The Holocaust Books

Book SynopsisMost accounts of the Holocaust focus on trainloads of prisoners speeding toward Auschwitz, with its chimneys belching smoke and flames, in the summer of 1944. This book provides a hitherto untold chapter of the Holocaust by exploring a prequel to the gas chambers: the face-to-face mass murder of Jews in Galicia by bullets. The summer of 1941 ushered in a chain of events that had no precedent in the rapidly unfolding history of World War II and the Holocaust. In six weeks, more than twenty thousand Hungarian Jews were forcefully deported to Galicia and summarily executed. In exploring the fate of these Hungarian Jews and their local coreligionists, A Summer of Mass Murder transcends conventional history by introducing a multitude of layers of politics, culture, and, above all, psychology—for both the victims and the executioners. The narrative presents an uncharted territory in Holocaust scholarship with extensive archival research, interviews, and corresponding literature across countries and languages, incorporating many previously unexplored documents and testimonies. Eisen reflects upon the voices of the victims, the images of the perpetrators, whose motivation for murder remains inexplicable. In addition, the author incorporates the long-forgotten testimonies of bystander contemporaries, who unwittingly became part of the unfolding nightmare and recorded the horror in simple words. This book also serves as a personal journey of discovery. Among the twenty thousand people killed was the tale of two brothers, the author's uncles. In retracing their final fate and how they were swept up in the looming genocide, A Summer of Mass Murder also gives voice to their story.Table of Contents List of Illustrations The Main Characters: Survivors, Witnesses, Rescuers, Perpetrators Author's Note Preface 1. Prologue: A Primer to the Holocaust 2. The Ostjuden: The Galicianer in the Hungarian Imagination 3. Galicia: An Exile into the Unknown 4. Kamenets-Podolsk: The Anatomy of a Massacre 5. Galicia 1941 – 1942: The Delirium of Murder 6. Weapon of War: Rape and Sexual Violence 7. Return from the Abyss: Rescue and Survival 8. Opening Old Wounds: Responsibility and Consequences 9. Requiem for a Deportation: Unanswered Questions Epilogue: Looking for Closure Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisNow in its ninth edition, A History of Modern Germany provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive survey of this complex countryâs history, beginning in 1871 and ending in the present day.Orlow tells the story of Germanyâs troubled past â Prusso-German authoritarianism, the Nazi dictatorship, and the Holocaust â whilst also uncovering the long-standing traditions of political, cultural and economic pluralism that have existed alongside. Over the years, historians have debated the cause for Germanyâs volatile and unpredictable trajectory; this textbook offers readers insight into this lively historiography. Whilst taking Germany as its focus, the book also covers its interaction with the rest of the world, including the two world wars and Germanyâs brief colonial experience. This ninth edition is the only textbook that brings the story to the present day; its new chapter on the years 2017-2024 delves into Germanyâs role in the global balance of power.With âIm Mittelpunktâ (âIn the Spotlightâ) features on key figures and an expanded list of âSuggestions for Further Readingâ, this new edition remains the perfect grounding for all students of German history.

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Book SynopsisFrom Spain to Syria, the thrilling, untold history of Nazi fugitives turned postwar agents—for America, the Soviets, the Third World, or themselves. After the Second World War, the Allies vowed to hunt Nazi war criminals “to the ends of the earth.” Yet many slipped away—or were shielded by the West, in exchange for cooperation in the unfolding confrontation with Communism. Reinhard Gehlen, founder of West German foreign intelligence, welcomed SS operatives into the fold, overestimating their supposed capabilities. This shortsighted decision nearly brought down his cherished service, as the KGB found his Nazi operatives easy to turn or expose. However, Gehlen was hardly alone in this cynical strategy; the American, Soviet, French and Israeli secret services—and nationalist organisations and independence movements—all used former Nazi operatives in the early Cold War. Nazi fugitives became freelance arms traffickers, spies, and assassins, playing crucial roles in the clandestine contest between the superpowers. From posh German restaurants, smuggler-infested Yugoslav ports, and fascist holdouts in Franco’s Spain to Damascene safehouses and Egyptian country clubs, these spies created a busy network of influence and information, a uniquely combustible ingredient in the covert struggles of the postwar decades. Unearthing newly declassified revelations from Mossad and other archives, historian Danny Orbach reveals this long-forgotten arena of the Cold War, and its colourful cast of characters. Shrouded in official secrecy, clouded by myth and propaganda, the extraordinary tale of these Nazi agents has never been properly told—until now.Trade Review‘[A] highly intriguing book … Fugitives is genuinely revelatory and Orbach’s research is impressive and scholarly. More to the point, the many fascinating narratives he relates here could easily provide the raw material for a dozen espionage novels. I have a feeling a lot of writers will be inspired.’ -- William Boyd, New Statesman'The tales Orbach tells could fit into a peculiarly cynical 1970s spy novel, and it can read like one too. [Fugitives] is a murky saga of espionage, paranoia, and betrayal.' -- The American Spectator

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Book SynopsisHer beauty saved her life - and condemned her.In 1942 Cilka Klein is just sixteen years old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. The Commandant at Birkenau, Schwarzhuber, notices her long beautiful hair, and forces her separation from the other women prisoners. Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly given, equals survival.After liberation, Cilka is charged as a collaborator by the Russians and sent to a desolate, brutal prison camp in Siberia known as Vorkuta, inside the Arctic Circle. Innocent, imprisoned once again, Cilka faces challenges both new and horribly familiar, each day a battle for survival. Cilka befriends a woman doctor, and learns to nurse the ill in the camp, struggling to care for them under unimaginable conditions. And when she tends to a man called Alexandr, Cilka finds that despite everything, there is room in her heart for love.Based on what is known of Cilka Klein's time in Auschwitz, and on the experience of women in Siberian prison camps, Cilka's Journey is the breathtaking sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz. A powerful testament to the triumph of the human will, this novel will move you to tears, but it will also leave you astonished and uplifted by one woman's fierce determination to survive, against all odds. 'She was the bravest person I ever met'Lale Sokolov, The Tattooist of Auschwitz

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Book SynopsisHungarian Imre Kertész was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002 for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history. His conversation with literary historian Thomas Cooper that is presented here speaks specifically to this relationship between the personal and the historical.In The Holocaust as Culture,Kertész recalls his childhood in Buchenwald and Auschwitz and as a writer living under the so-called soft dictatorship of communist Hungary. Reflecting on his experiences of the Holocaust and the Soviet occupation of Hungary following World War II, Kertész likens the ideological machinery of National Socialism to the oppressive routines of life under communism. He also discusses the complex publication history of Fateless, his acclaimed novel about the experiences of a Hungarian child deported to Auschwitz, and the lack of interest with which it was initially met in Hungary due to its failure to conform to the communist government's simplistic history of the relationship between Nazi occupiers and communist liberators. The underlying theme in the dialogue between Kertész and Cooper is the difficulty of mediating the past and creating models for interpreting history, and how this challenges ideas of self.The title The Holocaust as Culture is taken from that of a talk Kertész gave in Vienna for a symposium on the life and works of Jean Améry. That essay is included here, and it reflects on Améry's fear that history would all too quickly forget the fates of the victims of the concentration camps. Combined with an introduction by Thomas Cooper, the thoughts gathered here reveal Kertész's views on the lengthening shadow of the Holocaust as an ever-present part of the world's cultural memory and his idea of the crucial functions of literature and art as the vessels of this memory.

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Book SynopsisBetween the Wires tells for the first time the history of the Janowska camp in Lviv, Ukraine. Located in a city with the third-largest ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe, Janowska remains one of the least-known sites of the Holocaust, despite being one of the deadliest. Simultaneously a prison, a slave labor camp, a transit camp to the gas chambers, and an extermination site, this hybrid camp played a complex role in the Holocaust. Based on extensive archival research, Between the Wires explores the evolution and the connection to Lviv of this rare urban camp. Waitman Wade Beorn reveals the exceptional brutality of the SS staff alongside an almost unimaginable will to survive among prisoners facing horrendous suffering, whose resistance included an armed uprising. This integrated chronicle of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders follows the history of the camp into the postwar era, including attempts to bring its criminals to justice.

