Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and author.
Well written story of WWII, Nazi and Poland and the American involvement during the war.

It is a very interesting story and discusses great work done by the DOJ to bring more justice to those who suffered during the Holocaust. My biggest issue it books in 3rd person bother me and this did just that. It took me out of the book and made it harder to read. While it is a good book it is too advanced for my 4-8 grade students.

This was a fascinating peek into the US Government's efforts to find and remove from its borders Nazi soldiers who managed to secure US citizenship. I thought the story was super well-written and flowed beautifully. I definitely recommend it for anyone who wants a fresh take on the aftermath of the Holocaust and World War II.

Wholly engaging and very interesting look at a little known side note to WWII in Poland and the atrocities perpetrated at a death camp by military men who later lied about their actions and fraudulently gained access to American soil through immigration.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book to read and review. Opinions expressed in the review are my own.

The concept of this book was far too intriguing not to request a copy. Although it took me longer than usual to get through this one, I'm still glad I read it. The first third or so of the book recounts a lot of the history of WWII, which was a bit boring for me as a history buff. But once the true focus of the book kicked in, the author captured my attention. Tracking down Nazis after several decades was definitely an important cause (and one that I wish more people remembered and cared about today).

This book has some repetition and isn't perfect, but it does contain enough new information to make it a must-read for anyone who devours books about the history of WWII.

I don't understand why this book was written. The cover says it is about catching Nazis in the U.S. after the war who have lived undetected lives in the U.S. However, the first 16% (SIXTEEN PERCENT) of the book was a narrative of how bad life was during the war. I am Jewish. I have read tons of horror stories (and have been horrified). I have watched tons of movies on the Holocaust. And so has everyone else. So why oh why not just go to the supposed theme of the book? Why rewrite the Holocaust?

Plus, the book is not a book. I gave up at 26% read because it appeared that it was a collection of stories of different people who have been caught and deported, but there was no connecting thread to make it into a book. The author should read Monuments Men to know how to make a history book as enjoying to read as a novel.

There is a total lack of knowledge of how to construct a story or a theme or a good idea into a book

Rating: 3.2 Stars.

First of all, thanks to Hachette for the digital copy!

This book opened my eyes to a reality that I've never thought about: former Nazis that came to the United States with a new identity to avoid judgments for their crimes and atrocities during the time of the war. People that literally started a new life, in such a way that even their family doesn't have any idea of their dad or grandad's real history!

Because of the nature of the book, I felt that after the first half of the book the story started to be repetitive, however, Debbie kept me hooked by telling the story of the Jewish characters that were trying to find a brighter future by escaping from the Nazi regime.

I recommend this book to the readers that are interested in all related to World War II and the real history behind it. I personally enjoyed this book more than I was expecting.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've always been intrigued by this topic. The book goes beyond just facts.. it's well-written, easy to follow & informative. Well worth the read.

I was a history major in college and have always been interested particularly in both American and WWII history. But I had never heard of the subject of this book: the Trawniki men, and the decades-later quest of the Department of Justice to deport Trawniki men living on U.S. soil. The Trawniki men were a (purposefully) little-known group of Eastern European prisoners of war who the Nazis identified as perfect candidates to be the "foot soldiers of the Final Solution." They were trained at a camp in the small city of Trawniki, then deployed to various locations in Poland to ruthlessly and without question support SS guards in the murder of the two million Jews living in the country. Most notably, the Trawniki men actively participated in the largest single killing of Jews in the war's history in Lublin. Their other deplorable activities include shooting hundreds and hundreds of bodies into killing pits in Polish forests, as well as moving humans in and out of gas chambers at the killing centers of Treblinka, Sobibor, and Majdanek.

After WWII, the U.S. Department of Justice created the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), tasked solely with rooting out the estimated hundreds of Nazis living in the U.S. unknown and deport them back to their home countries. They couldn't charge them with criminal offenses, but they could certainly make it known that they were not welcome in this country. OSI employed both historians and prosecutors to find these individuals, but the lack of evidence available was a barrier. In OSI's early years, the public supported their work. However, a huge wave of evidence became available after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1988, held by the Soviets, giving OSI unprecedented vision into identities and crimes. Paradoxically, by this time, many of these Nazis were older, seemingly gentle and sweet old men, and at the exact moment when OSI had the evidence to deport, the public wanted them to be left alone. In the eyes of many officials in the U.S. government, including infamous Holocaust denier Pat Buchanan, there should be damn good evidence to deport citizens living "peacefully" in the U.S. for decades. But for staff at OSI, these crimes could not go unnoticed. Every day, historians and prosecutors learned of the atrocities committed by men like Jakob Reimer - and could not bear the thought of him living another day in the land of the free.

