Hitler's Furies: German Women In The Nazi Killing Fields

"I understand that a book about the role of women in the Third Reich may not be exactly the nonfiction you’re hoping to delve into over the holidays. But Hitler’s Furies is worth reading for several reasons. This isn’t the story of the more well-known murderesses of the movement — Wendy Lower’s study of the women who committed horrors during the Holocaust follows the lives of 13 ordinary women and argues that they were not just swept along by a masculine, nationalistic tide but became monsters themselves. The stories are, of course, chilling — from the women who murdered from behind a desk, typing up deportation lists, to those who murdered in person, shooting children in the Jewish ghetto. But what’s most harrowing is what happened to them — nothing. Only one was tried and found guilty. And if the Holocaust was perpetrated based on one ugly prejudice — anti-Semitism — these women got away with their crimes because of another — a rooted belief that women are somehow naturally more innocent."