Details Books Concering Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
| Original Title: | Hitler's Willing Executioners. Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust |
| ISBN: | 0679772685 (ISBN13: 9780679772682) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for General Nonfiction (1996) |
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
Paperback | Pages: 634 pages Rating: 3.68 | 4262 Users | 227 Reviews
Particularize Based On Books Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
| Title | : | Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust |
| Author | : | Daniel Jonah Goldhagen |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 634 pages |
| Published | : | January 28th 1997 by Vintage (first published 1996) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. World War II. Holocaust. War. Cultural. Germany |
Relation In Favor Of Books Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
This groundbreaking international bestseller lays to rest many myths about the Holocaust: that Germans were ignorant of the mass destruction of Jews, that the killers were all SS men, and that those who slaughtered Jews did so reluctantly. Hitler's Willing Executioners provides conclusive evidence that the extermination of European Jewry engaged the energies and enthusiasm of tens of thousands of ordinary Germans. Goldhagen reconstructs the climate of "eliminationist anti-Semitism" that made Hitler's pursuit of his genocidal goals possible and the radical persecution of the Jews during the 1930s popular. Drawing on a wealth of unused archival material, principally the testimony of the killers themselves, Goldhagen takes us into the killing fields where Germans voluntarily hunted Jews like animals, tortured them wantonly, and then posed cheerfully for snapshots with their victims. From mobile killing units to the camps to the death marches, Goldhagen shows how ordinary Germans, nurtured in a society where Jews were seen as unalterable evil and dangerous, willingly followed their beliefs to their logical conclusion. "Hitler's Willing Executioners is an original, indeed brilliant contribution to the...literature on the Holocaust."--New York Review of Books "The most important book ever published about the Holocaust...Eloquently written, meticulously documented, impassioned...A model of moral and scholarly integrity."--Philadelphia InquirerRating Based On Books Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
Ratings: 3.68 From 4262 Users | 227 ReviewsCrit Based On Books Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
Ive read a lot of books about WWII looking for the answer to one question why did the German people ever allow the Nazis to attempt to exterminate Jews? This book finally gave me the answer. This is a very in-depth look at the German culture before and during the war. I learned that since the 1800s Germans had been blaming the Jewish people for the problems of their country and that this blame became even stronger after World War I. Most Germans considered Jews to be parasites and not evenTHIS is Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil." These are the folks who brought you the Holocaust in all its "glories." These are the average German citizens of the early 20th century. It SHOULD be a "must read" for all people, especially those in school, but the author is dry and academic and the book could be cut by at least 1/3.Goldhagen begins with a study of the development of the German identity. Unlike the rest of Europe, Germany kept its anti-Semitism strong throughout its early history
Everyone knows its hard to get published. There are a lot of authors and a lot of books, and its difficult to stand out among the sea of words. Its a bit easier for memoirists, who can rely on shabby childhoods and drug addictions. For a historian, its a bit trickier. One tactic is the micro-history: find yourself a historical footnote, and then elevate it to the turning point of mankind. For example, an ambitious historian could write about the hula-hoop, and how it brought about détente
This book makes a powerful argument. It's main thesis is that the vast majority of Germans during and before WWII had antisemetic beliefs that were of such power and scope, that they led many ordinary Germans to perpetrate and support the destruction of the Jewish people. He refutes competing claims such as that the Nazis forced them into killing. He provides many detailed accounts of police squads killing without orders, and sometimes against orders. He demonstrates that men in Police batallion
Unreliable sources and much speculation in this obviously vengeful and hateful book. This author simply hates all Germans and claims they were all just like Hitler. Avoid this book, in my opinion.
A creepy moment of this book is a snapshot, a pocket photo, of the young wife of an SS officer, decked out in the latest fashion. It could have been a candidate print for a vogue spread. Creepy because it removes part of the veneer of 'it can't happen here, it can't happen now.'No one should really be surprised by the premise, concent, and conclusion of this well written history: genocide requires a broad-based complicity.
Theres been so much written about this controversial book that Im sure I dont have too many details to add that havent been covered before so instead Ill gather some thoughts that have been mulling around in my mind in the week since I finished reading it. First, I find this an important book in that it reminds us that this period in history and the actions of the Germans - shouldnt be blithely discounted with the standard it happened because of the economic climate of the time. As the mother
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