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Rating: 
Summary: Story That Needed To Be Told
Review:
I really enjoyed reading this book. I am a student of WWII but I must admit I didn't know much about the Dachau portion of the war crimes trials or anything about Mr. Denson, a remarkable man. Reading the book was an eye opening experience and the way our government ended up commuting many of the sentences was, in my opinion, a travesty of justice for all of the victims of the Nazi's. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII.
Rating: 
Summary: A look into the lesser known concentration camp trials
Review: "Justice at Dachau" chronicles the life and times of Prosecutor William Denson, who headed the trials held at the former Dachau camp site. These trials were overshadowed by the Nuremburg trials. For two long miserable years Denson tried and prosecuted hundreds of defendants from the concentration camps Dachau, Mauthausen, Flossenburg, and Buchenwald. Those looking for a comprehensive record of the trials will be disappointed; the book only focuses on a few of the trials' highlights and concerns itself with only a couple of the major criminal figures. (The Flossenburg trial was hardly even mentioned!)The author mentions this in the endnotes and it should come as no suprise. There are thousands and thousands of transcripts and there was only room for some of them in a single book. Despite this minor flaw the book offers a good synopsis of the trials. Anyone who reads this book cannot help but admire William Denson-he was truly a remarkable human being! The reader should be forewarned that some of the testimony is quite graphic.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, much needed book on The Holocaust
Review: This is a book well worth reading for anyone interested in WW2, The trials that took place after the war, The Holocaust and the basis of criminal law itself. This is a compelling story of one decent, civilized man; a lawyer, Colonel William Denson, who found himself in an almost impossible position: As lead prosecutor in the trials of the Nazi criminals at Dachau, Mauthausen and other camps--how was he to handle and balance the common, accepted practices of law and jurisprudence when faced with the almost incomprehensible crimes of the Holocaust. The book is about Denson's personal struggle with these trials and about the trials themselves. Also, of course, about the details of the camps and the perpatrators and the victims.
These trials, along with the larger, more famous Nuremberg trials, helped establish the foundations for all the international criminal tribunals that have followed.
The book examines the political winds that blew behind the scenes of the trials and how that affected the charges brought and the final outcomes of the trials (including sentencing). If you are interested in how humanity evolves, especially in the area of international law and punishing international criminals, I advise you to read this book. Mike Feder/WBAI-FM
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