Final Verdict is a fantastic book that examines Germany's ongoing grappling with its Nazi past, centering around the 2019 trial of Bruno Dey, a former guard at the Stutthof concentration camp. The trial provides a framework to address significant questions about culpability, accountability, justice, and both individual and collective memory.

The book discusses historical and ongoing efforts to prosecute former Nazis and the challenges and limitations involved in achieving justice for victims of the Holocaust nearly eighty years after the end of World War II. Buck skillfully provides context and analysis for the reader with his understanding of German history and law both in the courtroom and beyond, discussing its impacts on present-day German society and politics, what it means to be German, among others.

While Buck goes well beyond a surface-level examination, he doesn't get bogged down with details, and presents what are often heavy and complex topics in a way that is accessible for the reader.

This is a great book for anyone interested in World War II, German history, historical and legal issues, and ongoing impacts of the Holocaust.

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the eARC.

At the young age of 17, Bruno Day served as a guard at the Stutthoff concentration camp. In 2019, at the age of 93 he was brought before a court, accused in assisting of the murder of over 5,000 prisoners. One of the key questions raised by this trial, is why now? Why charge an elderly man who had such a minor role in the Holocaust? Through Dey's trial Tobias Buck's Final Verdict: the Holocaust on Trial in the 21st Century answers this question by following the case and delineating the historic failure of German postwar justice to adequately set precedents to charge those complicit in the infrastructure of the Holocaust until 2009.

Germany's guilt after World War II was clear beyond doubt, compared to the complicated conclusion of the First World War. The memory culture of the Holocaust and the collective societal guilt was a key part of the post war German identity, seen through memorials and the political approaches Germany has taken in supporting Israel and the Ukraine. I state 'was' here because Buck argues that this is changing, especially as both the perpetrators and the survivors of the Holocaust are dying, intellectuals debate the centrality of guilt, political parties use it as point of support or opposition and Germany has changed with conflict fueled immigration from Afghanistan, Syria and other nations. This last point is quite apparent in the courtroom as Dey's daughter appears in hijab as she has married a Muslim.

Buck's book is short, and the simple but straightforward writing hides a complex depth that struggles with the questions inherent in the Holocaust, what would I have done in this situation? Would one follow their internal conscience, or give sway to peer pressure and the "comfort of obedience?" Among the many people feature in this book: Dey did his job without documented complaint, Tobias Buck discovered his grandfather served in the SS and Charlotte Knobloch one of survivors who appeared before the court has been an important figure in revitalizing the Jewish community in Munich.

Recommended to readers and researchers of the Holocaust, Post-War Germany, Contemporary Germany, post Genocide justice or the legacies of works like Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution.

This was a well-researched and compelling tale that takes the reader back in time to WWII. It revisits the stories of that era while also fast forwarding to the current time where the final survivors (both victims and victimizers) seek to make their final peace. With one of the worst humanitarian crimes ever at its center, Tobias Buck probes more deeply than just this one story to assess the ethical weight of the people who went along willingly, if not enthusiastically, with Nazism. This was a thoughtful book that was so much more than I anticipated when I picked it up. Highly recommend.

Does everyone that worked in a concentration camp have equal reponsibility for the horrors that occur there? That is the question raised by this book and the trial of Bruno Dey, a guard at a camp during WWII. This book is an exploration of his trial, along with other trials for Nazi war crimes and a small history of Holocaust remembrance.

This book is fascinating and very well written. Multiple Holocaust victims are spoken to and the stories they convey are heartbreaking. The author goes into a deep dive of the war crimes trials after WWII and why there were so few compared to how many people could have been prosecuted. He also takes a deep look at the mindset of German people as a whole post war.

I didn’t know anything about the trial followed over the main course of the book so didn’t know what the outcome would be but it could be largely predicted based on the events of the trial and common sense. Even though I could see what was coming I enjoyed the journey there.

This book was incredibly hard to read at points but I think it is well worth it. Highly recommend to history/nonfiction fans of appropriate age.

Thank you NetGallery, Hatchette Books and author Tobias Buck for allowing me to read “Final Verdict: The Holocaust on Trial in the Twenty-first Century”

I liked this book very much. Author Tobias Buck provides a detailed account of a 2020 trial in Germany with a solid perspective regarding background, focus, purpose and history. The trial of a ninety-three year old man who, at the age of eighteen, served as a concentration camp guard raises obvious questions regarding prosecuting “camp support staff,” the youth of the accused at the time and, of course, the often-controversial issue of prosecuting extremely old defendants ….ninety-three in the case of defendant Day. Author Buck is adept at explaining the German Judicial System which, itself, may seem strange to those of us accustomed to “trial by jury.” He provides wonderful insight into the prosecution of “Holocaust Defendants,” Germany’s constant struggle to maintain awareness and personal interviews with victims. The most original idea put forth by Buck and, indeed, the primary courtroom judge herself, is one that receives too little attention: the realization that no matter how indirect or peripheral was the part played by anyone and everyone who “did their job”
to facilitate the genocide…the murder of six million Jews could not have occurred. The book describes and explains, raises awareness and questions, presents quandaries and afterthoughts. It is difficult, perhaps, to write something truly different or new about The Holocaust. This is, however, a book that does so and involves the reader’s own conscience, judgement and moral philosophy. I chose to rate this book “four stars” rather than “five stars” because the focus upon this particular trial as opposed to others may be less consequential to most readers of Holocaust literature. But, of course, the real question posed by Buck may be somewhat hidden and there is certainly great irony in this.