
The Devil's Diary
Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
P. J. Ochlan
About this listen
This exploration of the private wartime diary of Alfred Rosenberg - Hitler's "chief philosopher" and architect of Nazi ideology - interweaves the story of its recent discovery with the revelation of its never-before-published contents, which are contextualized by the authors: The result is a unprecedented narrative of the Nazi rise to power, the Holocaust, and Hitler's postinvasion plans for Russia.
A groundbreaking historical contribution, The Devil's Diary is a chilling window into the mind of Adolf Hitler's "chief social philosopher", Alfred Rosenberg, who formulated some of the guiding principles behind the Third Reich's genocidal crusade. It also chronicles the thrilling detective hunt for the diary, which disappeared after the Nuremburg Trials and remained lost for almost three quarters of a century, until Robert Wittman, a former FBI special agent who founded the Bureau's Art Crimes Team, played an important role; he tells his story now for the first time.
The authors expertly and deftly contextualize hundreds of entries stretching from 1936 through 1944, in which the loyal Hitler advisor recounts internal meetings with the Fürher and his close associates, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler; describes the postinvasion occupation of the Soviet Union; considers the "solution" to the "Jewish question"; and discusses his overseeing of the mass seizure and cataloguing of books and artwork from homes, libraries, and museums across occupied Europe. An eyewitness to events, this narrative of Rosenberg's diary offers provocative and intimate insights into pivotal moments in the war and the notorious Nazi who laid the philosophical foundations of the Third Reich.
©2016 Robert K. Wittman and David Kinney (P)2016 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
Goebbels: A Biography
- By: Peter Longerich, Alan Bance - translator, Jeremy Noakes - translator, and others
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 28 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In life and in his grisly family suicide, Goebbels was one of Hitler's most loyal acolytes. Though powerful in the party and in wartime Germany, Longerich's Goebbels is a man dogged by insecurities and consumed by his fierce adherence to the Nazi cause. Longerich engages and challenges the careful self-portrait that Goebbels left behind in his diaries, and, as he delves deep into the mind of Hitler's master propagandist, Longerich discovers firsthand how the Nazi message was conceived. This complete portrait of the man behind the message is sure to become a standard for historians and students of the Holocaust for years to come.
-
-
Excellent Account of the Private Goebbels, But...
- By Derek on 05-29-15
By: Peter Longerich, and others
-
The Nuremberg Interviews
- An American Psychiatrist's Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses
- By: Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine, Joshua Kane
- Length: 19 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Nuremberg Interviews reveals the chilling innermost thoughts of the former Nazi officials under indictment at the famous postwar trial. The architects of one of history’s greatest atrocities speak out about their lives, their careers in the Nazi Party, and their views on the Holocaust. Their reflections are recorded in a set of interviews conducted by a US Army psychiatrist. Dr. Leon Goldensohn was entrusted with monitoring the mental health of the two dozen German leaders charged with carrying out genocide, as well as that of many of the defense and prosecution witnesses.
-
-
Interesting
- By John & Becky on 02-17-22
By: Leon Goldensohn, and others
-
The Hangman and His Wife
- The Life and Death of Reinhard Heydrich
- By: Nancy Dougherty, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 26 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was called the Hangman of the Gestapo, the "butcher of Prague", with a reputation as a ruthlessly efficient killer. He was the head of the SS, and the Gestapo, second-in-command to Heinrich Himmler. His orders set in motion the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938 and, as the lead planner of Hitler's Final Solution, he chaired the Wannsee Conference, at which details of the murder of millions of Jews across Nazi-occupied Europe were toasted with cognac.
-
-
Evil explained....NOT!
- By C. P. O. Carroll on 06-23-22
By: Nancy Dougherty, and others
-
With Hitler to the End
- The Memoirs of Hitler's Valet
- By: Heinz Linge
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Heinz Linge worked with Adolf Hitler for a 10 year period from 1935 until the Fuhrer's death in the Berlin bunker in May 1945. He was one of the last to leave the bunker and was responsible for guarding the door while Hitler killed himself. During his years of service, Linge was responsible for all aspects of Hitler's household and was constantly by his side. He claims that only Eva Braun stood closer to Hitler over these years. Through a host of anecdotes and observations, Linge recounts the daily routine in Hitler's household; his eating habits, his foibles, his preferences, his sense of humour, and his private life with Eva Braun.
-
-
Insight into One of Hitler's Unrepentant Dullards
- By Erik on 12-19-14
By: Heinz Linge
-
Hitler's True Believers
- How Ordinary People Became Nazis
- By: Robert Gellately
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Understanding Adolf Hitler's ideology provides insights into the mental world of an extremist politics that, over the course of the Third Reich, developed explosive energies culminating in the Second World War and the Holocaust. Too often the theories underlying National Socialism or Nazism are dismissed as an irrational hodgepodge of ideas. Yet that ideology drove Hitler's quest for power in 1933, colored everything in the Third Reich, and transformed him, however briefly, into the most powerful leader in the world.
