Final Verdict

Final Verdict Synopsis

SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWN
LONGLISTED FOR THE WINGATE LITERARY PRIZE

'A masterly account' THE TIMES
'A brilliant book' OBSERVER
'Excellent . . . a timely, wise and fair-minded meditation on a singular crime' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
'A thrilling read ' PHILIPPE SANDS
'[A] gripping and fascinating book' JAMES HOLLAND, TELEGRAPH 5* review

October 2019, Hamburg: A trial laden with extraordinary historical weight begins to unfold. Charged with the murder of at least 5,230 inmates at the Stutthof concentration camp over seventy years ago, Bruno Dey admits his role as a guard but denies responsibility for the killings. Occurring as the last witnesses of the Holocaust disappear, this gripping trial raises profound questions about German history, politics, collective memory and personal accountability. Reflecting on his own family's silence about their Nazi-era experiences, Tobias Buck uses this courtroom drama to explore the broader significance of prosecuting Dey so many decades later and to consider what choices we might have made in his position.