A Search into Nazi History

I have always had an interest in the period of history relating to the rise of The Third Reich stretching to the end of the Second World War but picked up this book with trepidation. I had visions of it being dry and dull as ditchwater; full of facts and footnotes. Although there are plenty of footnote references for those who take an interest in such matters, this publication is a real-life detective story; a fascinating account of Daniel Lee's investigation. The story of a family and how they cope with life at the time of the rise of Hitler.

The author was contacted by a friend of a friend whose mother had found documents stuffed into an armchair, presumably to hide them. The papers were the property of a Dr Robert Griesinger. Armed with just the documents and the man’s name, Daniel Lee starts his investigations without a clue as to where they will lead. The narrative takes us from Germany ultimately to Poland and covers every facet of the man’s life and that of his family.

Daniel Lee’s story-writing ability is second to none as he draws in the reader. His style, though formal, is flowing and lucid and is so easy to read. Facts are imparted in such a way that the reader not only remembers them but enjoys doing so. Writers of school textbooks could learn a lot from this book.

The account does not focus exclusively on Robert Griesinger. It also covers his immediate family, in-laws and parents. It's a tremendously well-written text, interspersed with photographs of the family and anything else of interest. It gives an authentic and detailed insight into how a middle-class family lived at the time. Griesinger might have become a member of the SS, but we learn about his career and his ambitions. He is no Goering or Himmler but is more representative of the "normal" Nazi than either of those gentlemen.

The SS Officer’s Armchair is thoroughly recommended as it is one of those rare publications which is entertaining, informative and also educational.
mr zorg

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

The S.S. Officer’s Armchair: Uncovering the Hidden Life of a Nazi by Daniel Lee.
Rating ***** 5/5
By chance the author was told of a hidden stash of documents in an armchair, found by an upholsterer in Amsterdam. The S.S Officer was Dr Robert Griesinger. Not a well known S.S. Officer but his story gives a very informative insight of how ordinary Germans became caught up in the Nazi party. It also informs the reader of how many Germans were against the Nazi party but were in danger of being sent to concentration camps or killed if their feelings were voiced or discovered.
Through the research into Griesinger’s family it was revealed that the world his parents grew up in could have influenced his decision to join the party and become an S.S. Officer. Although power and greed were very much in the mix.
Daniel Lee spent a great deal of time on his research, travelling to meet members of Griesinger’s family and children etc. His findings were almost completely unheard of by his children.
A fascinating, informative and revealing novel by a truly remarkable and skilled historian and author. Many thanks to Mr Lee, Jonathan Cape the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this awesome novel. In return I have given an unbiased and honest review.

The content of this book was a complete surprise to me, and it was made all the more readable by the author's easy writing style. It's a cliché to say 'I was gripped from the first page' so I'll just say that it is 'a real page-turner'.

The book kept my attention in several ways. I am in awe of the writer's skills as a researcher. It seems that, time and again, all he needed to do was pitch up in some community or even another country (USA, France, Czech), and within hours he had access to the most obscure and mundane details from decades ago, details which, in his hands, became the most illuminating elements in a complex historical narrative which otherwise would never have seen the light of day. It is a credit to the author that, from what must have been an obsessive project of many years' duration, he tells the story in such an engaging way.

The detailed research was a quest in itself, and then there was also the story of the central character Greisinger, and his family and ancestry.
The story lays out the family wrangles, partisanship, and feuds – some still alive today – which shaped the mind and behaviour of a German lawyer who, though from a privileged background, was otherwise unremarkable.

One of the author's driving themes stays with me. It shows how the vast Nazi machine was able to pursue its horrific ends, not because it was staffed by monsters who necessarily espoused the regime's purpose, but because so many 'ordinary' bureaucrats showed up at the office and worked assiduously and uncritically to advance their careers.

Very well written, poignant story that encapsulates the reader from the first page and shows how wars affect both sides

Really intersting and enlightening book about the lower ranking Nazis and their contribution to the workings of the party. A new insight into that period.

