard relatively little about the bloodbath inflicted upon Germans in Czechoslovakia and the like.

Any objective factual account of events should be viewed as a conbtribution. Whether acts were justified or not, they still transpired.

~After the Reich: The Brutal History of The Allied Occupation~ is a sordid tale of allied atrocities committed against the Germans following the fall of Hitler's fanatical Third Reich regime on May 8, 1945. Conventional wisdom just presumes that American and British armies were merciful liberators ready to bestow chocolate and candy to the German children; but history isn't always so black and white. For the defeated Germans, the end of the war brought an uneasy peace, and for many a hellish aftermath. What resulted in the years 1945-1950 is little known to most Americans, but it offers a reality with deep parallels to the current twenty-first century quagmire in Iraq where American reprisals left civilian casualties numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Some three million Germans died in the aftermath of VE-Day, and many in the Soviet occupied zones were subjugated to a brutal ethnic cleansing.

The facts concerning occupation are alarming:
* 2.3 million German civilians died violent deaths following the official cessation of hostilities on VE-Day, and 1.4 million German POWs died in captivity.
* Some of the same concentration camps formerly utilized by the Germans to imprison the Jews and work them to death were co-opted into Allied concentration camps to hold millions of Germans. The same grizzly results ensued: emasculated bodies from those who nearly starved to death and were plagued by pestilence and disease. Nearly all of the famous concentration camps utilized by the Germans--Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, and Dachau--were utilized again by the Allies replicating the same hellish conditions perpetrated by the Nazis. German prisoners died in throngs.
* The Americans utilized torture to extract confessions in their prison at Schwabisch Hall. Men had their testicles emasculated in the interrogations.
* There were 600 POW camps in the UK, and over a million POWs died in the USSR.
* On April 17-18, 1945, French soldiers raped as many as 600 women in Freudenstadt, before making passage to Stuggart where they raped 3,000 more.
* The Russians may have raped over 20,000 women alone in Berlin.

The author is not trying to be apologist for the Nazi regime by any stretch of the imagination. He should not be faulted for sticking to his book's topic either. There are plenty of books documenting German atrocities against Poles, Jews, Russians, and Ukrainians. The author's purpose is not to dispute those candid facts. Researcher Giles MacDonogh offers an enthralling and accurate study which exemplifies how liberation was never entirely a happily-ever after story for the millions of Germans subjugated by a conquering Allied army--particularly the vengeful Red Army of the Soviet Union. By spring of 1945, Germany was a nation in tatters, with many urban population centers literally flattened by the bombings. Hundreds of thousands of women were brutally raped, and many civilians were murdered in cold blood by the occupying armies. Hundreds of thousands of Germans were conscripted as laborers, and many deported to Eastern Europe and the Soviet heartland to work as slave laborers. Over 2.25 million Germans died in captivity during the period between the Vienna liberation and Berlin airlift. In airing these historical facts, the author is not trying to be apologist for the Nazi regime by any stretch of the imagination.

Overall, after VE-Day, the American and British were the most munificent to the conquered Germans in their occupation zones, and most of their atrocities were visited against Nazi combatants. In their occupation zone, the French tolerated and sanctioned malevolent vengeance perpetuated against both civilians and combatants alike. The Soviets were by far the most brutal of conquerors, and tales of their torturous bloodbath literally shock the human conscience. The Red Army was apt to rewrite history as they committed their crimes before and after the war. For example, the Soviets purged nearly the entire officer corps of the Polish Army to soften resistance to Soviet occupation in 1940. They literally decapitated the Polish nation's leadership. When the mass graves were uncovered in Katyn Forest, the Soviets attributed their dastardly deed to the Nazis.