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Book SynopsisBased on the incredible true story of the Meller sisters, as told to Heather Morris. 'Gripping, heartbreaking and uplifting.' Christy Lefteri, author of the million-copy bestseller The Beekeeper of Aleppo THEIR STORY WILL BREAK YOUR HEART THEIR JOURNEY WILL FILL YOU WITH HOPE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR NAMES When they are little girls, Cibi, Magda and Livia make a promise to their father - that they will stay together, no matter what. Years later, at just 15, Livia is ordered to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Cibi, only 19 herself, remembers their promise and follows Livia, determined to protect her sister, or die with her. Together, they fight to survive through unimaginable cruelty and hardship. Magda, only 17, stays with her mother and grandfather, hiding out in a neighbour's attic or in the forest when the Nazi militia come to round up friends, neighbours and family. She escapes for a time, but eventually she too is captured and transported to the death camp. In Auschwitz-Birkenau the three sisters are reunited and, remembering their father, they make a new promise, this time to each other: That they will survive. Three Sisters is a beautiful story of hope in the hardest of times and of finding love after loss. Two of the sisters are alive in Israel today, surrounded by friends and family. They have chosen Heather Morris to tell their story in Three Sisters. Heather Morris is the global bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey, which have sold eight million copies worldwide. Three Sisters is her third novel, and the final piece in the phenomenon that is the Tattooist of Auschwitz series.

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Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARWinner of the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize 2023Epic, moving and important' ROBERT HARRIS''A modern classic' OBSERVERAn unforgettable epic of a book' DAILY MAILFrom longstanding political columnist and commentator Daniel Finkelstein, a powerful memoir exploring both his mother and his father's devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War.Daniel's mother Mirjam Wiener was the youngest of three daughters born in Germany to Alfred and Margarete Wiener. Alfred, a decorated hero from the Great War, is now widely acknowledged to have been the first person to recognise the existential danger Hitler posed to the Jews and began, in 1933, to catalogue in detail Nazi crimes. After moving his family to Amsterdam, he relocated his library to London and was preparing to bring over his wife and children when Germany invaded the Netherlands. Before long, the family was rounded up, robTrade Review A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘Captivating . . . Superb. This is a beautiful book about a horrific time when life was cheap and cruelty abundant. It took possession of me. I read it quickly, but then couldn’t stop thinking or talking about the Finkelstein and Wiener families’ The Times ‘This is a masterful tale, haunting, elegiac, at times joyful and humorous. It is a history, a commentary, and a thriller, alternating between the suffering at the hands of the Germans and the Soviets’ Financial Times ‘Powerful and beautifully written. Once the second world war breaks out the book works like a thriller, as both families race against the clock to escape certain death. But there are bigger themes running through Finkelstein’s writing, elevating Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad to the status of A modern classic – and just as deserving of acclaim as Philippe Sands’s East West Street or Edmund de Waal’s The Hare With Amber Eyes, both of which used inventive ways to examine the Holocaust afresh’ Observer ‘Superb. Finkelstein is a versatile writer who has delivered an exciting story of courage and persistence, powered by a sense of filial duty and engagingly sustained over its hundreds of pages’ Daily Telegraph ‘Profoundly moving . . . This is a vital addition to the literature of two catastrophes of the 20th century. With great clarity and wisdom he demonstrates what evil politics can do. There is not a word of padding. The prose, distilled into what is both true and interesting, can sometimes be disarmingly simple’ Spectator ‘A masterpiece. This book will be read for generations as a classic’ Jewish Chronicle ‘By far the best book published this year’ Peter Hitchens

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Book SynopsisBuilt in 1927, the German ocean liner SS Cap Arcona was the greatest ship since the RMS Titanic and one of the most celebrated luxury liners in the world. When the Nazis seized control in Germany, she was stripped down for use as a floating barracks and troop transport. Later, during the war, Hitler''s minister, Joseph Goebbels, cast her as the star in his epic propaganda film about the sinking of the legendary Titanic.Following the film''s enormous failure, the German navy used the Cap Arcona to transport German soldiers and civilians across the Baltic, away from the Red Army''s advance. In the Third Reich''s final days, the ill-fated ship was packed with thousands of concentration camp prisoners. Without adequate water, food, or sanitary facilities, the prisoners suffered as they waited for the end of the war. Just days before Germany surrendered, the Cap Arconawas mistakenly bombed by the British Royal Air Force, and nearly all of the prisoners were killed in the last major tragedy of the Holocaust and one of history''s worst maritime disasters.Although the British government sealed many documents pertaining to the ship''s sinking, Robert P. Watson has unearthed forgotten records, conducted many interviews, and used over 100 sources, including diaries and oral histories, to expose this story. As a result, The Nazi Titanic is a riveting and astonishing account of an enigmatic ship that played a devastating role in World War II and the Holocaust.

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Book SynopsisNearly seventy-five years after World War II, a contentious debate lingers over whether Franklin Delano Roosevelt turned his back on the Jews of Hitler's Europe. Defenders claim that FDR saved millions of potential victims by defeating Nazi Germany. Others revile him as morally indifferent and indict him for keeping America's gates closed to Jewish refugees and failing to bomb Auschwitz's gas chambers. In an extensive examination of this impassioned debate, Richard Breitman and Allan J. Lichtman find that the president was neither savior nor bystander. In FDR and the Jews, they draw upon many new primary sources to offer an intriguing portrait of a consummate politician-compassionate but also pragmatic-struggling with opposing priorities under perilous conditions. For most of his presidency Roosevelt indeed did little to aid the imperiled Jews of Europe. He put domestic policy priorities ahead of helping Jews and deferred to others' fears of an anti-Semitic backlash. Yet he also acted decisively at times to rescue Jews, often withstanding contrary pressures from his advisers and the American public. Even Jewish citizens who petitioned the president could not agree on how best to aid their co-religionists abroad. Though his actions may seem inadequate in retrospect, the authors bring to light a concerned leader whose efforts on behalf of Jews were far greater than those of any other world figure. His moral position was tempered by the political realities of depression and war, a conflict all too familiar to American politicians in the twenty-first century.Trade ReviewAt long last, two historians have sought to provide an analysis of Roosevelt’s stance on the ‘Jewish question’ that avoids the tempting urge to judge the past through the lenses of the present… FDR and the Jews offers…a new perspective, a cogent and comprehensive study of Roosevelt’s evolving opinions on the Jews… Breitman and Lichtman’s carefully documented explication of this somewhat byzantine narrative proves immensely valuable in understanding the mechanics of what remain some of the most controversial decisions in the history of American foreign policy: the refusal to admit the Jewish refugees aboard the SS St. Louis to the United States in 1939 and the refusal to bomb the Auschwitz crematoria after their existence was discovered in 1942… Among the other accomplishments of this remarkably clear, concise but complicated history is the attention it devotes to American Jews, who were anything but unified during the war… [It] provide[s] the perspective necessary to comprehend the complexities of what have become some of the most painful and politically charged memories in American foreign policy. In short, FDR and the Jews is a narrative that resists the temptations of artificial drama and a work of scholarship that avoids facile categorization. -- James McAuley * Washington Post *Sadly, Roosevelt left behind a rather thin paper trail. He didn’t write a memoir or record many White House conversations, and he refused to allow note-taking at his personal meetings. To fill this gap, Breitman and Lichtman have combed the archives of the leading players who did write down their thoughts and recollections, and the result is quite impressive. Even those who disagree with the book’s conclusions must acknowledge the mountain of research on which they rest… The authors rightly note the squeamishness of America’s modern presidents in dealing with genocide… Historically speaking, Roosevelt comes off rather well… [An] eminently sensible book. -- David Oshinsky * New York Times Book Review *Thoughtful and persuasive… It poses a challenge to the theme that American Jews have no friends, that the gentile world has been at best indifferent to the survival of the Jewish people. It shows that, while there were some anti-Semites in the State Department, the best friend Jews had anywhere in the world in the 1940s was the government of the United States and its president FDR; that, while FDR put domestic political factors ahead of rescuing European Jews, he did far more than any other head of government to act to protect Jews facing death… It’s the most responsible, reasoned, well-documented assessment of FDR’s role. -- Jon Wiener * Los Angeles Review of Books *One effect of Breitman and Lichtman’s book is that no one who reads it sympathetically can continue to believe that Roosevelt acting alone ‘could have’ simply devoted the efforts of the United States to stopping or seriously mitigating the Holocaust, even if he had known sooner of the Nazis’ plans. -- Noah Feldman * New York Review of Books *Level-headed yet deeply troubling, FDR and the Jews offers a history of American policy toward overseas Jews before and during World War II… Assertively fair-minded, sometimes excessively so, FDR and the Jews pushes back against simplistic denunciations, and refuses to treat the era’s combination of constraints and decisions as a one-dimensional history of American abandonment. Situating Roosevelt within political and global circumstances, it weighs his actions with understanding and sympathy, though not always with approval. -- Ira Katznelson * New Republic *[Breitman and Lichtman] challenge the view that F.D.R. was remiss in helping [Europe’s Jews] and plot stages in his development from aloofness to engagement. -- Jerome Donnelly * America *The carefully nuanced FDR and the Jews…remains the definitive work on the topic. -- Joshua Kendall * Boston Globe *While this incisively written study is unlikely to sway anyone whose mind is already made up, readers without fixed views will find plenty to ponder. And it will remind everyone not only of the enormity of the Holocaust but…the ultimate limitations of the presidency, no matter who holds the office. -- Alan Cate * Cleveland Plain Dealer *FDR and the Jews…is not a defense of the president. The authors note that Roosevelt’s primary objective, especially during his first term, was economic recovery, not confronting Congress to revise restrictive immigration law. Nevertheless, the American Jewish community trusted him and understood that he was the first president to intervene somewhat on behalf of their oppressed brethren abroad. The authors observe that Roosevelt was neither a savior nor an indifferent bystander, yet his efforts on behalf of the Jews was far greater than those of any other world leader. -- Jack Fischel * Hadassah Magazine *Breitman and Lichtman take pains to highlight what FDR did do to aid Jews fleeing Europe, and which has been largely ignored by his critics… Breitman and Lichtman conclude—wisely—that ‘without FDR’s policies and leadership,’ the Germans and Italians would have beaten the British in North Africa and conquered, which would have ended all hopes for a future Israel (and put hundreds of thousands of more Jews in harm’s way). And, they continue, even though the war always took priority over the rescue of masses of Jews ‘Roosevelt reacted more decisively to Nazi crimes against Jews than did any other world leader of his time.’ -- Murray Polner * History News Network *On the basis of meticulous research, using many fresh sources, [Breitman and Lichtman] establish [FDR’s] good intentions beyond any doubt. But by locating his words and deeds in their precise context, they elucidate what was feasible and distinguish when his conduct stemmed from prudence, cowardice or indifference. They do equal justice to the American Jewish leadership with whom he interacted. For good measure, they end by situating FDR in the spectrum of U.S. presidents who have confronted genocide. None has ever placed humanitarian intervention above political advantage or the national interest. -- David Cesarani * New Statesman *[A] meticulously researched history… As this book reminds us, politics offers not a simple choice between good and evil, but an agonizing choice between competing evils. Who among us can be sure [Roosevelt] chose badly? -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *FDR and the Jews aims for a balanced view… Roosevelt’s actions during the Holocaust make a better showing than most, even if not as good as one might wish. -- George Bornstein * Times Literary Supplement *[This] work, which includes formerly unpublished primary sources, attempts to present an objective account of FDR and the Holocaust. [Breitman and Lichtman] note that the president was neither savior nor indifferent bystander. Although Roosevelt displayed sympathy for European Jews, his response was often tempered by pragmatic considerations. Nevertheless, the authors conclude that Roosevelt’s efforts on behalf of the Jews were far greater than those of any other world leader. -- J. Fischel * Choice *Breitman and Lichtman pursue several telling currents in FDR’s record, namely the president’s ability to keep the private separate from the public, his reliance on Jewish leaders, and his evolving enlightenment toward Jewish issues as he neared the end of his life. * Kirkus Reviews *A penetrating analysis of the historical record, uncovering new sources and answering haunting questions that still linger after 75 years. A must read! -- Richard Ben-Veniste, Senior Partner, Mayer Brown LLP, and Commissioner, 9/11 CommissionThe FDR who emerges here is concerned with the fate of European Jewry, but also exquisitely sensitive to the demands of the situation: in short, he is the ultimately political man, and his approach shifts with each turn of major events. This comprehensive work will become the definitive word on the subject. -- Noah Feldman, author of Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court JusticesThis splendid book should banish forever the notion that Franklin Roosevelt was a blinkered anti-Semite who made little effort to stop the Holocaust. With dazzling research and astute judgments, Richard Breitman and Allan Lichtman portray FDR as a cunning politician who, in the dreadful context of his times, did more to aid Jews than any other leader in the United States or abroad. -- Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a NationAnyone who wishes to be part of the conversation about FDR’s response to the Holocaust would do well to read Richard Breitman and Allan Lichtman’s FDR and the Jews. In a quiet and sober fashion it reexamines what is already known and lays out new and previously unknown information. -- Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of The Eichmann Trial