The SS Officer’s Armchair: In Search of a Hidden Life was unlike any book of its kind I have read. Daniel Lee clearly knows his topic and has gone to great lengths to thoroughly research it.
Lee goes to great lengths to explain his research process at every step and whilst this sometimes makes the book a little dry, at other times it provides a wealth of interesting information.
When a stash of personal documents covered in swastikas is uncovered in a family heirloom the trail leads the author on a journey to discover more about the life of Robert Griesinger. How responsible was he for Nazi crimes and how did his life end?
There were times when it was clear how personally invested the author is in this subject and his assumptions probably weren’t very objective, but I found I didn’t mind because he was writing about a confirmed Nazi.
During the process of reading the book I discovered a lot of interesting facts about this time period that I had never heard before.
This historical detective story was gripping read.

Over the years I’ve learned quite a bit about the second world war. From watching documentaries to studying it at college, I have some good base knowledge about what happened, and why. For a while after college, I felt burned out with it. I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

But that was a few years ago now. I have had a general interest in history since leaving school, so when I saw this book available on Netgalley I decided it was time to head back into the depths of the second world war.

Daniel Lee opens the book by describing the scenario in which his investigation begins: the discovery of an SS officer’s papers sewn inside an old armchair. As a historian, he specializes in the second world war, so this discovery, brought on by a chance meeting, intrigues him.
He discovers the story of Dr. Robert Griesinger, a low-ranking SS officer. Lee delves into his family background, and into his life, following it through to its tragic end. He discovers a complex story, along with the causes of Griesinger’s antisemitism and the reasons he joined the Nazi party and the SS.

Lee suggests that life is never as simple as good and evil, and I think this book does a good job of demonstrating that. Early on in the book, Lee relates a conversation he had in which he was challenged to think about the damage done by his grandfather who took part in bombings over Germany. Ordinary Germans were on the receiving end of those raids, and lives were lost. For some, people like Lee are the descendants of the men who killed members of their family.

Throughout learning about Griesinger’s life, we see the humanity behind the stereotypes we’ve come to think of when it comes to the Nazis. There is no doubt, and Lee does not contradict, that the Nazis committed some horrid, terrible acts. The Holocaust should never have been allowed to happen. But the men who committed those acts had families. Some had wives and children. Lee explores the effects of what those men did on those children, and through talking to Griesinger’s daughters, who were still alive at the time of writing, he shows the long-term effects the war and their father’s actions had on them. They were not responsible for the Nazi’s actions, but there is still a culture of silence around what happened.

I think behind every “evil” person, there is a human story. And this book did a good job of showing that war is a tragedy. The second world war was not avoidable. Hitler had to be stopped. But the human suffering it caused should serve as a very strong reminder that war is not a game. War kills. War ruins lives. Any war that we do not have to fight, we shouldn’t.

The SS Officer’s Armchair is an easy, accessible read. It is well-structured, and the way Lee interweaves some of his own family histories made the book feel more grounded. I think this is a powerful book to read as a reminder of the horrors of the past, and of the present.

This is the true story of one man's journey into the past, uncovering the secrets behind the Nazi whose papers were discovered stitched into a chair.

It took me quite some time to read this book - I couldn't absorb it all in one go, and actually re-read a few sections.

There is a lot of detail - people, places, actual historical facts - and it all builds up to give a picture of an "ordinary", fairly low level Nazi and SS member.

Some of the descriptions are chilling, and I found parts of the book difficult to read. Descriptions of the casual way in which people like the protagonist went about their everyday business - that of wrecking, or even ending, the lives of the innocent - filled me with horror.

That said, I'm glad I read it. It made me wonder about a lot of things...

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

This book had some really interesting parts but I felt fell between two stools. I expected it to be something along the lines of a Ben Macintyre book, but there was a huge amount of historical detail that at times made it hard to follow. It’s not an academic tome either. Running through this though is the true story of a middle ranking SS officer and his life both before and during the Third Reich. A useful exploration of the role of a small cog in the SS, but I felt it didn’t quite hit the mark either as a narrative type book or an academic work.

What a fascinating and horrifying book!

All of my knowledge of Nazi Germany and the Second World War (through books, school, TV) is about the ‘big name’ Nazis, those monsters at the top of the hierarchy who are linked to the most horrific war crimes. However, I have never read anything about those lower in the regime, those ‘ordinary’ Nazis who were doing the day to day running of the regime.