As German defeat seemed inevitable in late 1944, some German civilians believed that the occupation in the cities would not be so brutal as the countryside, because they presumed the Red Army would not be apt to commit crimes where onlookers could readily see them. They were wrong. The German propaganda machine reported Red Army atrocities to stiffen resistance to the Soviet advance, and its exposure of vengeance was not mere hyperbole. In winter of 1944-1945, when word came of advancing Red Armies in Prussia, thousands of Germans committed suicide in mass. Women took their children and drowned themselves in the frozen Spree River. They anticipated rape, wanton violence and torture, and the sordid history of occupation vindicates their trepidation. A respected historian Richard Overy collaborates the claims of MacDonogh, and notes that Red Army soldiers raped more than 2,000,000 German women, an estimated 200,000 of whom later died from the trauma, outright murder, or subsequent suicide. Many women found themselves forced to concede to one soldier in the hope that he would protect them from the brutality of others. Women went out of the way to protect their posterity, particularly their daughters, by hiding them in storage lofts for days on end. Young boys were summarily shot when they attempted to protect the women in their families. "The 13-year old Dieter Sahl," neighbors wrote in a letter, "threw himself with flailing fists at a Russian" attacking his mother, and succeeding only at "getting himself shot." In the bitter occupation, many found women themselves subjected to wartime prostitution against their will, in order to secure nourishment and sustenance for their families. Black markets developed in the occupation zones, and they bartered in human flesh.

In the 1940s, there were two demon-incarnates in the world, namely Hitler and Stalin. The Westerners placated the later to vanquish the former. But the later never conciliated his Allies' liberality by being the humanitarian. FDR who surprised Stalin by his overtures of generosity was himself culpable for the Soviet occupation. FDR was literally tracing out arbitrary lines with matchboxes in a National Geographic atlas to determine the postwar landscape. His handiwork decided the fate of millions. Yalta was the "green light" for the Red Army to ethnically cleanse the eastern German territories. Ironically, the better-trained, better-equipped Western Allies could have occupied more German and Austrian territory, but halted their advance in accord with that off-the-table agreement to divide Germany into four zones of occupation. General Patton himself would have much preferred to have kept the tanks going to Moscow. FDR's Treasury Secretary Morgenthau developed his own vengeful plan for turning Germany into a pasture-land ripe for Red Revolution, but fortunately as the Cold War ensued, cooler heads prevailed. Socialism and central planning were scrapped in the late 1940s in favor of the more liberalized market economy pioneered by Ludwig Erhard.

Over three million Germans died in the occupation aftermath of World War Two. This is not questionable revisionist history, just neglected history. Most historians do not dispute this, though some try to trivialize the matter or make shameless excuses for it. Most historians of World War II make a succinct epilogue of liberation which crescendos in the Berlin Airlift and the rise of the Iron Curtain. This is just a side of the war history that doesn't really get told. In the past, historians have downplayed the Allied atrocities, made excuses for it, or went so far as to justify it as justifiable retaliation for the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis. MacDonogh gives voice to the millions of Germans who were fortunate to survive the war, but many of which were subjected to a hellish existence thereafter. Hundreds of thousands of Germans remained slave laborers for thirty to fifty years behind the Iron Curtain.

I really don't know why I revisit World War II history so much. It is genuinely depressing. Reading Norman Davies' book about the Warsaw Rising literally made me nauseated. The Poles found no meaningful liberation under the Soviets who shamefully halted their advance until the Nazis finished off Warsaw. When the Soviets came, they started new torments for the Polish people. The history of the twentieth-century is truly sad. This mesmerizing book by MacDonogh does not make for a happy day after one gets finished reading it. It's painful reading--but a well-written account of the forgotten side of World War II which needs to be told. My religious convictions as a Christian compel me to appreciate the sanctity of life, and plead for mercy to be bestowed upon my nation's conquered enemies. To be sure there were countless recorded acts of mercy and kindness by the liberators toward their conquered foes, particularly the Americans and British. Some Germans in their occupation zones were surprised that they were treated as well as they were. However, we should not obfuscate the historical memory of the war in neglecting the cruel aftermath of the occupation. The revenge-minded French and Red Army were particularly cruel and inhumane 'liberators' of Germany.