-
-
Fascinating listen
- By Amy Neff on 12-15-22
By: Robert Gellately
-
End of a Berlin Diary
- The Berlin Diary Series, Book 2
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A radio broadcaster and journalist for Edward R. Murrow at CBS, William L. Shirer was new to the world of broadcast journalism when he began keeping a diary while on assignment in Europe during the 1930s. Shirer’s Berlin Diary, which is considered the first full record of what was happening in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich, appeared in 1941. Shirer returned to the European front in 1944 to cover the end of the war. End of a Berlin Diary chronicles this year-long study of Germany after Hitler.
-
-
Mr Shrier might is an excellent Historian but pass
- By Clarence Nelson on 07-19-20
-
Goebbels: A Biography
- By: Peter Longerich, Alan Bance - translator, Jeremy Noakes - translator, and others
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 28 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In life and in his grisly family suicide, Goebbels was one of Hitler's most loyal acolytes. Though powerful in the party and in wartime Germany, Longerich's Goebbels is a man dogged by insecurities and consumed by his fierce adherence to the Nazi cause. Longerich engages and challenges the careful self-portrait that Goebbels left behind in his diaries, and, as he delves deep into the mind of Hitler's master propagandist, Longerich discovers firsthand how the Nazi message was conceived. This complete portrait of the man behind the message is sure to become a standard for historians and students of the Holocaust for years to come.
-
-
Excellent Account of the Private Goebbels, But...
- By Derek on 05-29-15
By: Peter Longerich, and others
-
The Nuremberg Interviews
- An American Psychiatrist's Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses
- By: Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine, Joshua Kane
- Length: 19 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Nuremberg Interviews reveals the chilling innermost thoughts of the former Nazi officials under indictment at the famous postwar trial. The architects of one of history’s greatest atrocities speak out about their lives, their careers in the Nazi Party, and their views on the Holocaust. Their reflections are recorded in a set of interviews conducted by a US Army psychiatrist. Dr. Leon Goldensohn was entrusted with monitoring the mental health of the two dozen German leaders charged with carrying out genocide, as well as that of many of the defense and prosecution witnesses.
-
-
Interesting
- By John & Becky on 02-17-22
By: Leon Goldensohn, and others
-
The Hangman and His Wife
- The Life and Death of Reinhard Heydrich
- By: Nancy Dougherty, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 26 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was called the Hangman of the Gestapo, the "butcher of Prague", with a reputation as a ruthlessly efficient killer. He was the head of the SS, and the Gestapo, second-in-command to Heinrich Himmler. His orders set in motion the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938 and, as the lead planner of Hitler's Final Solution, he chaired the Wannsee Conference, at which details of the murder of millions of Jews across Nazi-occupied Europe were toasted with cognac.
-
-
Evil explained....NOT!
- By C. P. O. Carroll on 06-23-22
By: Nancy Dougherty, and others
-
With Hitler to the End
- The Memoirs of Hitler's Valet
- By: Heinz Linge
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Heinz Linge worked with Adolf Hitler for a 10 year period from 1935 until the Fuhrer's death in the Berlin bunker in May 1945. He was one of the last to leave the bunker and was responsible for guarding the door while Hitler killed himself. During his years of service, Linge was responsible for all aspects of Hitler's household and was constantly by his side. He claims that only Eva Braun stood closer to Hitler over these years. Through a host of anecdotes and observations, Linge recounts the daily routine in Hitler's household; his eating habits, his foibles, his preferences, his sense of humour, and his private life with Eva Braun.
-
-
Insight into One of Hitler's Unrepentant Dullards
- By Erik on 12-19-14
By: Heinz Linge
-
Hitler's True Believers
- How Ordinary People Became Nazis
- By: Robert Gellately
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Understanding Adolf Hitler's ideology provides insights into the mental world of an extremist politics that, over the course of the Third Reich, developed explosive energies culminating in the Second World War and the Holocaust. Too often the theories underlying National Socialism or Nazism are dismissed as an irrational hodgepodge of ideas. Yet that ideology drove Hitler's quest for power in 1933, colored everything in the Third Reich, and transformed him, however briefly, into the most powerful leader in the world.
-
-
Fascinating listen
- By Amy Neff on 12-15-22
By: Robert Gellately
-
End of a Berlin Diary
- The Berlin Diary Series, Book 2
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A radio broadcaster and journalist for Edward R. Murrow at CBS, William L. Shirer was new to the world of broadcast journalism when he began keeping a diary while on assignment in Europe during the 1930s. Shirer’s Berlin Diary, which is considered the first full record of what was happening in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich, appeared in 1941. Shirer returned to the European front in 1944 to cover the end of the war. End of a Berlin Diary chronicles this year-long study of Germany after Hitler.
