This book states the fallacy of the notion that German and Austrian civilians were sheltered from the horrors of the Holocaust. The author examined the lives of those who lived in immediate proximity to Mauthausen, one of the Nazi's most vicious facilities in Austria, and found how individuals could reconcile themselves to the atrocities that took place under their noses. He argues that there was an almost total suspension of moral action. The book explores the life of the townspeople, the life of the inmates and the economic system established by the Nazis of which the camp was a part.