A respected historian Michael Burleigh has endorsed MacDonogh's book.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
-Psalm 85:10

~After the Reich: The Brutal History of The Allied Occupation~ is a sordid tale of allied atrocities committed against the Germans following the fall of Hitler's fanatical Third Reich regime on May 8, 1945. Conventional wisdom just presumes that American and British armies were merciful liberators ready to bestow chocolate and candy to the German children; but history isn't always so black and white. For the defeated Germans, the end of the war brought an uneasy peace, and for many a hellish aftermath. What resulted in the years 1945-1950 is little known to most Americans, but it offers a reality with deep parallels to the current twenty-first century quagmire in Iraq where American reprisals left civilian casualties numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Some three million Germans died in the aftermath of VE-Day, and many in the Soviet occupied zones were subjugated to a brutal ethnic cleansing.

The facts concerning occupation are alarming:
* 2.3 million German civilians died violent deaths following the official cessation of hostilities on VE-Day, and 1.4 million German POWs died in captivity.
* Some of the same concentration camps formerly utilized by the Germans to imprison the Jews and work them to death were co-opted into Allied concentration camps to hold millions of Germans. The same grizzly results ensued: emasculated bodies from those who nearly starved to death and were plagued by pestilence and disease. Nearly all of the famous concentration camps utilized by the Germans--Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, and Dachau--were utilized again by the Allies replicating the same hellish conditions perpetrated by the Nazis. German prisoners died in throngs.
* The Americans utilized torture to extract confessions in their prison at Schwabisch Hall. Men had their testicles emasculated in the interrogations.
* There were 600 POW camps in the UK, and over a million POWs died in the USSR.
* On April 17-18, 1945, French soldiers raped as many as 600 women in Freudenstadt, before making passage to Stuggart where they raped 3,000 more.
* The Russians may have raped over 20,000 women alone in Berlin.

The author is not trying to be apologist for the Nazi regime by any stretch of the imagination. He should not be faulted for sticking to his book's topic either. There are plenty of books documenting German atrocities against Poles, Jews, Russians, and Ukrainians. The author's purpose is not to dispute those candid facts. Researcher Giles MacDonogh offers an enthralling and accurate study which exemplifies how liberation was never entirely a happily-ever after story for the millions of Germans subjugated by a conquering Allied army--particularly the vengeful Red Army of the Soviet Union. By spring of 1945, Germany was a nation in tatters, with many urban population centers literally flattened by the bombings. Hundreds of thousands of women were brutally raped, and many civilians were murdered in cold blood by the occupying armies. Hundreds of thousands of Germans were enslaved, and many deported to Eastern Europe and the Soviet heartland to work as slave laborers. Over 2.25 million Germans died in captivity during the period between the Vienna liberation and Berlin airlift. The author is not trying to be apologist for the Nazi regime by any stretch of the imagination.

Overall, after VE-Day, the American and British were the most munificent to the conquered Germans in their occupation zones, and most of their atrocities were visited against Nazi combatants. In their occupation zone, the French tolerated and sanctioned malevolent vengeance perpetuated against both civilians and combatants alike. The Soviets were by far the most brutal of conquerors, and tales of their torturous bloodbath literally shock the human conscience. The Red Army was apt to rewrite history as they committed their crimes before and after the war. For example, the Soviets purged nearly the entire officer corps of the Polish Army to soften resistance to Soviet occupation in 1940. They literally decapitated the Polish nation's leadership. When the mass graves were uncovered in Katyn Forest, the Soviets attributed their dastardly deed to the Nazis.