Following the discovery of Nazi paperwork, sewn into an armchair, the author has completed detailed research into Robert Griesinger - a son, a husband, a father, a member of the SS. This research covers Griesinger’s mollycoddled childhood and the first shoots of his racist beliefs, to his non-descript academic days through to the undistinguished start to his legal career.

Whilst there is nothing to link Griesinger directly to the murder of innocents, it is clear that he has played a part and has known what has gone on. The links to genocide is frightening enough, however, most horrifying is how such an ‘ordinary’ man has easily ignored his conscience and has quickly become part of, and thrived in, the Nazi regime.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

☆☆☆☆
The title of this book caught my attention on this book. It was a quirky story and a lot of research went into it. Not my usual type of book and I did find it a little hard going but i think others will love it.

*A big thank-you to Daniel Lee, Random House UK, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
A fascinating yet terrifying journey through the dark times of the Third Reich prompted by a photograph and documents that travelled hidden in an armchair across Europe and were discovered by accident.
Mr Lee undertook a Herculean effort to learn the truth lying behind a surname of a German lawyer, Robert Gresinger, a member of the SS, whose name did not belong to the top Nazis but who belonged to 'ordinary Nazis' shaping the law and penning the documents that had dire consequences on those who were left on the margin of the society.
A well-written account that reads like fiction with insightful background to the story of an individual.

The SS Officers Armchair is a true-life detective story which had me hooked from the first chapter. I've always been fascinated with the second world war and have often sought books that have delved into the stories of the German military and the Holocaust.
Part biography - Daniel Lee informs us of the discovery of documents hidden in an armchair which has been sent to be reupholstered in Amsterdam. The documents belong to a member of the Third Reich - SS Officer Robert Grisinger. Lee provides an extremely well-researched account of Griesenger's life throughout the years and how he became to be a member of the Third Reich.
At times I found the book heavy-hitting, I had to take a few breaks but when reading about such atrocities that occurred in the second world war, this is to be expected.

I thoroughly enjoyed The SS Officer's Armchair.

What an amazing book this is. It is not only about the history of the chair but of all the people who surround it and the way that their lives developed and were affected by that era - the days of the Nazis and especially the SS. The story also encompasses detailed aspects of the lives affected by those Germans who emigrated to the US in the 1800s and returned to Germany generations later bringing with them certain mindsets and behaviour that affected so much of the way that the certain parts of the SS behaved.

I found it a fascinating and extremely well researched and attributed book and a surprisingly easy read. Anyone with even a tiny interest in European history in the 20th Century that focusses mostly on the rise and fall of the Nazi/SS machine will find it full of facts and they will be as entranced as I have been.

Having written this review I am now of a mind to suggest that this book should be read by everyone as it has so much to offer.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

One night at a dinner party in Florence, historian Daniel Lee was told about a remarkable discovery. An upholsterer in Amsterdam had found a bundle of swastika covered documents inside a cushion of an armchair he was repairing. They belonged Dr Robert Griesinger, a lawyer from Stuttgard, who joined the SS and worked ar the Reichs Ministry of Economics and Labour in Occupied Prague during the war.

The story isnbased on documents that were discovered concealed within a simple chair for seven-year. This is a well researched book. We learn of the Ger,am Reichbefore and during WWII. The story is captivating . It's also well written.. i quite enjoyed thisbook.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #RandomHouseUK #VintagePublishing and the author #DanielLee for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A chair is taken to be upholstered in Amsterdam. It is found to contain documentation belonging to a Robert Griesinger. Much of it signed Heil Hitler. A second world war historian is told of this story quite by chance at a dinner party, and so begins his quest to discover who this man was, and the part he played in the events of WWII. Speaking to family members and travelling across Europe to consult the few remaining historical records, he pieces together a picture of Griesinger that will reveal the influence of lower ranked Nazi Germans who were never written about or prosecuted. Griesinger came from a wealthy family, and was affected by the defeat of Germany during WWI, as were so many of the war-youth. His right wing nationalism was present from a young age, and he was to become a member of the SS. Whilst he may not have been a high-ranking official, he would nevertheless have been complicit in the atrocities they carried out. He saw active service and when he was transferred to Prague he played a part in the administration of forced labour that saw 75 000 Czech citizens forced to work for the Reich.

Griesinger was never prosecuted as he did not ever return from Prague. His death certificate shows dysentery as the cause of death, but anecdotal evidence suggests he was killed by Soviet troops whilst in a Prague hospital. His burial place is probably a mass grave.

