Nazi Germany and the Jews, Volume 1: The Years of Persecution, 1933–1939

SUMMARY: A great historian crowns a lifetime of thought and research by answering a question that has haunted us for more than 50 years: How did one of the most industrially and culturally advanced nations in the world embark on and continue along the path leading to one of the most enormous criminal enterprises in history, the extermination of Europe's Jews? Giving considerable emphasis to a wealth of new archival findings, Saul Friedlander restores the voices of Jews who, after the 1933 Nazi accession to power, were engulfed in an increasingly horrifying reality. We hear from the persecutors themselves: the leaders of the Nazi party, the members of the Protestant and Catholic hierarchies, the university elites, and the heads of the business community. Most telling of all, perhaps, are the testimonies of ordinary German citizens, who in the main acquiesced to increasing waves of dismissals, segregation, humiliation, impoverishment, expulsion, and violence.

a Great Historian Crowns A Lifetime Of Thought And Research By Answering A Question That Has Haunted Us For More Than 50 Years: How Did One Of The Most Industrially And Culturally Advanced Nations In The World Embark On And Continue Along The Path Leading To One Of The Most Enormous Criminal Enterprises In History, The Extermination Of Europe's Jews?

giving Considerable Emphasis To A Wealth Of New Archival Findings, Saul Friedlander Restores The Voices Of Jews Who, After The 1933 Nazi Accession To Power, Were Engulfed In An Increasingly Horrifying Reality. We Hear From The Persecutors Themselves: The Leaders Of The Nazi Party, The Members Of The Protestant And Catholic Hierarchies, The University Elites, And The Heads Of The Business Community. Most Telling Of All, Perhaps, Are The Testimonies Of Ordinary German Citizens, Who In The Main Acquiesced To Increasing Waves Of Dismissals, Segregation, Humiliation, Impoverishment, Expulsion, And Violence.

kirkus Reviews

an Eminent Holocaust Historian Gives Voice To Both The Perpetrators And Victims Of Nazi Germany's Prewar Persecutions.

historian And Memoirist Friedländer (reflections Of Nazism, 1984; When Memory Comes, 1979; Etc.) Here Offers The First Part Of A Two-volume Study Of The Holocaust. This Eloquent, Richly Documented History Focuses On The Period From The Rise Of The Nazis To The Onset Of War In 1939, And Traces How The Nazi Regime Gradually Drew The German Nation Into A War Against Its Jewish Population, First Harassing, Then Isolating, And Finally Openly Attacking Jews Throughout Germany. The Author Relies Heavily On The Words Of Both Notorious Racists And Everyday Germans, As Well As The Reactions Of Jews And Gentile Critics Of The Regime To Its Increasingly Violent Actions, Drawing From Letters, Diaries, Speeches, And Newspaper Articles. The First Shot Was Aimed At The Excessive Influence Of Germany's Jews On Her Cultural Life, And It's Documented Here With Excerpts From The Letters Of Famous Composers, Painters, And Writers, Including Thomas Mann's Correspondence With Albert Einstein. This Portrait Of The German People Is Not Unmixed: While We Encounter Professors Who Were All Too Pleased To Have Their Jewish Department Heads And Colleagues Dismissed As Threats To Aryan Culture, We Also Read A German Businessman's Description Of The Seizure Of Jewish Shops By Entrepreneurs Who Were Like Vultures Swarming Down . . . Their Tongues Hanging Out With Greed, To Feed Upon The Jewish Carcass. The Institutionalized Ostracism And Pauperization Of Germany's Jews Was Fueled, According To Friedländer, By A Synthesis Of Murderous Rage And Polluted Idealism, Created By The Nazi Regime And Embraced By The German People.

Not Surprisingly, The Notes And List Of Works Cited Here Take Up 80 Pages. The Exhaustive Spade Work Makes This The Richest, Fullest Study Of Its Kind. The Reader Comes As Close As One Would Ever Want To Get To Nazi Germany Of The 1930s.

A history of the anti-Jewish policies of Nazi Germany, focusing on the victims' attitudes, reactions, and fate. Describes discrimination against Jews (and "Mischlinge") in the economic, social, cultural, and legal spheres, and the gradual process of segregation, isolation, and compulsory emigration. Gives examples of specific cases of persecution, and of the Jews' reactions. Discusses the extent to which the German elites - Churches, universities, leaders in the economic, political, and cultural spheres - shared in the Nazi antisemitic ideology and condoned Nazi policies. Among the traditional elites and the general populace, there were varying degrees of compliance with anti-Jewish attitudes, but they shied away from violence. Describes the development of German racial antisemitism from the 19th century, which emphasized the mythic dimensions of race and the sacredness of Aryan blood. This fused with a religious vision of a German (or Aryan) Christianity, and led to what can be called "redemptive antisemitism". Emphasizes Hitler's role and the function of his ideology in the genesis and implementation of the anti-Jewish measures. In his worldview, the Jew was dehistoricized and transposed into an abstract principle of evil. In the confrontation between an immutable evil (Jews) and an immutable good (Aryans), the outcome could only be envisioned in religious terms: perdition or redemption. For Hitler, the struggle against the Jews was the basis of his understanding of history, politics, and political action. Yet, his ideological fanaticism was tempered by pragmatic calculation. It is the relationship between the uncommon and the ordinary, the fusion of the widely-shared murderous potentialities in the world and the peculiar frenzy of the Nazi apocalyptic drive against the mortal enemy, the Jew, that give universal significance and historical distinctiveness to the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question". (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Giving considerable emphasis to an immense array of recently published material and a wealth of new archival findings, Saul Friedlander describes and interprets the steadily increasing anti-Jewish persecution in Germany after the 1933 Nazi accession to power. He demonstrates the interaction between intentions and contingencies, between discernible causes and changing circumstances. Friedlander shows how Nazi ideological objectives and tactical policy decisions enhanced one another and always left an opening for ever more radical moves. The years of persecution describes and interprets the steadily increasing anti-Jewish bigotry in Germany after the 1933 Nazi accession to power. The years of extermination describes and interprets the persecution and murder of the Jews throughout occupied Europe Examines the anti-Semitism that led to Nazi Germany's attempts to exterminate Europe's Jewish population, focusing on the people and events from the Nazi accession to power in 1933 to the onset of World War II v. 1. The years of persecution, 1933-1939.