The Routledge History of the Holocaust

Summary

The genocide of Jewish and non-Jewish civilians perpetrated by the German regime during World War Two continues to confront scholars with elusive questions even after nearly seventy years and hundreds of studies. This multi-contributory work is a landmark publication that sees experts renowned in their field addressing these questions in light of current research.

A comprehensive introduction to the history of the Holocaust, this volume has 42 chapters which add important depth to the academic study of the Holocaust, both geographically and topically. The chapters address such diverse issues as:

• continuities in German and European history with respect to genocide prior to 1939
• the eugenic roots of Nazi anti-Semitism
• the response of Europe's Jewish Communities to persecution and destruction
• the Final Solution as the German occupation instituted it across Europe
• rescue and rescuer motivations the problem of prosecuting war crimes
• gender and Holocaust experience
• the persecution of non-Jewish victims
• the Holocaust in postwar cultural venues.

This important collection will be essential reading for all those interested in the history of the Holocaust.

Table of Contents

@contents: Selected Contents Introduction  Section 1: The Nazi Takeover and Persecution in Hitler’s Reich to 1939  Section 2: Germany’s Racial War in Poland and the Soviet Union, 1939-1941  Section 3: The Final Solution in Europe  Section 4: The Responses from Victims, Bystanders, and Rescuers  Section 5: The Holocaust in Law, Culture, and Memory  Conclusion Index.

Editor(s) Bio

Dr. Jonathan C. Friedman is Professor of History and Director of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at West Chester University and has worked as a historian at both the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Survivors of the Shoah Foundation. He is the author of six books, including The Lion and the Star: Gentile-Jewish Relations in Three Hessian Communities (1998) and Rainbow Jews: Gay and Jewish Identity in the Performing Arts (2007).