Their Darkest Hour - Laurence Rees

Their Darkest Hour - Laurence Rees (2007)

This non-fiction book is based on interviews that historian/film maker Laurence Rees made with survivors of world war two. From Japanese kamakaze pilots, SS officers, Concentration camp survivors, Soviet soldiers and civillians from many countries, all the interviewees were ordinary people who had to make emotional and moral choices. Talking to them in the past 10 years he has tried to find out why they made the decisions they did, before they disapear and take their stories with them.

I found though that each story was a bit too short and I wanted more but had never really considered the point before that during the war, many soldiers were able to make the choices they did because each considered themselves superior to the other. It was also interesting to find that many who had killed civillians, women and children or participated in mass killings still felt no guilt or regret - spooky.

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