As German defeat seemed inevitable in late 1944, some German civilians believed that the occupation in the cities would not be so brutal as the countryside, because they presumed the Red Army would not be apt to commit crimes where onlookers could readily see them. They were wrong. The German propaganda machine reported Red Army atrocities to stiffen resistance to the Soviet advance, and its exposure of vengeance was not mere hyperbole. In winter of 1944-1945, when word came of advancing Red Armies in Prussia, thousands of Germans committed suicide in mass. Women took their children and drowned themselves in the frozen Spree River. They anticipated rape, wanton violence and torture, and the sordid history of occupation vindicates their trepidation. A respected historian Richard Overy, collaborate the claims of MacDonogh, and notes that Red Army soldiers raped more than 2,000,000 German women, an estimated 200,000 of whom later died from the trauma, outright murder, or subsequent suicide. Many women found themselves forced to concede to one soldier in the hope that he would protect them from the brutality of others. Women went out of the way to protect their posterity, particularly their daughters, by hiding them in storage lofts for days on end. Young boys were summarily shot when they attempted to protect the women in their families. "The 13-year old Dieter Sahl," neighbors wrote in a letter, "threw himself with flailing fists at a Russian" attacking his mother, and succeeding only at "getting himself shot." In the bitter occupation, many found women themselves subjected to wartime prostitution against their will, in order to secure nourishment and sustenance for their families. Black markets developed in the occupation zones, and they bartered in human flesh.

In the 1940s, there were two demon-incarnates in the world, namely Hitler and Stalin. The Westerners placated the later to vanquish the former. But the later never conciliated his Allies' liberality by being the humanitarian. FDR who surprised Stalin by his overtures of generosity was himself culpable for the Soviet occupation. FDR was literally tracing out arbitrary lines with matchboxes in a National Geographic atlas to determine the postwar landscape. His handiwork decided the fate of millions. Yalta was the "green light" for the Red Army to ethnically cleanse the eastern German territories. Ironically, the better-trained, better-equipped Western Allies could have occupied more German and Austrian territory, but halted their advance in accord with that off-the-table agreement to divide Germany into four zones of occupation. General Patton himself would have much preferred to have kept the tanks going to Moscow. FDR's Treasury Secretary Morgenthau developed his own vengeful plan for turning Germany into a pasture-land ripe for Red Revolution, but fortunately as the Cold War ensued, cooler heads prevailed. Socialism and central planning were scrapped in the late 1940s in favor of the more liberalized market economy pioneered by Ludwig Erhard.

Over three million Germans died in the occupation aftermath of World War Two. This is not questionable revisionist history, just neglected history. Most historians do not dispute this, though some try to trivialize the matter or make shameless excuses for it. Most historians of World War II make a succinct epilogue of liberation which crescendos in the Berlin Airlift and the rise of the Iron Curtain. This is just a side of the war history that doesn't really get told. In the past, historians have downplayed the Allied atrocities, made excuses for it, or went so far as to justify it as justifiable retaliation for the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis. MacDonogh gives voice to the millions of Germans who were fortunate to survive the war, but many of which were subjected to a hellish existence thereafter. Hundreds of thousands of Germans remained slave laborers for thirty to fifty years behind the Iron Curtain.

I really don't know why I revisit World War II history so much. It is genuinely depressing. Reading Norman Davies' book about the Warsaw Rising literally made me nauseated. The Poles found no meaningful liberation under the Soviets who shamefully halted their advance until the Nazis finished off Warsaw. When the Soviets came, they started new torments for the Polish people. The history of the twentieth-century is truly sad. This mesmerizing book by MacDonogh does not make for a happy day after one gets finished reading it. It's painful reading--but a well-written account of the forgotten side of World War II which needs to be told. My religious convictions as a Christian compel me to appreciate the sanctity of life, and plead for mercy to be bestowed upon my nation's conquered enemies. To be sure there were countless recorded acts of mercy and kindness by the liberators toward their conquered foes, particularly the Americans and British. Some Germans in their occupation zones were surprised that they were treated as well as they were. However, we should not obfuscate the historical memory of the war in neglecting the cruel aftermath of the occupation. The revenge-minded French and Red Army were particularly cruel and inhumane 'liberators' of Germany.