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Book SynopsisThe diary as Anne Frank wrote it: “The single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust ... remains astonishing and excruciating (The New York Times Book Review).In a modern translation, this definitive edition contains entries about Anne’s burgeoning sexuality and confrontations with her mother that were cut from previous editions. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl is among the most enduring documents of the twentieth century. Since its publication in 1947, it has been a beloved and deeply admired monument to the indestructible nature of the human spirit, read by millions of people and translated into more than fifty-five languages. Doubleday, which published the first English translation of the diary in 1952, now offers a new translation that captures Anne’s youthful spirit and restores the original material omitted by Anne’s father, Otto—approximately thirty percent of the diary. The elder Frank excis

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Book SynopsisA penetrating study of the Holocaust in UkraineTrade ReviewThe introduction to the volume asks several open questions and makes clear that the intention of the book is to lay the ground for further research on the Shoah in Ukraine within the framework of Holocaust studies. . . This reflects both the circumstance that research on the Shoah in Ukraine as a whole is still only beginning, and the marginalized status of Holocaust remembrance in Ukraine, too. To give the memory of the victims and the acknowledgement of collaboration on Ukrainian soil a future frame, a Ukrainization of the discourse, the aim of the volume being discussed here, is definitely appropriate. * H-Judaic *This book is groundbreaking, but as the co-editors admit in their Introduction, 'a comprehensive history of the Holocaust in the Ukraine as a whole still has not been written'. . . . Thanks to its rich documentation and clearly written, nuanced contributions, The Shoah in Ukraine is an innovative and interdisciplinary contribution that serves as an essential step in that direction by drawing on history, memory studies, and political science. * German Studies Review *[This] volume is a significant contribution to our understanding of the Holocaust as it took place in Ukraine. * Harvard Ukrainian Studies *The Shoah in Ukraine sheds light on the critical themes of perpetration, collaboration, Jewish-Ukrainian relations, testimony, rescue, and Holocaust remembrance in Ukraine. * Shofar *A useful introduction to a very complex topic, but it also highlights the work remaining for scholars in Ukraine and elsewhere and the continuing need for further international scholarly collaboration.Vol. 68.3 July 2009 -- Sean Martin * Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio *Deserving special note are Timothy Snyder's chapter on Volhynian Jewry for its elegant and diligent use of both general and Jewish sources; and Karel C. Berkhoff 's sensitive analysis of the various testimonies of Dina Pronicheva, who survived the nightmarish Babi Yar massacre. Omer Bar-Tov concludes the book with an overview of how the Jewish facets of Eastern Galicia's history are systematically ignored and erased by Ukrainians in whose historical consciousness there is no room for how Jews lived and were murdered in a region that was a center of Jewish culture and religion.Summer 5769/2009 * Jewish Book World *An excellent volume that approaches the Holocaust in Ukraine from a variety of angles. . . . Highlights the complexity of the 'Final Solution' in Ukraine.April 2009 -- Jeff Rutherford * Wheeling Jesuit University *Bitter memories and the specter of the Holocaust continue to haunt Jewish-Ukrainian relations. . . . Only a full admission of the disturbing facts of the past and a full respect for the perpetuation of the memory of the former Jewish communities may at least partly exorcise the guilt and open a new page [in their] mutual relations. Perhaps this book may serve as one of the guiding lights in this direction. * Jerusalem Post *[This] collection contains an interesting mix of general overviews and more specific case studies written by the experts in their field. . . . [I]t is very helpful to have these different approaches in one volume, which represents an excellent introduction to the questions surrounding the Holocaust in Ukraine. Vol. 89, No. 2, April 2011 * Slavonic and East European Review *Written by experts in their fields and accompanied by excellent maps and illustrations, all chapters and the editors' introduction are of very high quality. . . . this volume lays the groundwork for all further study of the Holocaust in Ukraine.Vol. 24.1 2010 -- Helmut Langerbein * University of Texas at Brownsville *This is a really important Holocaust anthology, and essential reading for all scholars and students in serach of the most up-to-date research and interpretation of the Nazi—and indeed subaltern—killing fields in the Ukraine. Vol. 13:3 * Journal of Genocide Research *It represents easily the most detailed and sophisticated survey of the Holocaust in Ukraine that we possess... [A] major contribution to Holocaust historiography.2010, Volume 24 * Jewish History *[This book] . . . represents a major contribution to Holocaust historiography.Jan. 9, 2010 online -- Dan Stone * Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK *Rarely have I read an anthology that is of such consistently high quality. . . . The writing is almost uniformly excellent and the production by Indiana University Press is of the highest quality. . . . The editors have produced a riveting volume that should attract wide scholarly and general audiences.Spring 2010 * Slavic Review *This collection is a worthy enterprise that offers new insights into the Holocaust on the territory of contemporary Ukraine. . . . The investigation of the Holocaust in Ukraine, as well as in Belarus to the north where some 900,000 Jews died, is finally under way.Feb. 2010 -- DAVID R. MARPLES * University of Alberta *Table of ContentsList of MapsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction / Ray Brandon and Wendy Lower1. The Murder of Ukraine's Jews under German Military Administration and in the Reich Commissariat Ukraine / Dieter Pohl2. The Life and Death of Western Volhynian Jewry, 1921-1945 / Timothy Snyder3. Shades of Grey: Reflections on Jewish-Ukrainian and German-Ukrainian Relations in Galicia / Frank Golczewski4. Transnistria and the Romanian Solution to the "Jewish Problem" / Dennis Deletant5. Annihilation and Labor: Jews and Thoroughfare IV in Central Ukraine / Andrej Angrick6. "In him lies the weight of the entire administration": Nazi Civilian Rulers and the Holocaust in Zhytomyr / Wendy Lower7. Soviet Ethnic Germans and the Holocaust in the Reich Commissariat Ukraine, 1941-1944 / Martin Dean8. Jewish Losses in Ukraine, 1941-1944 / Alexander Kruglov9. Dina Pronicheva's Story of Surviving the Babi Yar Massacre: German, Jewish, Soviet, Russian, and Ukrainian Records / Karel C. Berkhoff10. White Spaces and Black Holes: Eastern Galicia's Past and Present / Omer BartovMap SourcesSelected Supplemental BibliographyContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisA memoir of brutality, heroism and personal discovery from Europe's dark heart, revealing one of the most extraordinary untold stories of the Second World WarIn the spring of 1945, at Rechnitz on the Austrian-Hungarian border, not far from the front lines of the advancing Red Army, Countess Margit Batthyany gave a party in her mansion. The war was almost over, and the German aristocrats and SS officers dancing and drinking knew it was lost. Late that night, they walked down to the village, where 180 enslaved Jewish labourers waited, made them strip naked, and shot them all, before returning to the bright lights of the party. It remained a secret for decades, until Sacha Batthyany, who remembered his great-aunt Margit only vaguely from his childhood as a stern, distant woman, began to ask questions about it.A Crime in the Family is Sacha Batthyany's memoir of confronting these questions, and of the answers he found. It is one of the last untold stories of Europe's nightmare century,spanning not just the massacre at Rechnitz, the inhumanity of Auschwitz, the chaos of wartime Budapest and the brutalities of Soviet occupation and Stalin's gulags, but also the silent crimes of complicity and cover-up, and the damaged generations they leave behind. Told partly through the surviving journals of others from the author's family and the vanished world of Rechnitz, A Crime in the Family is a moving and revelatory memoir in the vein of The Hare with the Amber Eyes and The House by the Lake. It uncovers barbarity and tragedy but also a measure of peace and reconciliation. Ultimately,Batthyany discovers that although his inheritance might be that of monsters, he does not bear it alone.

