The Holocaust: The Third Reich and the Jews

Description

This book offers a survey of the encounter between the Third Reich and European Jewry. Pointing out the difficulties historians face in interpreting the ever-expanding documentary record, it includes treatment of the role of non-Germans in the Holocaust, consideration of the much-debated nexus between the Holocaust and modernity, and discussion on how 'the Holocaust' developed as a distinct historical topic. Fully updated, this new third edition incorporates the latest scholarly findings with expanded treatment of gendered aspects of the Holocaust, the Holocaust’s world historical contexts, the long-term history of Jewish-Christian relations, and thinking about the Holocaust’s contemporary relevance, as well as additional documents reflecting recent archival discoveries. Offering a concise narration that appeals to both the intellect and the emotions, the book enables students to gain a real understanding of the events of this catastrophic time. Including a useful selection of original documents (many never before anthologised in English), a chronology, glossary, and 'who’s who', David Engel’s book will be welcomed by anyone trying to get to grips with this complex and far-reaching subject. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Note on Place Names List of Maps List of Figures Chronology Who’s who PART I: Analysis 1 Studying the Holocaust Holocaust and genocide Who is right? Studying the Holocaust historically 2 The Jews Jewish origins Jews and others in the ancient world Jews and Christian Teaching The Jews in Christian Europe In modern times The twentieth century 3 Hitler, Nazis, Germans, and Jews The Jews in Hitler’s world view Jews in the ideology and programme of Nazism Jews in German public opinion True believers and the First World War Ordinary men or ordinary Germans? 4 1933–1941: a twisted road? The Nazis in power Jews in Nazi policy and practice The state of documentation Jewish policy and political context 5 Responding to persecution Perceiving the threat To leave or not to leave? Communal leadership: coping and resisting Zionism, German Jewry, and world Jewry External obstacles to emigration 6 The transition to killing Why begin killing? Local factors The means of murder Organising the transports 7 Responding to murder Information and imagination Communal responsibility and strategies for survival The unofficial community Local non-Jewish leaders and populations: opposition and complicity Beyond the Nazi realm 8 Humanity, modernity, and the Holocaust Can the Holocaust be understood historically? Does the Holocaust teach lessons? Testing lessons historically The Holocaust in history and today PART II: Documents Document 1 The defnition of ‘genocide’, by the word’s inventor Document 2 From an early speech by Hitler about the Jews Document 3 An ex-Nazi evaluates theanti-Jewish aspect of national socialism, 1939 Document 4 Hitler and Horthy discuss the fate of Hungarian Jewry, April 1943 Document 5 Kristallnacht in German public opinion Document 6 Germans confront the deportation of their Jewish neighbours, 1941 Document 7 The Lublin reservation Document 8 A Soviet offcial notes a German demand to deport Jews from Germany to the USSR, February 1940 Document 9 A German Jewish editor assesses the impact of the Nuremberg Laws Document 10 A German Jewish woman describes her experience in the early Nazi years Document 11 A Jewish man commits suicide in protest over exclusion from the German nation Document 12 A German Jewish leader describes a ‘return to Judaism’ Document 13 A Zionist explains how his movement can help German Jews Document 14 A Polish report describes conditions for Jews after the German conquest Document 15 Göring instructs Heydrich to prepare a ‘total solution’ of the Jewish question Document 16 Notes by Goebbels on a meeting with Hitler concerning the implications of Germany’s declaration of war against the United States Document 17 A German government office considers how to deal with Jews in Soviet territories Document 18 Heydrich instructs Einsatzgruppen heads to encourage local violence against Jews in Soviet borderlands Document 19 Invitation to the Wannsee Conference Document 20 An eyewitness describes a mass shooting in the Soviet Union Document 21 A Sonderkommando member describes the Bełżec killing centre Document 22 The Polish underground reports the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto Document 23 An early assessment of German policy towards Jews in occupied Poland Document 24 The story of a mass shooting is met with disbelief Document 25 The first Jewish intuition of a Nazi murder programme Document 26 A youth movement member becomes an underground courier Document 27 A Jewish underground party informs the Polish government-in-exile of a plan to murder all Polish Jews Document 28 The Warsaw Judenrat offers to regulate Jewish forced labour Document 29 The leader of the Białystok Judenrat preaches ‘salvation through work’ Document 30 The head of the Łódź ghetto announces the deportation of children Document 31 A Warsaw ghetto resident comments on Czerniaków’s suicide Document 32 Self-help and alternative leadership in Warsaw Document 33 Hiding in a bunker Document 34 Fleeing German bombs for the Soviet east Document 35 Żegota appeals for funds to rescue Polish Jews Document 36 A plea to combat blackmail of Jews in hiding Document 37 Himmler comments on mass murder Document 38 The United Nations General Assembly proclaims an International Day of Holocaust Commemoration Glossary Further reading References Index