dave on Nostr: The excerpt describes Paul Rassinier's first book, "Crossing the Line," which was ...

The excerpt describes Paul Rassinier's first book, "Crossing the Line," which was published in 1949 and detailed his experiences as a prisoner in Buchenwald. The book was praised by critics and recommended by the French Socialist Party, and it is notable for its criticism of the prisoner government. Rassinier claimed that effective resistance was only found among the Russian prisoners, and that many brutalities in the camp were committed not by the SS but by the mostly Communist prisoners who took over the Häftlingsführung and ran the internal affairs of the camps for their own benefit. Rassinier blamed the high death rate at the camps on their corruption.