The SS Officers Armchair is a fascinating account of an 'ordinary' Nazi official, the influences that shaped his politics, and the effect of war on his family and innocent citizens who attempted to rebuild their lives after the humiliating defeat in WWI and WWII. A detective story with no definitive answers but immaculately researched and sensitively written.

It was the title of the book that caught my attention... just like the chair did with the author! It was an enjoyable read through the life of Robert Griesinger as the author tried to piece together the various snippets of information that ultimately made the book. Definitely worth a read over an interesting period in history.

I really enjoyed this fresh take on the much written about period of Nazi rule in Germany during WW2.
The book has two objectives, one is to find out more about Dr. Robert Griesinger, an SS Officer who hid a number of important documents in the upholstery of an armchair; the other story is of the armchair itself and where it takes Daniel Lee as he carries out his investigations.
I thought both aspects of the book were well done although I found myself more intrigued by the modern day storyline as Lee tried to unpick and understand the legacy left behind by Dr. Griesinger.
Even if you have read a lot on Nazi Germany and on the SS, I think this will be a rewarding read. It shows how easily ordinary men were able to adopt the values of the Nazi party. Griesinger was a regular guy with a wife and kids, he wasn't some monster. And that's the point here, it was people like Robert that allowed the Nazi regime to operate for as long as it did as efficiently as it is did and their behaviour is worthy of study if we are to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
I found Lee's writing style informative and engaging and would definitely read something else from him in future.

This book about a long-dead German Nazi was written by a young British historian, Daniel Lee, who is Jewish. From beginning to end it is written with integrity and honesty.
Dr Robert Griesinger was an 'ordinary' Nazi. We all know the atrocities committed by the Nazis but this book has an unique feel about it as the author explores the culpability of this man. It also shows how the past still casts long shadows over the present.
This is a fresh reminder of the horrors of the holocaust but it also throws a spotlight on the vengeance of the victors. As a historical record I highly recommend it.

The SS Officer's Armchair: In Search of a Hidden Life is a true story based on documents discovered concealed within a simple chair for 70 years, this gripping investigation into the life of a single S.S. officer during World War Two encapsulates the tragic experience of a generation of Europeans. One night at a dinner party in Florence, historian Daniel Lee was told about a remarkable discovery. An upholsterer in Amsterdam had found a bundle of swastika-covered documents inside the cushion of an armchair he was repairing. They belonged to Dr. Robert Griesinger, a lawyer from Stuttgart, who joined the S.S. and worked at the Reich's Ministry of Economics and Labor in Nazi-occupied Prague during the war. An expert in the history of the Holocaust, Lee was fascinated to know more about this man - and how his most precious documents ended up hidden inside a chair, hundreds of miles from Prague and Stuttgart.

In The S.S. Officer's Armchair, Lee weaves detection with biography to tell an astonishing narrative of ambition and intimacy in the Third Reich. He uncovers Griesinger's American back-story - his father was born in New Orleans and the family had ties to the plantations and music halls of nineteenth century Louisiana. As Lee follows the footsteps of a rank and file Nazi official 70 years later, and chronicles what became of him and his family at the war's end, Griesinger's role in Nazi crimes comes into focus. When Lee stumbles on an unforeseen connection between Griesinger and the murder of his own relatives in the Holocaust, he must grapple with potent questions about blame, manipulation, and responsibility. The S.S. Officer's Armchair is an enthralling detective story and a reconsideration of daily life in the Third Reich. It provides a window into the lives of Hitler's millions of nameless followers and into the mechanisms through which ordinary people enacted history's most extraordinary atrocity.

This is a riveting, fascinating and extensively researched account of a seemingly ordinary family man who becomes a member of the SS. It paints a portrait of two sides of the same coin — a man, living against the backdrop of an upper-middle-class society, and a monster, sharing in the collective horrors of the Nazi party. Through information gleaned from accidentally discovered documents to the interviews Lee carried out of the officer's surviving relatives, we are given unprecedented access to the life, thoughts and behaviours of the officer and those around him at the time. A powerful, accessible and important Nazi history book which is exceptionally written and authentic from beginning to end. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Jonathan Cape for an ARC.