Kurt and Sonja Messerschmidt met in Nazi Berlin, married in the Theresienstadt ghetto, and survived Auschwitz. In this book, they tell their intertwined stories in their own words. The text directly expresses their experiences, reactions, and emotions. The reader moves with them through the stages of their Holocaust journeys: persecution in Berlin, deportation to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz, slave labor, liberation, reunion, and finally emigration to the US. Kurt and Sonja saw the death of Jews every day for two years, but they never stopped creating their own lives. The spoken words of these survivors create a uniquely direct relationship with the reader, as if this couple were telling their story in their living room.

The Holocaust was the defining trauma of the 20th century. How do we begin to understand the Nazi drive to murder millions of people, or the determination of concentration camp prisoners to survive? This new and improved edition of Sources of the Holocaust brings together over 90 original Holocaust documents and testimonies to put the reader into direct contact with the genocide's human participants. From the origins of Christian antisemitism and the creation of monstrous 'Others' to the immediate aftermath of these crimes against humanity and the rise of right-wing ideologies in the 21st century, this book is structured both chronologically and thematically in order to clearly explain the ideas that made the Holocaust possible, how people mounted resistance at the time, and the Holocaust's legacy today. On top of this unparalleled access to the voices of the Holocaust, Steve Hochstadt's authoritative and scholarly commentaries on each source ensures readers gain a comprehensive understanding of this terrible episode in human history. Shocking and compelling, this carefully curated collection of primary sources is the definitive account of Holocaust experiences and vital reading for all scholars of modern European history.

For a century, Jews were an unmistakable and prominent feature of Shanghai life. They built hotels and stood in bread lines, hobnobbed with the British and Chinese elites and were confined to a wartime ghetto. Jews taught at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, sold Viennese pastries, and shared the worst slum with native Shanghainese. Three waves of Jews, representing three religious and ethnic communities, landed in Shanghai, remained separate for decades, but faced the calamity of World War II and ultimate dissolution together.In this book, we hear their own words and the words of modern scholars explaining how Baghdadi, Russian and Central European Jews found their way to Shanghai, created lives in the world's most cosmopolitan city, and were forced to find new homes in the late 1940s.

Kurt and Sonja Messerschmidt met in Nazi Berlin, married in the Theresienstadt ghetto, and survived Auschwitz. In this book, they tell their intertwined stories in their own words. The text directly expresses their experiences, reactions, and emotions. The reader moves with them through the stages of their Holocaust journeys: persecution in Berlin, deportation to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz, slave labor, liberation, reunion, and finally emigration to the US. Kurt and Sonja saw the death of Jews every day for two years, but they never stopped creating their own lives. The spoken words of these survivors create a uniquely direct relationship with the reader, as if this couple were telling their story in their living room.

For a century, Jews were an unmistakable and prominent feature of Shanghai life. They built hotels and stood in bread lines, hobnobbed with the British and Chinese elites and were confined to a wartime ghetto. Jews taught at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, sold Viennese pastries, and shared the worst slum with native Shanghainese. Three waves of Jews, representing three religious and ethnic communities, landed in Shanghai, remained separate for decades, but faced the calamity of World War II and ultimate dissolution together.In this book, we hear their own words and the words of modern scholars explaining how Baghdadi, Russian and Central European Jews found their way to Shanghai, created lives in the world's most cosmopolitan city, and were forced to find new homes in the late 1940s.

The Holocaust was the defining trauma of the 20th century. How do we begin to understand the Nazi drive to murder millions of people, or the determination of concentration camp prisoners to survive? This new and improved edition of Sources of the Holocaust brings together over 90 original Holocaust documents and testimonies to put the reader into direct contact with the genocide's human participants. From the origins of Christian antisemitism and the creation of monstrous 'Others' to the immediate aftermath of these crimes against humanity and the rise of right-wing ideologies in the 21st century, this book is structured both chronologically and thematically in order to clearly explain the ideas that made the Holocaust possible, how people mounted resistance at the time, and the Holocaust's legacy today. On top of this unparalleled access to the voices of the Holocaust, Steve Hochstadt's authoritative and scholarly commentaries on each source ensures readers gain a comprehensive understanding of this terrible episode in human history. Shocking and compelling, this carefully curated collection of primary sources is the definitive account of Holocaust experiences and vital reading for all scholars of modern European history.