Adolf Eichmann was head of Gestapo Division IV-B4, the Third Reich's notorious Security Service, and he was responsible for implementing the "Final Solution" of the European Jews in the Greater German Reich. Though arrested at the end of the war by the U.S. army, Eichmann succeeded in escaping from U.S. custody in 1946 and lived unnoticed in Germany and Austria until 1950, when he travelled to Argentina. While living in Buenos Aires, Eichmann produced a series of tape recordings, and hand written notes, giving a very open and incriminating account of his role in the Final Solution, and Eichmann declares that this is indeed the only testimony that he wishes to be considered as genuine and not dictated under duress. In 1960 the Israeli Intelligence Service Mossad, succeeded in tracing Eichmann to Argentina. They captured him, and on May 21 he was flown to Israel, where he was tried by the Israeli Court in 1961, found guilty and hanged on May 31, 1962. After his courtroom testimony in Israel, in August 1961, Eichmann wrote an additional testimony that he called "False Gods." The English translation of "False Gods," is also published by Black House Publishing, and is a companion to this volume. This book provides an incriminating account of Eichmann's role in the wholesale murder of the Jews in Europe, and establishes the scope of the anti-Jewish measures undertaken in the Third Reich and the gradual development of these measures from emigration to concentration to large-scale murder. The reader of Eichmann's memoirs will thus obtain not only a vivid impression of the extensive police operations of the Third Reich but also a glimpse into the ideological and political motivations of these actions, motivations that were perhaps not fully shared by Eichmann himself.

To the British in 1945 the images of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp said everything necessary to illustrate and prove the extent of Nazi barbarity, yet the grim newsreel footage and radio reports did not tell the whole story. Over the following decades these potent representations became encrusted with myths and meanings that distorted the actuality of Belsen. Fifty years after the liberation of the camp, scholars and eyewitnesses can finally explore the extraordinary history of the camp, the experiences of the inmates and the work of the liberators. This volume presents the most authoritative recent scholarship on Belsen by British, American, German, French and Israeli historians. Drawing on documentary and oral sources in Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Dutch and French, often for the first time, it challenges many stereotypes about the camp, and reinstates the groups hitherto marginalised or ignored in accounts of the camp and its liberation.

To the British in 1945 the images of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp said everything necessary to illustrate and prove the extent of Nazi barbarity, yet the grim newsreel footage and radio reports did not tell the whole story. Over the following decades these potent representations became encrusted with myths and meanings that distorted the actuality of Belsen. Fifty years after the liberation of the camp, scholars and eyewitnesses can finally explore the extraordinary history of the camp, the experiences of the inmates and the work of the liberators. This volume presents the most authoritative recent scholarship on Belsen by British, American, German, French and Israeli historians. Drawing on documentary and oral sources in Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Dutch and French, often for the first time, it challenges many stereotypes about the camp, and reinstates the groups hitherto marginalised or ignored in accounts of the camp and its liberation.

Czestochowa was the home of the eighth largest Jewish community in Poland. After 1765, when there were 75 Jews in Czestochowa, the community grew steadily. With emancipation in 1862, many Jews migrated to Czestochowa and contributed to its industrial and commercial growth. In 1935, there were 27,162 Jews out of a total population of 127,504. When the Nazis deported Jews to Czestochowa to work in its munition factories, the Jewish population exceeded 50,000. Almost all perished in Treblinka. Anti-Jewish feeling was spurred on by the Church and Fascist groups that organized boycotts of Jewish stores and incited pogroms intended to drive the Jews out of the city. The Jewish labor movement fought unemployment and poor working conditions. Impoverished families were aided by community charitable funds. Jewish philanthropists established the non-sectarian "Jewish Hospital," progressive schools, two gymnasia and the "New Synagogue." During election seasons, the entire Jewish political spectrum, from the socialist parties to the ultra-Orthodox, competed in the self-governing body, and in the Municipal Council. By 1901, stylishly dressed men and women mixed in the streets with poor religious Jews in their traditional garb. A popular press, libraries, theaters, cinema, sporting events and youth movements gave Czestochowa Jews a variety of cultural choices to suit their politics, artistic taste, and modes of leisure. Public life transformed a dreary factory town into one of the most colorful and celebrated Jewish communities in Poland before and after the First World War.