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Book SynopsisPrison on Wheels is a remarkable diary kept by a young Hungarian woman, Eva Dános, during sixteen horror-filled days and nights of deportation by the Nazis in 1945. It is an eyewitness report of a 700-kilometre rail journey from Ravensbrück, north of Berlin, to Burgau, near Munich, one of the countless such operations that took place within Nazi Germany''s vast network of labour and concentration camps. What makes this account of particular interest is the fact that the author had been a member of a small, underground group in Budapest led by Gitta Mallasz, and her fellow-prisoners included some of these same comrades. Their humanity helped to sustain them.

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Book SynopsisPresents the author's own account of his experience of two years in Auschwitz and his subsequent attempts at recovery. The text recounts his time in captivity, years of torment and how finally the author sought help from a psychiatrist who recognized Concentration Camp Syndrome.

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Book SynopsisFew Polish Holocaust survivors went home after liberation. Lukasz Krzyzanowski recounts the story of a group who did—the returnees of Radom. Bureaucrats tried to hold back their property and possessions to prop up the ruined state. And the returnees faced pogroms and even gangs of fellow Jews. Against it all, they struggled to rebuild their lives.Trade ReviewThey came back from the war, from the camps and from exile, only to face hostility, indifference, and loss. Yet some Polish Jews did decide to return to their devastated hometowns. Lukasz Krzyzanowski describes what happened to a forgotten group of Holocaust survivors who tried to rebuild their lives in a place where they were now ‘ghost citizens,’ alive but often unwelcome. -- Anne Applebaum, author of Iron CurtainFrom a brilliant young historian comes this insightful look at the immediate postwar period, a stellar example of what is known as the New School of Holocaust Studies in Poland. A must-read for anyone interested in the Holocaust and its aftermath. -- Jan T. Gross, author of NeighborsUtilizing a rare collection of Jewish community documents that survived World War II by a fluke, Krzyzanowski recreates the world of lawlessness, isolation, and intimidation experienced by Jewish Holocaust survivors who returned to the Polish city of Radom after the war. He deals with a sensitive topic with balance, empathy, and courage, adopting an appropriate tone that eschews accusatory histrionics on the one hand and distorted apologetics on the other. -- Christopher R. Browning, author of Remembering SurvivalThis compelling book takes us inside the daily struggles of Jews returning home in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Krzyzanowski shows that surviving was not only about making it through the camps but also dealing with the fear, loneliness, and violence of the postwar world. -- Tim Cole, author of Holocaust LandscapesA haunting microhistory of a time period, a community, and a place…An important book that will pave the way for further studies into the issues raised in Ghost Citizens and that is bound to inspire fresh perspectives on the return home after the Holocaust. -- Joanna Sliwa * H-Net Reviews *Impeccably well-researched. -- J. P. O’Malley * Irish Independent *A work of exceptional scholarship. * Choice *Superb, well-written, and thoroughly researched…beautifully translated…should appeal to both general readers and specialists. -- Samuel D. Kassow * Holocaust and Genocide Studies *

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Book SynopsisDrawing on a blend of archival sources including unit journals, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and published recollections, this book focuses on the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald, and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.Trade ReviewIt is not a book for the faint of heart... however, I feel it is a must-read for anyone interested in the Holocaust, and particularly, those who question its occurrence. Examiner.com This is the most powerful book I've read in decades. -- John Greenya The Washington Times The author excels at telling the story without sensationalizing the emotional turmoil the soldiers faced. He illustrates his scholarly integrity by including in his narrative the reprisal killings against Germans perpetrated by emotionally distraught GIs. Choice McManus [captures] the shock, anger, dismay, and other emotions of the soldiers who discovered what had been going on in the so-called 'Thousand Year Reich.' Journal of America's Military Past McManus skillfully uses oral histories as a counterweight to other sources... Michigan War Studies Review McManus has produced a fine brief survey of the American liberation of the Nazi concentration camps that is truly a compelling read. European History QuarterlyTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsPrologue1. Encountering Ohrdruf2. The Smell of Death Was Thick in the Air"3. Treating Buchenwald4. Dachau5. "My Heart Was Going a Mile a Minute"6. DachauEpilogueNotesSuggested Further ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisDuring World War II, Nazi doctor Josef Mengele subjected some 3,000 twins to medical experiments of unspeakable horror; only 160 survived. In this remarkable narrative, the life of Auschwitz's Angel of Death is told in counterpoint to the lives of the survivors, who until now have kept silent about their heinous death-camp ordeals.

