Gitta Sereny

This is the book's author, a journalist, married woman and mother. She informs readers, writing in the Foreword while living in London, England, that this book is very important to her. The book was published in the 1970s.

Sereny conducted a number of interviews in order to collect the material for this work. She shares her procedure with the readers to some degree; this includes ways she cross-checks information in an effort to get a more accurate sense of the truth. Sometimes the subject is truthful during the interviews and other times Sereny shares that her interviews with other people revealed different information. She is very clear in presenting these instances for readers.

As the interviewer, the author is a "character" in this book, but succeeds in not dominating it.

Franz Stangl

This is the subject of the book. He is interviewed in the early 1970s when...