This book is immaculately written and researched, giving readers the perspective of OSI historians as well as two survivors from Lublin. It provides such a deluge of horrifying, unimaginable crimes that it simultaneously desensitizes you to the level of barbarism displayed by the Trawniki men and paralyzes you with such sadness and horror that you can almost not bear to go on. However, these stories are important and deserve to be read and recognized, particularly for a killing force that is so little known among WWII history. I highly, highly recommend this book for history lovers, both WWII and U.S., even for those who think they've read everything about the subject. If you're not interested in reading the book, there's a documentary series that just came out on Netflix called The Devil Next Door, about almost the same situation, but focusing on another man in the U.S. accused of being the notorious "Ivan the Terrible" at Treblinka, John Demjanjuk, and the saga of his deportation as a "sweet old man," criminal trials, and the rest of his life.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
More than thirty years after the end of WWII, a new criminal division was created in the Department of Justice to track, expose, and deport Nazi war criminals living secretly in America. Peter Black recruited to this Office of Special Investigations, and while researching he finds references to Trawniki, a center built to train new recruits in the deportation and extermination of Jewish people from the ghettos. The narrative continues with the investigation and legal process to bring Jakob Reimer, one of the guards, to justice.
I had heard about the trials to bring these war criminals to justice, but never knew it was still operating up until 2010. It's amazing to me that so many people were able to live normal lives here in America after the horrible things they did during the war. This book is informative and well-researched and I was fascinated until the ending.

I would rate this book a solid 4-1/2 stars! Excellent read! I thought I was up on my Holocaust history, but this book definitely showed me that I was totally wrong! The author did an exceptional job in researching this book! She brought to light the daily struggles of the Jews during the 40's and the hardship they endured in the name of survival and freedom ... also, the three decades of dedication from the men and woman of the OSI who worked hard to bring these perpetrators to justice, so that the survivors might have some vindication! I had a hard time dealing with the attitude of the German/Austrian/Ukraine, governments stonewalling the return of said criminals. My heart sobbed about the atrocities that were dealt to the Jewish population ...in some cases, they didn't even have a chance on survival! .I truly recommend this book to anyone who wants to broaden their outlook on the war.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an unbiased and honest review of this novel

I consider myself well read and knowledgeable about world events and government affairs. I never knew there was a branch of the government that their sole goal was to hunt down Nazi's that lied their way into the US.

After the war our Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act to allow in refugees from WW2. (Side note-can you imagine our current Senate having the guts to do this now?). Nazi's falsified their backgrounds to become US Citizens.
The OSI in their research found a training camp for the SS that had never really been known. The men in this camp were instrumental in the forced round up of Jews in occupied Poland. The camp was Trawniki.


Interspersed with the story of the Trawniki investigation is the story of a young couple from Lublin who fled Nazi's and eventually made their way to America.

Very well researched and I learned things I never knew. Such as the fact the Pat Buchanan was essentially a Nazi apologist and George Will has moral character.

Highly recommended.

Having heard so many stories of Nazi camp guards being deported in the 80s, the subject of this book grabbed my attention. The author starts from an SS roster that was discovered at the end of the Cold War that had a list of the men who went through SS training camp for murdering Polish Jews. Some of the men listed disappeared after WWII, then moved to the US.

When a couple of Holocaust survivors learn that some of their pursuers had relocated to the same country as them, prosecutors work to locate the war criminals - despite people saying "They're old now, leave them alone" (as if outliving your victims gives you a free pass) - and deport them. This work continues even today.

Of course, excellent writing and a compelling tale go together very well - this book is an example of that. Highly recommended.

Absolutely worth the time to read. Even if you are not a history buff or interested in WWII, this book will likely be interesting enough to hold your attention for the duration.

There have been many news stories in recent memory and even a few documentaries about Nazi participants being found in the US, but this was the first time that I really felt like I could understand how they were searched out and why, after so many years, they were still able to be confronted with the past and tried at all. I guess we, as Americans, get used to hearing the words, "Statute of limitations," so often, that we forget that some crimes do not have an average lifespan.

I thought this book was highly interesting and well-researched and written. It was amazing to realize that Germany often refused to take their own war criminals back, even after an agreement had been put in place. I learned a lot of dismaying things from this book, things that I hadn't learned anywhere else. If you are also fascinated by the idea of war criminals finally getting caught and prosecuted for their crimes, then this book might be one you should add to your list.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Citizen 865 was a fantastic read. The layout of the book was a tad bit difficult to follow at times but the overall story was wonderfully written. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Citizen 865 by author Debbie Cenziper is a great crime/history novel with plenty of thrill! I loved reading this, it wasn’t complicated to read and was a great paced. Definitely recommend, history isn’t my usual genre but this book did not disappoint!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.