Really good book. It gave me insight as to how the Nazi's and the SS got into the German peoples heads and persuaded them to believe that the Jews were evil. Most of the people didn't believe the rhetoric and the claims but they were terrified of what would happen to them or their families if they voiced their disagreement. Scary how people will follow blindly. This is very eye opening in light of this being an election year and a nutcase like Trump very possibly in the running for president. He reminds me of Hitler. Find an enemy (Muslims, Mexicans or others he deems bad), tell people he will handle this issue. Be afraid, be very afraid. ( )

Fiction about the lives of Germans in Nazi Germany normally falls into one of three categories: the Jewish experience; Germans implicitly or explicitly opposed to the regime (see Philip Kerr, Luke McCallin, Ben Pastor); or portraits of monsters (David Thomas's Ostland).

The Winter Men is closest to the third of these classes, taking us through the war experiences of two German brothers, both of whom are portrayed as reasonable men, and both of whom end up in the SS. The path each takes to end in committing unspeakable atrocities is set out with chilling plausibility. Both Karl and Gerhard end up, unquestionably, as monsters; but the strength of the novel is that they both remain recognisably human.

The Winter Men is a searing portrayal of evil, and how those who commit it were once like the rest of us. ( )

This book found its way to me through a recommendation on Amazon, I usually wouldn't read this type of book but I was drawn to this story of two brothers who find themselves in the SS by different means. Try not to be put off by the fact that you know how the story ends for both brothers before it really starts.

Yes there are details of atrocities and they are disturbing but I couldn't put the book (Kindle) down and nearly missed my train station because I wasn't paying attention to announcements. For me that's a sign of a good read. Heavy going sometimes, but worth it. ( )

En velskrevet, barsk beskrivelse af, hvordan 2 almindelige veluddannede tyskere begik krigsforbrydelser i SS og Gestapo. Vel researchet. ( )