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Book SynopsisThe Diary of Samuel Golfard and the Holocaust in Galiciaexamines the contents and context of a rare diary written by a Jewish man from Nazi-occupied Poland. Serving as both a record and an artifact of Samuel Golfard's life, the diary details his attempt to make sense of and resist the event that ultimately destroyed him. Wendy Lower integrates photographs, newspaper articles, documents, and testimonies to create a more complete picture of Golfard's experiences and writings. She also traces the diary's own journey after Golfard's death, from 1943 Poland to the present day.Trade ReviewThis volume combines a powerfully emotional personal narrative with concise and cohesive historical analysis in a way that other source-based books do not. Moreover, it is of great use to both scholars and students. While specialists and historians will surely find Golfard’s testimony textually rich, multi-dimensional, and challenging, the educational value of this volume is substantial. The book is short enough for students to digest easily, and perhaps more important, the historical background and editorial comments make the text a stand-alone work containing all one needs to truly engage with Samuel Golfard’s diary. Lower has produced an accessible yet historically complex commentary on a very special testimony—one that scholars and educators alike will certainly want on their shelves. * Holocaust and Genocide Studies *Golfard's diary is remarkable. It is searing, moving, emotional, yet also analytically sophisticated. The published diary will make a substantial contribution to several fields of study, including the history of Jewish responses during the Shoah, the perpetration of genocide, and Holocaust literature. Lower has done a beautiful job of framing the diary entries so that the reader gains a broader perspective of the unfolding history. This book is a most welcome contribution to the existing body of published source materials, illuminating a lesser-known dimension of the Holocaust that is at the forefront of recent research being conducted in the field. -- Alexandra Garbarini, Williams CollegeIt is a miracle that this diary survived and has now become an invaluable source on the Holocaust in a small town in western Ukraine. It provides a glimpse into the state of mind of those destined for annihilation on the very eve of their destruction. The diarist is insightful and thoughtful. The introduction and commentary provided by Wendy Lower are nuanced and intelligent. One will learn a lot about the Holocaust from reading this book. -- John Paul Himka, University of AlbertaTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Editor’s Note Part I: Introduction to Samuel Golfard's Diary –Reading Jewish Diaries of the Holocaust –The Golfard Diary as a Source of Holocaust History in Poland and Ukraine –The Local Setting of Golfard’s Diary: Peremyshliany (Ukrainian), Przemyślany (Polish), Peremyshlany (German) –Peremyshliany before the Nazi Occupation –The German Occupation of Peremyshliany, 1941–1944 Part II: Samuel Golfard's Diary, January to April 1943 Part III: Related Documents –Wartime Documents –Postwar Documents –Jacob Litman’s Testimonies –Rescue in Peremyshliany : The Example of Tadeusz Jankiewicz and His Family List of Documents Place Names Mentioned in the Diary Bibliography Chronology of Events Related to the Diary Biographies Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThe story of one woman''s journey from a cultured life in pre-war Europe, through the devastation of Hitler''s regime, to her commitment of helping the world understand the Holocaust.

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Book SynopsisThe Holocaust is usually understood as a European story. Yet, this pivotal episode unfolded across North Africa and reverberated through politics, literature, memoir, and memory—Muslim as well as Jewish—in the post-war years. The Holocaust and North Africa offers the first English-language study of the unfolding events in North Africa, pushing at the boundaries of Holocaust Studies and North African Studies, and suggesting, powerfully, that neither is complete without the other. The essays in this volume reconstruct the implementation of race laws and forced labor across the Maghreb during World War II and consider the Holocaust as a North African local affair, which took diverse form from town to town and city to city. They explore how the Holocaust ruptured Muslim–Jewish relations, setting the stage for an entirely new post-war reality. Commentaries by leading scholars of Holocaust history complete the picture, reflecting on why the history of the Holocaust and North Africa has been so widely ignored—and what we have to gain by understanding it in all its nuances. Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.Trade Review"This fascinating and original volume profoundly challenges inherited understandings of the Holocaust as a purely European phenomenon. Offering far-ranging original research, the contributors illustrate how one of modernity's defining horrors played out in North Africa. In so doing, they convincingly show that Vichy's race laws, anti-Semitic agitation, and deportations represented ruptures—but also continuities—with North Africa's colonial order."—Joshua Schreier, Vassar College"The Holocaust and North Africa extends the geographical and historical horizons of Holocaust studies. It challenges a Eurocentric focus, exploring the diverse persecution experiences and memories of Jews in North and West Africa, and raises interesting questions about the interdependencies of Nazi, Vichy, and fascist policies with colonial practices."—Wolf Gruner, Founding Director, USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research"As the contributors to this volume demonstrate, it is important to understand how ordinary Muslims comprehended what was happening to their Jewish neighbors, to their country, and to themselves under Nazi and Vichy oversight. Even more importantly, we must understand the experience of the North African Jews themselves. Boum and Stein's book is a good start."—Lawrench Rosen, Jewish Review of Books"This collection of fifteen essays and commentaries by noted scholars constitutes an invaluable contribution to the growing body of literature on the Holocaust, North Africa, and the Middle East....The wealth of new sources both primary and secondary that they have uncovered bodes well for the expansion of our knowledge and understanding of the Shoah in its connections with North Africa."—Francis R. Nicosia, Holocaust and Genocide Studies"[This] is an important and timely book....a unique and welcome addition to our understandings of the mid-twentieth century Maghreb, the death throes of European colonization, the Shoah, and the ways in which these sites, events, and memories continue to shape the Mediterranean region today."—Nicholas Ostrum, EuropeNow"[A] rich and illuminating volume, which, in my view, fully achieves its aims. The essays enrich our understanding of how the Holocaust unfolded in North Africa, most notably by unveiling the deep entanglement between colonialism and fascism....[The Holocaust and North Africa] shows the fruitfulness of a joint work of reflection, scrutiny, and interpretation."—Piera Rossetto, Quest"[A] exceptionally valuable volume focusing on an area of study far too long in the shadows....The Holocaust and North Africa is an absorbing work that will undoubtedly whet the appetite of many a student of the Holocaust, eager to know more about what happened to Jews in that part of the world during the war years."—Diane Cypkin, Martyrdom & Resistance"The underlying agenda of The Holocaust and North Africa is to encourage further, in-depth research in this hitherto neglected area of study. Even at this relatively late stage of Holocaust historiography, there are archives and testimonies waiting to be examined and deciphered. As shown in these essays, comparative research does not imply the drawing of similarities between situations, but rather a deeper understanding of the complex mosaic of the Holocaust—confined neither to Europe nor to European Jews."—Denis Charbit, Studies in Contemporary JewryTable of ContentsIntroduction —Aomar Boum and Sarah Abrevaya Stein 1. Between Metropole and French North Africa: Vichy's Anti-Semitic Legislation and Colonialism's Racial Hierarchies —Daniel J. Schroeter 2. The Persecution of Jews in Libya Between 1938 and 1945: An Italian Affair? —Jens Hoppe 3. The Implementation of Anti-Jewish Laws in French West Africa: A Reflection of Vichy Anti-Semitic Obsession —Ruth Ginio 4. "Other Places of Confinement": Bedeau Internment Camp for Algerian Jewish Soldiers —Susan Slyomovics 5. Blessing of the Bled: Rural Moroccan Jewry During World War II —Aomar Boum and Mohammed Hatimi 6. la recherche de Vichy: The Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives and the Implementation of the Statut des Juifs in Tunisia —Daniel Lee 7. Eyewitness Djelfa: Daily Life in a Saharan Vichy Labor Camp —Aomar Boum 8. The Ethics and Aesthetics of Restraint: Judeo-Tunisian Narratives of Occupation —Lia Brozgal 9. Fissures and Fusions: Moroccan Jewish Communists and World War II —Alma Heckman 10. Recentering the Holocaust (Again) —Omer Bartov 11. Paradigms and Differences —Susan Rubin Suleiman 12. Sephardim and Holocaust Historiography —Susan Gilson Miller 13. Stages in Jewish Historiography and Collective Memory —Haim Saadoun 14. A Memory That Is Not One —Michael Rothberg 15. Holocaust and North Africa —Todd Presner

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Book SynopsisThe Stunning and Emotional Autobiography of an Auschwitz Survivor April 7, 1944—This date marks the successful escape of two Slovak prisoners from one of the most heavily-guarded and notorious concentration camps of Nazi Germany. The escapees, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, fled over one hundred miles to be the first to give the graphic and detailed descriptions of the atrocities of Auschwitz. Originally published in the early 1960s, I Escaped from Auschwitz is the striking autobiography of none other than Rudolf Vrba himself. Vrba details his life leading up to, during, and after his escape from his 21-month internment in Auschwitz. Vrba and Wetzler manage to evade Nazi authorities looking for them and make contact with the Jewish council in Zilina, Slovakia, informing them about the truth of the “unknown destination” of Jewish deportees all across Europe. This first-hand report alerted Western authorities, such as Pope Pius XII, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, to the reality of Nazi annihilation camps—information that until then had only been recognized as nasty rumors.I Escaped from Auschwitz is a close-up look at the horror faced by the Jewish people in Auschwitz and across Europe during World War II. This newly edited translation of Vrba’s memoir will leave readers reeling at the terrors faced by those during the Holocaust. Despite the profound emotions brought about by this narrative, readers will also find an astounding story of heroism and courage in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances.Trade Review"With remarkable specificity gained from camp jobs that gave him unusual access to various corners of Auschwitz, including the gas chambers, Vrba told the unknown truth about it." —The New York Times"One of the most harrowing and profound stories of human struggle ever written. . . . This deeply personal story helped me understand how a regime conspired to commit murder on an industrial scale and the almost impossible struggle people faced to survive." —Sydney Morning Herald "Among attempts to break down the wall of silence around the Auschwitz secrets, historians have no doubt that the escape of Vrba and his fellow prisoner, Alfred Wetzler, was by far the most important." —Guardian "Vrba’s photographic memory enabled him to retain much of the geography and the placement of the facilities as he went about his work." —Los Angeles Times "Details Vrba’s experience in a concentration camp as well as his harrowing escape." —Deadline