The Israeli-West-German Reparations Agreement from September 10, 1952, is considered an event of paramount importance in the history of the State of Israel due to its dramatic and far-reaching implications in multiple spheres. Moreover, this agreement marked a breakthrough in international law. It recognized the right of one country to claim compensation from another, in the name of a people scattered around the globe, and following events that took place at a time when neither polity existed. Post-Holocaust Reckonings studies this historical chapter based on an enormous variety of sources, some of which are revealed here for the first time, and it is the first comprehensive research work available on the subject. Researchers, lecturers, teachers, students, journalists, politicians and laymen who are curious about history and political science might take a great interest in this book. The subject of indemnification for damages resulting from war or war crimes would also be of interest to societies and communities worldwide who have experienced or are currently experiencing human and material tragedies due to national, ethnic or religious conflicts.

With an overview essay, timeline, reference entries, and annotated bibliography, this resource is a concise, one-stop reference on antisemitism in today's society. Stretching back to biblical times, antisemitism is perhaps the world's oldest hatred of a group. It has manifested itself around the world, sometimes taking the form of superficially innocent jokes and at other times promoting such tragedies as the Holocaust. Far from disappeared, its continued existence in today's society is evidenced by vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and shootings at synagogues. This book explores the causes and consequences of contemporary antisemitism, placing this form of hatred in its historical, political, and social contexts. An overview essay surveys the background and significance of antisemitism and provides historical context for discussions of contemporary topics. A timeline highlights key events related to antisemitism. Some 50 alphabetically arranged reference entries provide objective, fundamental information about people, events, and other topics related to antisemitism. These entries cite works for further reading and provide cross-references to related topics. An annotated bibliography cites and evaluates some of the most important resources on antisemitism suitable for student research. An overview essay places antisemitism in its historical context and discusses its contemporary significance A timeline identifies key developments related to antisemitism Roughly 50 alphabetically arranged reference entries provide objective, fundamental information about topics related to antisemitism, with an emphasis on modern society Entry bibliographies direct users to specific sources of additional information An annotated bibliography lists and evaluates some of the most important broad works on antisemitism

This memorial book of the Jewish Community of Antopol, Belarus weaves together the history of a vibrant Jewish community, annihilated during World War II, as told through first-hand accounts gathered from its original inhabitants. These stories edited and translated from Yiddish and Hebrew are dedicated to the Antopol survivors and the memory of the 3,000 martyrs, whose names and stories fill these pages. May these messages reach the hearts of the readers as a reminder of the enduring strength of the Jewish Heritage. This book can serve as a research resource of first-hand accounts of the Jewish community of Antopol, Belarus and a personal history book for the descendants of the town.

What does it mean to be Jewish? What is an anti-Semite? Why does the enigmatic identity of the men who founded the first monotheistic religion arouse such passions? We need to return to the Jewish question. We need, first, to distinguish between the anti-Judaism of medieval times, which persecuted the Jews, and the anti-Judaism of the Enlightenment, which emancipated them while being critical of their religion. It is a mistake to confuse the two and see everyone from Voltaire to Hitler as anti-Semitic in the same way. Then we need to focus on the development of anti-Semitism in Europe, especially Vienna and Paris, where the Zionist idea was born. Finally, we need to investigate the reception of Zionism both in the Arab countries and within the Diaspora. Re-examining the Jewish question in the light of these distinctions and investigations, Roudinesco shows that there is a permanent tension between the figures of the universal Jew and the territorial Jew . Freud and Jung split partly over this issue, which gained added intensity after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the Eichmann trial in 1961. Finally, Roudinesco turns to the Holocaust deniers, who started to suggest that the Jews had invented the genocide that befell their people, and to the increasing number of intellectual and literary figures who have been accused of anti-Semitism. This thorough re-examination of the Jewish question will be of interest to students and scholars of modern history and contemporary thought and to a wide readership interested in anti-Semitism and the history of the Jews.

How do Holocaust survivors find words and voice for their memories of terror and loss? This landmark book presents striking new insights into the process of recounting the Holocaust. While other studies have been based, typically, on single interviews with survivors, this work summarizes twenty years of the author's interviews and reinterviews with the same core group. In this book, therefore, survivors' recounting is approached--not as one-time testimony--but as an ongoing, deepening conversation.

