Where did the idea to eliminate European Jewry originate? This study embarks upon an historical exploration of this question, identifying its Biblical origins and its expression throughout German history. Even a cursory glance at National Socialist propaganda reveals the Nazi belief that a utopian Germany would rise from the ashes of Europe's Jews. In tracing the ideological roots of the Final Solution, James investigates how German nationalism came to incorporate aspirations to a perfect nation and why such expectations were intimately connected with the desire for an end to all Jews.

The aggressive nationalism and anti-Semitism of the National Socialists were not solely the products of Hitler's fanaticism. Rather, themes of national redemption and the elimination of the Jews are present throughout recent German history and have their origins in the Bible as well as in the earliest German patriotic writings of the twelfth century. By tracking these ideas back through their various sources, James places the Holocaust squarely within its historical and cultural context.