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Book Synopsis“Smoke from nearby factories shrouds a countryside as flat as a table, a countryside stretching off to infinity. Covering it are the ashes of millions of dead. Scattered throughout are fine pieces of bone that ovens were not able to burn. When the wind comes, ashes rise to the heavens, bone fragments remain on the ground. And rain falls on the ashes, and rain turns them to good fertile soil, as befits the ashes of martyrs. And who can find the ashes of those from my native land, of whom there were 77,297? I gather some ashes with my hand, for only a hand can touch them, and I pour them into a linen sack, just as those who once left for a foreign country would gather their native soil so as never to forget, so as always to return to it.” ​ So begins Jiří Weil’s unforgettable prose poem, Lamentation for 77, 297 Victims, his literary monument to the Czech Jews killed during the Holocaust. A Czech-Jewish writer who worked at Prague’s Jewish Museum both during and after the Nazi Occupation—he survived the Holocaust by faking his own death and hiding out until the war had ended—Weil wrote Lamentation while he served as the museum’s senior librarian in the 1950s. This remarkable literary experiment presents a number of innovative approaches to writing about a horror many would deem indescribable, combining a narrative account of the Shoah with newspaper-style reportage on a handful of the lives ended by the Holocaust and quotes from the Hebrew Bible to create a specific and powerful portrait of loss and remembrance. Translated by David Lightfoot, Lamentation for 77,297 Victims is a startling and singular introduction to a writer whose works have been acclaimed by Philip Roth, Michiko Kakutani, and Siri Hustvedt.

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Book SynopsisThe number of French Jews killed during the Holocaust has been massively underestimated. Claire Zalc explains why: the Vichy regime terminated the legal standing of thousands of naturalized Jewish citizens, erasing them from the record. Their official disappearance is a lesson about the precariousness of naturalized status, then and now.Trade ReviewIn Denaturalized, Claire Zalc combines the precision of the scholar with the passion of a storyteller…This is a deftly written book. Zalc combines in an accessible style (smoothly translated by Catherine Porter) the stories of people trapped within a bureaucracy that was as obsessed, perhaps, with clearing files as with hunting Jews. In other words, Zalc reminds us how cruel the banality of indifference could be. * Wall Street Journal *Claire Zalc’s book is an important and original contribution to the history of Occupied France. It examines one of the key organisms of xenophobic persecution and discrimination set up by France’s collaborating Vichy regime: the Commission for the Review of Naturalizations. Since the archives of that body have disappeared her work is a brilliant piece of historical detective work which situates the work of the Commission within the wider anti-Semitic policies of the Vichy regime. Her book not only analyzes the workings of an institution but recovers the stories of individuals whose lives were destroyed by it. -- Julian Jackson, author of De GaulleSome 15,000 newly naturalized people were stripped of their French citizenship by the Vichy administration during the Nazi occupation of France; many of the Jews among them were then deported to their deaths. Here, Claire Zalc ingeniously unravels the mechanism of ‘denaturalization’ and gives us vivid portraits of both perpetrators and victims. -- Robert O. Paxton, author of The Anatomy of FascismDuring World War II the experience of denaturalization was akin to a death sentence for many Jews. Some were already at Auschwitz when their citizenship was revoked. For others this change in legal status sealed their fate. Zalc’s eye-opening book invites us to consider the true nature and fragility of national identity. At a time when a global crisis is forcing many of us to return to our country of origin, this is a book of great civic and political relevance. -- Annette Wieviorka, author of The Era of the WitnessZalc delivers an insightful and distressing look at efforts to revoke citizenship in Nazi-occupied France…This is an enlightening portrait of how the tools of bureaucracy can be bent to evil ends. * Publishers Weekly *Her detailed investigation provides unique insights into how bureaucracies in authoritarian regimes produce and reproduce violence…Drawing on the Vichy government’s archives, Zalc follows the life stories of some of those who were naturalized as French during the interwar years, only to be stripped of their citizenship and deported under wartime France’s collaborationist regime…Zalc’s work provides direct evidence of how state power—and sometimes state violence—functions through the routine processes of registration, categorization, and counting. -- Laura van Waas and Natalie Brinham * Project Syndicate *An immensely successful volume, Denaturalized will make an important addition to the reading lists of scholars of modern France and the Holocaust, as well as those interested in the methods of studying democracies and citizenship, police surveillance, and the relationship between immigrants and the state. -- Robin Buller * H-Net Reviews *Denaturalized is a landmark study of the internal workings of the Vichy state and an important contribution to the literature on France and the Holocaust…Deserves a wide readership. -- Herrick Chapman * Journal of Modern History *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"An unforgettable look at genocide as seen by its perpetrators. Johann Niemann's albums document his career from SS man at Grafeneck, burning the bodies of people deemed "unworthy of life," to Deputy Commandant of Sobibor, where he directed the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews. The photos show him as he wanted to see himself – impeccably groomed, relaxed, and powerful – but the superb interpretative chapters reveal the systemic and colossal brutality of which he was both a product and a proponent."—Doris L. Bergen, Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies, University of Toronto; author of War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust"From "Euthanasia" to Sobibor presents an amazingly extensive collection of recently-discovered photographs that had been collected by SS-officer Johann Niemann, whose rose from obscurity to become the Deputy Commandant of Sobibor and was executed in the October 1943 prisoner uprising and breakout. These photographs illustrate a lethal career that saw Niemann serve in four "euthanasia" centers created by the Nazi regime to murder the German handicapped as well as in the death camps of Belzec and Sobibor. Alongside the photographs are chapters that summarize cutting-edge scholarship on a number of relevant topics but especially on the German personnel who staffed these camps and the East European auxiliaries who guarded them."—Christopher R. Browning, Frank Porter Graham Professor of History Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill"This remarkable and meticulously researched volume presents one of the most significant private perpetrator photo collections to survive. For unraveling the horrible conundrum of human participation in genocide, the collection is an essential source, both revealing and impenetrable in one."—Mark Roseman, Distinguished Professor of History, Pat M Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies, Indiana UniversityTable of ContentsForeword, by Bildungswerk Stanisław HantzPreface, by Jetje ManheimAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsMap1. The Niemann Photographs: A Unique Collection from the Holocaust, by Martin Cüppers2. Johann Gerhard Niemann: From Völlen to Sobibor, Part 1, by Karin Graf and Florian RossPhotos from the Niemann Collection, up to 19423. Johann Gerhard Niemann: From Völlen to Sobibor, Part 2, by Karin Graf and Florian RossPhotos from the Niemann collection, from the Period of Operation T44. Realizing the Unthinkable: Operation T4, Operation Reinhard, and their Actors, by Martin Cüppers5. Belzec: The First Operation Reinhard Killing Center, by Florian Ross and Steffen HänschenNiemann's Photos from Belzec6. The Sobibor Death Camp, by Steffen Hänschen, Annett Gerhardt, Andreas Kahrs, Anne Lepper, and Martin CüppersNiemann's photos from Sobibo7. The Trawnikis: Auxiliaries to the Holocaust, by Martin Cüppers8. Reward for Genocide: A Trip to Berlin for Perpetrators from Operation Reinhard, by Martin Cüppers and Steffen HänschenThe Berlin Album and Additional Travel Pictures9. The Revolt at Sobibor and the End of the Death Camp, by Anne Lepper, Andreas Kahrs, Annett Gerhardt, and Steffen Hänschen10. Henriette Niemann: Wife and Mother, Confidante and Profiteer, by Anne Lepper and Martin CüppersHenriette Niemann in the Photo Collection11. Living with the Memory: Meetings with Semion Rozenfeld, by Anne LepperPhotos with Semion Rozenfeld and a Map of Sobibor Drawn by HimAppendix 1: The Brandenburg AlbumAppendix 2: Documents from the Niemann CollectionAppendix 3: Short Biographies of Survivors of the Sobibor CampAppendix 4: Short Biographies of German PerpetratorsSources and BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA dazzling multi-generational examination exploring Jewishness in Europe, the Holocaust and the dark spectres of anti-Semitism and populism.Trade Review'What an extraordinary achievement. A story told with passion and adamantine dedication. David Joseph takes the reader with great tenderness on an absolutely heart-breaking journey of discovery.' -- Edmund de Waal CBE, author of The Hare with Amber Eyes'This is a totally gripping book. Deeply moving, utterly engaging and profoundly important.' -- Rob Rinder MBE'Highly recommended. An exceptionally researched family story which shines an uncomfortable light on the grotesque reality of the Holocaust and particularly those who stood by as the horrors unfolded.' -- Laura Marks OBE, Chair of the Trustees, Holocaust Day Memorial Day Trust'Throughout this book, it is impossible to ignore the struggle and persecution that Jewish people have faced in Europe for centuries, and still face today.' -- History of War Magazine, September 2023'Indeed, the struggles of those expelled from Burgenland are at times di cult to read about, but all the more valuable for this since this is a story that must not be forgotten and is a warning to present and future generations.' -- Family Tree Magazine, September 2023