-
-
Mr Shrier might is an excellent Historian but pass
- By Clarence Nelson on 07-19-20
-
Inside the Gas Chambers
- Eight Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz
- By: Shlomo Venezia
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Slomo Venezia was born into a poor Jewish-Italian community living in Thessaloniki, Greece. At first, the occupying Italians protected his family; but when the Germans invaded, the Venezias were deported to Auschwitz. His mother and sisters disappeared on arrival, and he learned, at first with disbelief, that they had almost certainly been gassed. Given the chance to earn a little extra bread, he agreed to become a 'Sonderkommando', without realizing what this entailed.
-
-
Excellent book
- By Rodney on 03-14-23
By: Shlomo Venezia
-
The End
- The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945
- By: Ian Kershaw
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the preeminent Hitler biographer, a fascinating and original exploration of how the Third Reich was willing and able to fight to the bitter end of World War II. Countless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost World War II, yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital question of how and why it was able to hold out as long as it did.
-
-
Engrossing yet horrifying
- By Liz on 10-14-11
By: Ian Kershaw
-
Nazi Wives
- The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany
- By: James Wyllie
- Narrated by: Dalya Raphael
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Hess, Bormann - names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margarete, Lina, Ilse, and Gerda. These are the women behind the infamous men - complex individuals with distinctive personalities who were captivated by Hitler and whose everyday lives were governed by Nazi ideology. Throughout the rise and fall of Nazism these women loved and lost, raised families, and quarreled with their husbands and each other, all the while jostling for position with the Fuhrer himself.
-
-
Scary
- By Three River on 05-15-21
By: James Wyllie
-
Empire of Destruction
- A History of Nazi Mass Killing
- By: Alex J. Kay
- Narrated by: Tom Lawrence
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nazi Germany killed approximately 13 million civilians and other noncombatants in deliberate policies of mass murder, overwhelmingly during the war years. Almost half the victims were Jewish, systematically destroyed in the Holocaust, the core of the Nazis’ pan-European racial purification program. Alex Kay argues that the genocide of European Jewry can also be examined in the wider context of Nazi mass killing.
-
-
Bleak, terrifying. Plumbs the depths
- By Dr Philip N Best on 11-22-22
By: Alex J. Kay
-
Heinrich Himmler
- By: Peter Longerich, Jeremy Noakes - translator, Lesley Sharp - translator
- Narrated by: Bruce Mann
- Length: 35 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Heinrich Himmler was an unremarkable-looking man. Yet he was Hitler's top enforcer, in charge of the Gestapo, the SS, and the so-called Final Solution. We can only wonder, as Peter Longerich asks, how such a banal personality could attain such a historically unique position of power. How could the son of a prosperous Bavarian Catholic public servant become the organizer of a system of mass murder spanning the whole of Europe? In the first comprehensive biography of this murderous enigma, Longerich answers those questions with a superb account of Himmler's inner self and outward acts.
-
-
Too much psychological mumbo-jumbo
- By mkl929 on 07-14-22
By: Peter Longerich, and others
-
Defying Hitler
- The Germans Who Resisted Nazi Rule
- By: Gordon Thomas, Greg Lewis
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling story that vividly resurrects the web of everyday Germans who resisted Nazi rule.
-
-
The Righteous Few
- By Linda on 05-19-19
By: Gordon Thomas, and others
-
To Besiege a City
- Leningrad 1941–42
- By: Prit Buttar
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At a huge cost, the Red Army and the civilian population of Leningrad ultimately endured a bitter 900-day siege, struggling against constant bombing, shelling, and starvation. Throughout the siege, Soviet forces tried to break the German lines and restore contact with the garrison. To Besiege a City charts the first of these offensives which began in January 1942 and was followed by repeated assaults.
-
-
Outstanding
- By E. Ronakov on 09-30-23
By: Prit Buttar
-
The Master of Auschwitz:
- Memoirs of Rudolf Hoess, Kommandant SS
- By: Rudolf Hoess
- Narrated by: Tim Dalgleish
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first-hand account of the life, career, and the practices of horror at Auschwitz, written by Auschwitz Kommandant SS Rudolf Hoss as he awaited execution for his crimes. Including his psychological interviews at Nuremberg.
-
-
The Banality of Evil…a Memoir
- By Tim on 03-16-17
By: Rudolf Hoess
-
The Real Odessa
- By: Uki Goñi
- Narrated by: Pat Grimes
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Russian forces closed in on Berlin and Hitler’s premiership drew to a close, many Nazi officials fled Germany. In this startling, meticulously researched account, acclaimed journalist Uki Goñi unravels the complex network that led them to Argentina. Relying on international support—in Scandinavia, Switzerland, and Italy—and the enthusiasm of the Vatican and President Juan Perón, Goñi shows how this ratline allowed Adolf Eichmann—the architect of the Final Solution—Josef Mengele, Eric Priebke, and many more, into the country.