Listening to survivors so intensively, we hear much that we have not heard before. We learn, for example, how survivors perceive us, their listeners, and the impact of listeners on what survivors do, in fact, retell. We meet the survivors themselves as distinct individuals, each with his or her specific style and voice. As we directly follow their efforts to recount, we see how Holocaust memories challenge their words even now--burdening survivors' speech, distorting it, and sometimes fully consuming it. It is "not" a story, insisted one survivor about his memories. It has to be "made" a story. "On Listening to Holocaust Survivors" shows us both the ways survivors can make stories for the not-story they remember and--just as important--the ways they are not able to do so.

This volume presents a wide-ranging selection of Jewish theological responses to the Holocaust. It will be the most complete anthology of its sort, bringing together for the first time: (1) a large sample of ultra-orthodox writings, translated from the Hebrew and Yiddish; (2) a substantial selection of essays by Israeli authors, also translated from the Hebrew; (3) a broad sampling of works written in English by American and European authors. These diverse selections represent virtually every significant theological position that has been articulated by a Jewish thinker in response to the Holocaust. Included are rarely studied responses that were written while the Holocaust was happening.

Christopher R. Browning's shocking account of how a unit of average middle-aged Germans became the cold-blooded murderers of tens of thousands of Jews-now with a new afterword and additional photographs. Ordinary Men is the true story of Reserve Police Battalion 101 of the German Order Police, which was responsible for mass shootings as well as round-ups of Jewish people for deportation to Nazi death camps in Poland in 1942. Browning argues that most of the men of RPB 101 were not fanatical Nazis but, rather, ordinary middle-aged, working-class men who committed these atrocities out of a mixture of motives, including the group dynamics of conformity, deference to authority, role adaptation, and the altering of moral norms to justify their actions. Very quickly three groups emerged within the battalion: a core of eager killers, a plurality who carried out their duties reliably but without initiative, and a small minority who evaded participation in the acts of killing without diminishing the murderous efficiency of the battalion whatsoever. While this book discusses a specific Reserve Unit during WWII, the general argument Browning makes is that most people succumb to the pressures of a group setting and commit actions they would never do of their own volition. Ordinary Men is a powerful, chilling, and important work with themes and arguments that continue to resonate today. "A remarkable-and singularly chilling-glimpse of human behavior...This meticulously researched book...represents a major contribution to the literature of the Holocaust."-Newsweek

Deploying concepts of interpretation, liberation, and survival, esteemed literary critic Herbert Lindenberger reflects on the diverse fates of his family during the Holocaust. Combining public, family, and personal record with literary, musical, and art criticism, One Family's Shoah suggests a new way of writing cultural history.

This open access book offers a framework for understanding how the Holocaust has shaped and continues to shape medical ethics, health policy, and questions related to human rights around the world. The field of bioethics continues to face questions of social and medical controversy that have their roots in the lessons of the Holocaust, such as debates over beginning-of-life and medical genetics, end-of-life matters such as medical aid in dying, the development of ethical codes and regulations to guide human subject research, and human rights abuses in vulnerable populations. As the only example of medically sanctioned genocide in history, and one that used medicine and science to fundamentally undermine human dignity and the moral foundation of society, the Holocaust provides an invaluable framework for exploring current issues in bioethics and society today. This book, therefore, is of great value to all current and future ethicists, medical practitioners and policymakers - as well as laypeople.

Historians have long noted that Jews often appear at the storm center of European history. Nowhere is this more true than when dealing with the tumultuous years between the Nazi seizure of power in Germany on January 30, 1933 and the proclamation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. Yet, the events of Jewish history must also be viewed within the broader contexts of European, American, and global history. Spanning sixteen years of destruction and rebirth, A World in Turmoil is the first book of its kind, an integrated chronology which attempts to provide the researcher with clear and concise data describing the events as they unfolded. From the murder pits of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, to the battlefields in all the major theatres of operation, to the home fronts of all the major and minor combatants, A World in Turmoil covers a broad spectrum of events. Although major events throughout the world are noted, the volume concentrates on events in Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. While the volume deals primarily with politics, significant social and intellectual trends are woven into the chronology. Augmented by an introductory essay and postscript to help place events in their historical context, by a bibliography, and by name, place, and subject indexes, the volume provides scholars and researchers alike a basic reference tool on sixteen of the most important years in modern history.