Truly a masterpiece. | The Destruction of the European Jews

One of the classic scholarly works regarding The Holocaust | The Destruction of the European Jews | Raul Hilberg

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	• The Destruction of the European Jews Raul Hilberg Yale University Press, 2003 - 1388 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews
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highly recommended

A WONDERFUL RESEARCH!

One of the best books I have ever read about the holocaust. A serious research and it is indeed a great contribution for the studies on this horrible moment of the history of mankind!

Truly a masterpiece.

I was reading a work by Christopher Browning recently and he stated how just as many historians were starting to realize the functionalist understanding of the Shoah, Hilberg refined it to a even more nuanced level. Always dilligent, deeper and a step ahead. I had read many books on the subject prior to this one, and frankly had put of buying it because of the price, yet don't regret the purchase one bit. Too many historians use the prhase "magnum opus" when refering to this work and frankly I agree 100%

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One of the classic scholarly works regarding The Holocaust

Professor Richard L. Rubenstein introduced me to this book.

Documented meticulously.

Substantiated understanding of the process of mass murder.

Definitely one of those must read books.

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Obligatory

The text I read (three volume hard cover) is the definitive work on the Holocaust. It profiles all aspects of a demonic criminal conspiracy, as well as the practical planning and ultimate consequences.

I urge all to read Hilberg. It is the standard work.

A Seminal Work on the Holocaust

Hilberg's brilliant and dispassionate treatment of attempts throughout history to destroy the Jews sets a new standard for scholarship and for the historical analysis of emotionally charge subjects. Through his own efficient analytic framework of precedents, antecedents, and scope of organization, Hilberg gives us a lucid formula for both understanding and explaining the subtext, context, and pretext of the 1500-year old continuously running saga of anti-Semitism. The effect is to place the reader in the cockpit of the planners of one of the worst disasters known to man, the holocaust of World War-II. But more importantly, he also provides us with all the necessary facts that go with, and that load his framework.

The context of the holocaust is 1500 years of progressive improvements in ways of addressing the so-called "Jewish problem (or threat)," and corresponding Jewish cultural adaptations to these improved attempts to annihilate them. The improvements have ranged from failed attempts by Catholics to convert Jews into Christians, to expelling them from Europe, to Hitler's creation of a bureaucracy of industrialized death to implement his "final solution." (The author summarizes this progression as conversion, expulsion, and annihilation.)

The subtext of anti-Semitism ostensibly has always been about the "predatory Jewish character" but in fact has been about fears, fears of cultural, religious and ethnic differences and about independence from ordinary orthodoxy. It is precisely these fears that are the most easily serviceable, and most easily ignited into action during times of stress. They are best facilitated through hatred -- especially when guided by a catalyst of evil, ignorance, demagoguery, or demented and corrupt leaders. Inexorably they pass through a process of condoned and sanctioned violence to collective murder. (Fear of Jewish independence and failure to accept the Christian Jesus as their religious messiah and savior have throughout history served as one of the key subtexts of anti-Semitism).

Just as the pattern that serves as the subtext for anti-Semitism is generalizable to other forms of chauvinism, racism and hatred, so too is the pretext: The target is first demonized, dehumanized and vilified; and then disenfranchised, hounded and spatially as well socially segregated. This process of dehumanization then leads logically to, and serves as justification and collective psychological cover for, committing criminal acts against the targeted groups -- including mass industrialized murder. (Jewish religious idolatry, and ethnic character flaws, i.e. their predatory business acumen and slipperiness, their fear of honest work, etc. has throughout history served as the pretext for justifying criminal acts against Jews).

This book puts to rest the popular "magic bullet theory" of the holocaust: that explaining Hitler explains everything anyone would ever need to know about the holocaust. It does not. The anti-Semitic pressures along fault lines leading up to the holocaust had been building up for more than 1500 years. It was these pressures and not Hitler that bear the primary responsibility for the holocaust. Hitler just happened to be the demented catalyst that sparked an anti-Semitic eruption at a time when a demoralized German people needed a tonic for restoring their national pride.

Five Stars.

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The Destruction of the European Jews is widely considered the landmark study of the Holocaust. First published in 1961, Raul Hilberg's comprehensive account of how Germany annihilated the Jewish community of Europe spurred discussion, galvanized further research, and shaped the entire field of Holocaust studies. This revised and expanded edition of Hilberg's classic work extends the scope of his study and includes 80,000 words of new material, particularly from recently opened archives in eastern Europe, added over a lifetime of research. It is the definitive work of a scholar who has devoted more than fifty years to exploring and analyzing the realities of the Holocaust.

Spanning the twelve-year period of anti-Jewish actions from 1933 to 1945, Hilberg's study encompasses Germany and all the territories under German rule or influence. Its principal focus is on the large number of perpetrators -- civil servants, military personnel, Nazi party functionaries, SS men, and representatives of private enterprises -- in the machinery of death.

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