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Book SynopsisThe children of Auschwitz: this is the darkest spot in the ocean of suffering that was the Holocaust. They were deported to the concentration camp with their families, with most being murdered in the gas chambers upon their arrival, or were born there under unimaginable circumstances. While 232,000 children and juveniles were deported to Auschwitz, only 750 were liberated in the death camp at the end of January 1945. Most of them were under 15 years of age. Alwin Meyer's masterwork is the culmination of decades of research and interviews with the children and their descendants, sensitively reconstructing their stories before, during and after Auschwitz. The camp would remain with them throughout their lives: on their forearms, as a tattooed number, and in their minds, in the memory of heart-rending separation from parents and siblings, medical experiments, abject confusion, ceaseless hunger and a perpetual longing for home and security. Once the purported liberation came, there was no blueprint for piecing together personal biographies after the unthinkable had happened. Many of the children, often orphaned, had forgotten their names or ages, and had only fragmented understandings of where they came from. While some struggled to reconnect to the parents from whom they had been separated, others had known nothing other than the camp. Some children grew up without the ability to trust and to play. Survival is not yet life – it is an in-between stage which requires individuals to learn how to live. The liberated children had to learn how to be young again in order to grow into adults like others did. This remarkable book tells the stories of the most vulnerable victims of the Nazis’ systematic attempt to extinguish innocent lives, and rescues their voices from historical oblivion. It is a unique testimony to the horrific suffering endured by millions in humanity’s darkest hour.Trade Review‘Shattering… When you’re writing about Auschwitz, where one million people were murdered, it’s easy for everything to become a blur of numbers. But Meyer turns the statistics back into stories: telling us where the children came from, how they survived, and what happened to them after the war.’ Daily Telegraph‘An important book at a crucial time.’San Antonio Review of Books ‘In a list reminiscent of Schindler’s, every name in the index corresponds to a tale of torture, suffering and loss. Opening the book randomly takes courage, as the risk is to possibly be confronted with paragraphs detailing the murder of newborns by willing nurses, or mothers kicked to death by guards. Only the photos of the surviving children allow the reader time to breathe, although Alwin found there were always moments of hope – even in Auschwitz.’Jewish News ‘This is a compelling book, magnificently researched and fluently written. The testimony of child survivors, on which the book heavily draws, is heart-rending; the sense of loss, and of being lost, that it conveys is haunting. The extraordinary range of primary documentation is matched by the swift passage of many stories, which makes this book an absorbing read – eloquent, powerful and abounding with humanity.’Monica Tempian, Victoria University of Wellington"Reading this book and using other books like it as teaching tools is critical, particularly in our current climate of racism and bigotry. If we are to grow together into a peaceful future, we must first identify the dangers of the past and be certain not to repeat them. This book is a great first step."New York Journal of Books"Meyer has painstakingly detailed these stories as a labor of love so that every Jewish child born in, or survivor of, Auschwitz has a voice. This is their legacy."H-Net Reviews"[Never Forget Your Name] is an invaluable read for readers looking to connect with human stories, and an important tool in the service of, as its title suggests, remembrance."Journal of Contemporary AntisemitismTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface Life Before ‘That’s When My Childhood Ended’ ‘The Hunt For Jews Began’ Gateway to Death ‘As If in A Coffin’ O wi cim – Oshpitzin – Auschwitz Children of Many Languages Small Children, Mothers and Grandmothers ‘Di 600 Inglekh’ And Other Manuscripts Found In Auschwitz Births In Auschwitz ‘Twins! Where Are The Twins?’ ‘To Be Free At Last!’ Transports, Death Marches And Other Camps Dying? What’s That? Alive Again! Who Am I? ‘[…] The Other Train Is Always There Note on the Interviews Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe Eichmann Trial Reconsidered brings together leading authorities in a transnational, international, and supranational study of Adolf Eichmann, who was captured by the Israelis in Argentina and tried in Jerusalem in 1961. The essays in this important new collection span the disciplines of history, film studies, political science, sociology, psychology, and law. Contributing scholars adopt a wide historical lens, pushing outwards in time and space to examine the historical and legal influence that Adolf Eichmann and his trial held for Israel, West Germany, and the Middle East. In addition to taking up the question of what drove Eichmann, contributors explore the motivation of prosecutors, lawyers, diplomats, and neighbouring countries before, during, and after the trial ended. The Eichmann Trial Reconsidered puts Eichmann at the centre of an exploration of German versus Israeli jurisprudence, national Israeli identities and politics, and the conflict bTrade Review"This excellent collection of essays revisits the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann from disciplinary perspectives ranging from law to history to psychology to film studies." -- Norman J.W. Goda, University of Florida * Central European History *“By offering multifaceted views on the former aspects, the volume does an excellent job in summarizing an ever more complex subject of Holocaust studies.” -- Thomas Kühne * Clark University German Studies Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Rebecca Wittmann Part I: Eichmann on Trial 1. Coming to Terms with the “Banality of Evil”: Implications of the Eichmann Trial for Social Scientific Research on Perpetrator Behavior James E. Waller 2. From History to Story: When the “Architect” of the Holocaust Became his Own “Witness” Fabien Théofilakis 3. Revisiting Eichmann and Zionism: Contexts, Strange Encounters, and their Afterlives Michael Berkowitz Part II: Eichmann and Jurisprudence 4. Prosecuting “Crimes against the Jewish People”: The Eichmann Trial and the History of a Legal Concept Laura Jockusch 5. The Eichmann Trial: Toward a Jurisprudence of Eyewitness Testimonies of Atrocity? Leora Bilsky 6. What Makes a Prosecution an International Landmark Trial? Reflections on the Tensions between Legal Proceedings, Politics, and Historical Facts Ruth Bettina Birn Part III: Eichmann and Geopolitics 7.The Eichmann Trial's Impact Reconsidered Boaz Cohen 8. The Eichmann Trial and the Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Israel: A Positive or Negative Influence? Dominique Trimbur 9. The Impact of the Eichmann Trial on Relations between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany Roni Stauber 10. The Impact of the Eichmann Affair on Arab Holocaust Discourse Esther Webman Part IV: Representing Eichmann 11. Remaking Eichmann: Memories of Mass Murder and the Transatlantic Student Movements of the 1960s Thomas Pegelow Kaplan 12. From 2-Inch to YouTube: The Audiovisual Documentation and the Broadcast of the Eichmann Trial Liat Benhabib