A respected historian Michael Burleigh has endorsed MacDonogh's book.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
-Psalm 85:10

No book can hope to cover every aspect of an issue, let alone an entire period of history. Faulting this book for lacking a discussion of the Holocaust or German terrorism against the Soviets is like faulting a history of the Holocaust for not having a discussion of the treatment of Soviet POWs. Yet many excellent works about the Holocaust do just that. The author obviously assumes a certain level of knowledge of the context of the historical period. This is perhaps not to the liking of some, but any discussion of the Holocaust, German abuses in the USSR, etc. would necessarily be exceedingly brief and cursory in nature. Would that be any better? I don't think so.
Many historical works digress from their designated theses, but these are examples of poor writing or at least of poor editing. The best works of history stick closely to the particular topic. The notion that McDonogh should write a second volume to "provide context" is absurd. If one wishes to read about the context of the period preceding the human rights abuses, then one can find hundreds of excellent works on nearly every aspect of World War 2, including the Jewish Holocaust, other German murder campaigns against Roma, Soviet POWs, the disabled, homosexuals, communists, etc., the occupation of the USSR, and other issues. There is no need for MacDonogh to write another volume just because you want something neatly packaged.
Finally, re: quotations from David Irving. David Irving WAS, at one time, a more serious (if controversial) scholar, before going off the deep end. Many of his earlier works are acknowledged to be authoritative by a great number of historians. Before faulting all of his work, perhaps one should examine his overall reputation before beginning his career of Holocaust denial. Look online using any search engine for his name for reviews of his work from authorities like the NY Times Review of Books, Hugh Trevor-Roper, The New Yorker, and many others.
This book, with A Terrible Revenge by Alfred-Maurice de Zayas seeks to bring attention to understudied aspects of the post-WW2 era. It's worth reading and I give it 5 stars.

This book seeks to completely re-write all that is known about the occupation of Germany and Europe by the Allies after the Second World War. It seeks mostly to expose the terrible hardships inflicted on Germans by the Allies and by the Displaced Persons(former prisoners, Jews, Pows and slave laborers of the Germans). It mostly wants to examine the ethnic-cleansing of Germans in Czechslovakia and Poland and the fate of these Germans.

It is more than this however. It is also the tale of people, living admist the ruins of war as the Red Army and American army arrive.
This is an important book and examines many interesting topics, employing thousands of personal recollections that have been overlooked. It examines the nature of rape by Soviet Soldiers and revenge.

But there is something missing here. This book transforms the Germans into victims, as if the war and the Holocaust had never happaned. It peretend that history began in April of 1945, as if the Soviet army had no reason to seek revenge for 5 years of watching their country destroyed. The only mention of Jews and DPs is in reference to crimes committed by them against the victimized Germans. But what about their story? What about the fact that millions of people had been deported by the Germans to become slaves for five years and many millions had been killed? Where is the context when they are found stealing food or clothes from locals?

This book is part of the overall attempt to redraw the history of Post-War Europe and shed light on Allied 'war crimes'. While such an attempt may be needed it can only truly go a long way to telling history if the whole story is presented. This is one side, it needs a second volume to add context.

Seth J. Frantzman

For some reason the publishers of this book seem to need a more sensationalist title for the American edition. The UK edition is more benignly and maturely titled "After the Reich: From the liberation of Vienna to the Berlin airlift". "After the Reich" is a detailed, if at times exhausting, account of the occupation of Germany and Austria after the end of the Second World War. It continues the story where left off by Max Hastings' "Armageddon the battle for Germany". There is some overlap in these two narratives, for example the evacuation of civilians from East Prussia is covered in both books and in those cases the superior prose and style of Hastings really shows through.

The repeated stories of rape and pillage may get a little trying after about a hundred pages or so, but Giles does bring down a lot of myths about the exemplary behavior of British and American troops. Also of great interest were the more critical views of the fairness of the allies towards civilians, the leg