The Odessa File by Forsyth

Ref: Frederick Forsyth (1972). The Odessa File. Hutchinson Books.

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Summary

A reporter receives a personal diary of an inmate from the Riga concentration camp and is sickened reading about SS commandant of Riga who was responsible for the deaths of some 80,000 people. While escaping the Russians, the commandant took Jewish prisoners and killed/murdered a Nazi Army Captain who turned out to be the reporter’s father. He goes underground deep into the Odessa, the post WWII SS to find this man. The book discusses the rockets of Helwan at Factory 333 in Egypt which were built by Nasser using German scientists for future use against Israel; the rockets were subsequently destroyed during the 6 days war.

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The SS refer to each other as “Kameraden” and have their blood type tattooed under their armpit.
Some SS escaped Germany at the end of WWII fleeing to Argentina and South America using Red Cross VISAs issued by the Vatican.
Probably 95% of the crimes against humanity committed on the German side between 1933 and 1945 can accurately be laid at the door of the SS. Of these, probably 80 to 90% can be attributed to two departments within the SS. These were the Reich Security Main Office and the Reich Economic Administration Main Office.

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“There is no collective guilt, guilt is individual, like salvation.”
“There are some men whose crimes surpass comprehension and therefore, forgiveness.”
There is a French adage, “To understand everything is to forgive everything.” When one can understand the people, their gullibility and their fear, their greed and their lust for power, their ignorance and their docility to the man who shouts the loudest, one can forgive. Yes, one can forgive even what they did. But one can never forget.

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