Book 1, Into That Darkness : Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

There are 3 introductory documents that explain that the subject was found guilty of war crimes during World War 2 in 1970. He was kept apart from the others, and at the time the interviews were conducted had been subjected to 3 years of solitary confinement. Since he developed emotional depression as a direct consequence of the isolation, this was alleviated with one or two forms of permissible social contact within the prison. Gitta Sereny offered the prisoner an opportunity to be interviewed; he was in his 60s at the time.

The first interview reveals that the prisoner acted under orders when he ran the death camp. He served 2 tours of duty, lasting 6 months each. This is a fairly standard military system. After the first interview, he tells the author that yes, he will give the type...