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Book SynopsisIn 1943, Charlotte Delbo and 229 other women were deported to a station with no name, which they later learned was Auschwitz. Arrested for resisting the Nazi occupation of Paris, Delbo was sent to the camps, enduring both Auschwitz and RavensbrÜck for twenty-seven months. There, she, her fellow deportees, and millions of others were subjected to slave labor and nearly succumbed to typhus, dysentery, and hunger. She sustained herself by reciting MoliÈre and resolved to someday write a book about herself and her fellow deportees, a stunning work called None of Us Will Return. After the camps, Delbo devoted her life to the art of writing and the duty of witnessing, fiercely advocating for the power of the arts to testify against despotism and tyranny. Ghislaine Dunant's unforgettable biography of Delbo, La vie retrouvÉe (2016), captivated French readers and was awarded the Prix Femina. Now translated into English for the first time, Charlotte Delbo: A Life Reclaimed depicts Delbo's lifelong battles as a working-class woman, as a survivor, as a leftist who broke from the Communist Party, and most of all, as a writer whose words compelled others to see.Trade Review"Deeply researched and deeply empathetic, this is a spectacular biography.” - CHOICE“This splendid biography brings to life a woman of uncommon courage and intellect who needs to be better known and understood in America, in a fine translation by Kathryn Lachman. Detailed and fully documented, A Life Reclaimed is a gripping narrative told with empathy and deep understanding of the issues and traumas faced by so many in the unhappy history of France in the twentieth century.”- David Bellos, author of Georges Perec: A Life in Words; “Five years after its 2016 publication in French, Ghislaine Dunant’s award-winning biography of Auschwitz and RavensbrÜck survivor and writer Charlotte Delbo has found its voice in English in this lyrical, even musical translation by Kathryn Lachman. Delbo’s life and work have long been regarded as essential reading for all students of the Holocaust era, and now this staggeringly beautifully translation of Dunant’s brilliant biography is no less essential, a must-read for all who ask how art and literature shape and have been shaped by the concentration camp universe.”- James Young, author of The Stages of Memory: Reflections on Memorial Art, Loss, and the Spaces Between; “Charlotte Delbo is one of the most important testimonial writers of the Holocaust, alongside Primo Levi. She is also one of the rare witnesses to have focused on the lives of women in Nazi concentration camps. As the first biography of Delbo to appear in English, A Life Reclaimed is likely to become a reference for anyone seeking context for Delbo’s work. The translation is excellent.”- David Caron, author of The Nearness of Others: Searching for Tact and Contact in the Age of HIV ; “The force and focus of Dunant’s biography is its evocation of the lived experience of its subject. Given the extremity, indeed horror, of the central episode of that life, no one should, would, or could suggest that Dunant’s biography allows its readers to share Delbo’s point of view. What it does do, however, is bring us closer to that perspective, and make unmistakable its importance, not just for understanding (if such a thing is possible) one of the most unspeakable episodes of human history, but for responding to the political exigencies of our own times.”- Jim Hicks, executive editor of the Massachusetts Review

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Book SynopsisClasses and books on the Holocaust often center on the experiences of victims, perpetrators, and bystanders, but rescuers also occupy a prominent space in Holocaust courses and literature even though incidents of rescue were relatively few and rescuers constituted less than 1 percent of the population in Nazi-occupied Europe. As inspiring figures and role models, rescuers challenge us to consider how we would act if we found ourselves in similarly perilous situations of grave moral import. Their stories speak to us and move us. Yet this was not always the case. Seventy years ago these brave men and women, today regarded as the Righteous Among the Nations, went largely unrecognized; indeed, sometimes they were even singled out for abuse from their co-nationals for their selfless actions. Unlikely Heroes traces the evolution of the humanitarian hero, looking at the ways in which historians, politicians, and filmmakers have treated individual rescuers like Raoul WaTrade Review“This volume provides an excellent resource for scholars and teachers on a number of important questions about rescuers: not only what kind of people they were and what motivated them but also what the category of ‘rescuer’ includes and how rescuers have been remembered. It offers new insights into well-known cases of rescue and encourages consideration of lesser-known examples. It also provides an excellent set of resources for teachers to reflect on their own practices.”—Dominic Williams, Montague Burton Fellow in Jewish Studies at the University of Leeds "The global rise of authoritarianism and the persistence of ethnocentrism, prejudice, and xenophobia in the United States and abroad necessitates a renewed focus, not only on factors associated with evil and genocide, but also on understanding the very rare phenomenon of heroism undertaken by the very few morally courageous individuals under life-threatening conditions. The vital aim of this volume is thus increasing both awareness and the incidence of heroism in the twenty-first century and onward."—Stephanie Fagin-Jones, Heroism ScienceTable of ContentsIntroduction Ari Kohen and Gerald J. Steinacher Part 1. Research about Rescue 1. Holocaust Rescuers in Historical and Academic Scholarship Roy G. Koepp 2. The Saved and the Betrayed: Hidden Jews in the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Benjamin Frommer 3. The Final Rescue? Liberation and the Holocaust Mark Celinscak 4. The War Refugee Board: Formulating Rescue from Washington Rebecca Erbelding 5. Raoul Wallenberg: The Making of an American Hero Michael Dick 6. The University in Exile and the Garden of Eden: Alvin Johnson and His Rescue Efforts for European Jews and Intellectuals Gerald J. Steinacher and Brian Barmettler Part 2. Teaching about Rescue 7. From Saints to Sinners: Teaching about the Motivations of Rescuers of Jews through Documentary and Feature Films Lawrence Baron 8. Complicating the Narrative: Oskar Schindler, Schindler’s List, and the Classroom Mark Gudgel 9. Teaching the Lesson of Moral Courage through Writing Liz Feldstern and Amanda Ryan Suggested Further Reading and Films Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisExploring the critical influences shaping the decisions made by Jews in Nazi-occupied eastern Europe, Finkel sheds new light on the dynamics of collective violence and genocide.Trade Review"Winner of the 2018 Alexander L. George Book Award, International Society of Political Psychology""Winner of the 2018 Joseph Rothschild Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies, Association for the Study of Nationalities""Winner of the 2018 Bronislaw Malinowski Social Sciences Award, Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences""A political scientist turns fresh eyes on the problem of how European Jews responded to the Holocaust as it was unfolding. . . . Of much interest to students of modern history but also to those engaged in humanitarian relief efforts, refugee relocation, and the like." * Kirkus *"Instances of . . . mass hysteria have been appearing on a weekly basis, revealing an historical illiteracy so vast that it could contain 1,000 books on the Holocaust. If the ignorant could read only one of them . . . Ordinary Jews would be an excellent way to begin their education."---Stefan Kanfer, City Journal"Finkel provides a fresh and often fascinating analysis. . . . He makes a compelling case that the response of Jews was based in no small measure on their experiences before the war."---Glen Altschuler, Jerusalem Post"Finkel's book on an individual’s choice and survival during the Holocaust focuses on how victims from three Jewish ghettos--Minsk, Kraków, and Bialystok--reacted in response to danger from the Nazis and their allies. . . . This study is fascinating in how Finkel weaves personal narratives from the victims with social science foundations in order to reach some macro conclusions. . . . Finkel’s book is provocative and worth reading for scholars looking to understand the victims within these wretched ghettos." * Choice *"As more Holocaust works push through the barrier of the Holocaust as unknowable, restoring Jewish life and agency before, during--and after--the Shoah is essential. Finkel's work makes a solid contribution in this regard without losing sight of the people, actions, policies, and laws most responsible for creating the contexts of such life-or-death ‘choices.’"---Peter Admirand, Reading Religion"[A] most sensitive of investigations . . . Ordinary Jews is an ultimately important contribution toward the many writings on the subject of the Holocaust. Its complexity and deftness lies in Finkel's telling, which, if truth be told, resonates with all the clarity of subdued beauty."---David Marx, David Marx Book Reviews"[A] fine book. . . . This book is very carefully documented with endnotes distinguishing between primary and secondary sources. Finkel himself is of Eastern European Jewish extraction and that colors his study with a very personal and poignant aspect enriching the research but in no way detracting from its scientific approach. His writing is clear and very readable. . . . This book is recommended for all academic Judaica collections and for JCC libraries."---Marion M. Stein, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews"The book’s persuasive theory, distinctive findings, specific real-life examples, and far-reaching policy options is amply rewarding. It models an ever-finer mode of scholarship, fills in major gaps in knowledge, and with its astute challenges to faulty conventional 'wisdom' makes a major contribution to Holocaust studies. Future discussion of survival decision-making in the ghettos will not be complete unless it draws on Finkel’s exemplary work."---Arthur Shostak, European Legacy"Ordinary Jews is an important book for two reasons. First, it offers one of the few sustained efforts to analyze how Jews in different places behaved in response to Nazi rule instead of simply describing how they experienced it. . . . It also notices aggregate patterns of behavior that varied from community to community, and it tries to account for them using methods and insights from the social sciences."---David Engel, Shofar Book Forum"Finkel’s ambitious study brings political science to Holocaust history, enriches our understanding of individual choices by the victims, sheds light on the conditions that influenced their decisions, and establishes patterns by comparative analysis of behavior in three ghettos." * Holocaust and Genocide Studies *"[Ordinary Jews] is not only brave, but opens up new avenues of research about the Holocaust and other processes of mass violence.—Laia Balcells and Daniel Soloman, Comparative Politics"

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Book SynopsisTells the stories of ordinary and extraordinary French men and women, arguing that the French reaction to the Holocaust was not as reprehensible as it has been portrayed. This book draws on memoirs, government documents, and personal interviews with survivors. The author is also the winner of the National Jewish Book Award in 1987.Trade Review"A book on the French occupation needs to point out that a lot of Jews were saved and a lot of Frenchmen acted well. Susan Zuccotti . . . accomplishes exactly that."—Forward"Valuable and lucid . . . Susan Zuccotti’s book is admirable in many important ways."—New York Times Book Review

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