-
-
An historical masterpiece
- By Sue N. on 08-28-23
By: Uki Goñi
-
The Nine
- The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany
- By: Gwen Strauss
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a 10-day journey across the front lines of World War II from Germany back to Paris. Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.
-
-
Soooo good!
- By anne simpson on 09-28-21
By: Gwen Strauss
-
Masters of Death
- The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Neil Hellegers
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Masters of Death, Richard Rhodes gives full weight, for the first time, to the Einsatzgruppen's role in the Holocaust. These "special task forces", organized by Heinrich Himmler to follow the German army as it advanced into Eastern Poland and Russia, were the agents of the first phase of the Final Solution. They murdered more than one and a half million men, women, and children between 1941 and 1943, often by shooting them into killing pits, as at Babi Yar.
-
-
Good book...but...
- By Disintegrator on 08-26-19
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Berlin Diary
- The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934–1941
- By: William L. Shirer
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the acclaimed journalist and New York Times best-selling author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, this day-by-day eyewitness account of the momentous events leading up to World War II in Europe is the private, personal, utterly revealing journal of a great foreign correspondent.
-
-
The Real Rise and Fall
- By Robert on 02-26-14
What listeners say about The Devil's Diary
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Guderian1940
- 06-18-19
Very well done.
I knew very little about Rosenberg till now. Very well done and narrated. I highly recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ZAVI BAYNES
- 04-15-24
Great voice
good book very detailed got to the point and finished very well I enjoyed it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sparkly
- 04-20-16
Fresh perspective on terrible events.
As described in the synopsis, Alfred Rosenberg's diary and experiences are at the heart of this book. It's familiar and horrible, of course, but the perspective is different and illuminating nonetheless. The book is very well written, deeply researched, and the story unfolds artfully as the personalities involved in the recovery of these documents creep off the pages. To me, the most interesting aspect comes with the story of Robert Kempner, who was among the prosecutorial team at the Nuremberg Trials. The tale of how Kempner got there, where he came from, and what he did later is a fascinating yarn, and it sets this book apart. Documents are so fragile, one appreciates all of the accidents and twists of fate that cause some to be preserved and some to disappear forever. If you like history, human perseverance, and a well told story, you will probably enjoy this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Happy Shopper
- 04-14-16
Worth your time
Very worth your time. Focuses on people you do not know and may never have heard about before.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- garba
- 09-10-16
Good insight
The story started slowing then gaining substance to the end. Very interesting and educative to listens to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- emilio squillante
- 05-01-19
Not as illuminating as I thought a diary to be.
full of facts. enjoyed the author's attempt to put. many in context but I fear Rs mind was either too convoluted to understand it's topography OR ELSE the book has fallen short of its potential. I still have gaps...i know that propaganda was used to hoodwink a generation. this, like other works on their times, never seem to get into HOW partial truths become twisted lies which seems to me what an analysis of what gave rise to the philosophy of National Socialism should have focused on. a lot of them thought it a good idea, no? a regrettable and dare I say a repetitive error in this time of political correctness. if we are not to forget we ought analyze more the details of what really contributed to this disaster. how could so many think R made good sense? This book missed that opportunity for me and that omission of Author's License means I had to ding a star. I fear we will get fooled again for the same poorly analyzed reasons.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- bruce kittrick
- 12-10-23
The ideology of the Nazi regime was an area I knew little about
The narrator and author provide an in depth view of the Nazi horror over a twenty year span. Great job.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- aj_22
- 04-06-24
The title does not fit the content
The author clearly did his research. However, he dedicates as much if not more time to telling the story of Robert Kempner. This book is a disappointment if the reader is looking for an in-depth history of Rosenberg's personal history, development of his deranged thought process and his place / impact within the Third Reich.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Randy
- 05-09-16
Terrible Production and Story: A Waste of Time
A poorly executed book in almost every aspect. The production quality is atrocious, with sentences often skipping or jumbled, making parts of the narration unintelligible. While the narrator might be decent, the poor production makes him sound monotone and lifeless. As for the story, it offers little of value—nothing substantial happens until the very last chapter. Overall, this is a frustrating and disappointing listen, not worth the time or effort.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul
- 04-24-17
I feel conned by this book.
What disappointed you about The Devil's Diary?
I was expecting full readinging from his diaries. What I got was a superficial reselling of the history of the nazis with a little commentary from Rosenberg.
What could Robert K. Wittman and David Kinney have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Provided full diary eateries. And provided an insight into what made Rosenberg think.
What didn’t you like about P. J. Ochlan’s performance?
The performance was too monotone.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
None!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful