In this episode, we talk about the rise and fall of the SS—from the Einsatzgruppen executions in Babyn Yar to the industrialized killings at Auschwitz. We cover the roles of Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich in creating the Nazi system of genocide, the ideology that justified murdering Jewish children, the use of foreign recruits as expendable forces, and the transition from mass shootings to gas chambers. We explore how death camps like Auschwitz operated, how most SS members escaped punishment, and how many continued to deny or justify their actions after the war. The episode ends with the postwar legacy of SS veterans, their continued allegiance to Nazi ideology, and the delayed trial of Auschwitz accountant Oskar Gröning, charged with complicity in the murder of 300,000 Jews.
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