This groundbreaking international bestseller lays to rest many myths about the Holocaust: that Germans were ignorant of the mass destruction of Jew...
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Nov 24, 2008
Mike
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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 More...
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 More...
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(4 people liked it)
Jan 20, 2008
Justin
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It's not that some of Goldhagen's ideas are wrong. He makes a valuable contribution by recognizing the history of anti-Semitism in Germany history prior to WWII and the Holocaust. However, this ideological goal blinds him to any other rational to the causes of the Holocaust. In his effort to prove the exceptional nature of German hatred and bigotry, he ignores the wealth of evidence from a variety of social scientists pointing out the general cruelty and inhumanity of humanity in general. In doi
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Nov 18, 2008
Richard
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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.
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Jul 26, 2007
Tom
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Terrible, terrible, terrible.
Provocative theory, but one which falls apart throughout his making the argument.
Provocative theory, but one which falls apart throughout his making the argument.
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(2 people liked it)
Mar 27, 2008
Charles
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It always amazes me that people, who have constructed their own paradigms, and have worked vigorously at maintaining it, can ignore the mountain of evidence to the contrary. At most Goldhagen provides an explanation as to why people do the things they do regardless of their social or economic background. At worse Goldhagen brings to light one possibility in explaining how one, if not the most learned and advanced country in the world could fall from grace in a matter of a few years of Financia
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(5 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Kris
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I suppose I take this book personally, given that my grandparents were German and in Germany during the Holocaust - they weren't Nazis (my very existence is proof of that), they were simply trying to survive, and I think there's a difference between that, and actively aiding genocide. I don't think that Goldhagen even allows for this. On the other hand, given what is going on in Iraq today, or in Darfur today, in Rwanda a few years ago, or Bosnia a decade ago, I think we are living proof of...so
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 11, 2008
Susan
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It's been nearly ten years since I read this book but I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Holocaust history. It was controversial at the time of publication but the author argues, convincingly in my opinion, that ordinary Germans were willing participants in the persecution and murder of Jews, based on the premise that European culture was imbued with anti-semitic sentiment for hundreds of years before Hitler came along .Learning the details of just how bad the Nazi years w
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(3 people liked it)
Jul 31, 2011
Michael
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Important and worth talking about; also disturbing and sometimes takes a strong force of will to get through the material.
The language is scholarly but easy to read, and the tone is matter of fact. The book is very well focussed, and does much to prove the central thesis - that the German people as a whole were responsible for the Holocaust, and that the perpetrators were not villains or evil incarnate, but "ordinary Germans". Does much to explain how such a monumental crime could have More...
The language is scholarly but easy to read, and the tone is matter of fact. The book is very well focussed, and does much to prove the central thesis - that the German people as a whole were responsible for the Holocaust, and that the perpetrators were not villains or evil incarnate, but "ordinary Germans". Does much to explain how such a monumental crime could have More...
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 23, 2011
Caroline
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This book has been described as one of the most important books ever written on the Holocaust, and I'd have to agree with that statement, but not necessarily because I agree with everything written here, more for that debate it has ignited.
Goldhagen basically sets out to defuse the myth that the majority of Germans had no culpability as regards the Holocaust, did not know about it, did not participate in it and could not have stopped it. He argues, in many places quite convincingly, th More...
Goldhagen basically sets out to defuse the myth that the majority of Germans had no culpability as regards the Holocaust, did not know about it, did not participate in it and could not have stopped it. He argues, in many places quite convincingly, th More...
Nov 08, 2008
Eileen
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Goldhagen certainly presents a new image of 'ordinary Germans' during World War II. I have heard that the book is actually quite well-received in Germany, which I initially found surprising but I think that his argument is fairly convincing and certainly eye-opening. I found myself batting and railing against his argument as I was reading this for class, but since then I have found myself accepting and agreeing with Goldhagen's argument. Excellent text for anyone studying the Holocaust.
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 13, 2010
Ellis
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This book begins with a compelling story about a German officer who was offended when his superiors ordered him and his soldiers to sign a document pledging that they would not steal. As the German officer's sense of honor was injured by the order, he refused to obey and did not sign the document. Yet, as pointed out by Goldhagen, such Germans who apparently held such lofty notions of morality committed themselves—willingly and unhesitatingly—to the wholesale slaughter of Jews.
As Gol More...
As Gol More...
Apr 06, 2009
Robbie
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May 06, 2010
Jammies
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It's very easy to see the scholarly bones of this book, the old "Tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you've told them." It's meticulously documented, and seems to be thoroughly researched. Clearly, from the GR reviews alone, the content is a great deal more conservative than the style.
As painstakingly researched and scholarly as this book is, I am disinclined to believe the author's assertions about the German people as a whole. As More...
As painstakingly researched and scholarly as this book is, I am disinclined to believe the author's assertions about the German people as a whole. As More...
Dec 01, 2008
Denis
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A book that won't leave you. Goldhagen's theory has created a firestorm when it came out, but he's extremely convincing and his view of Nazi Germany is as sad as it's terrifying. It will make you think, it will make you cringe, it will make you wonder - not only about history, but also about yourself, about what you'd have done, about you'd do if similar circumstances were to happen again. It's one of those books.
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Jan 13, 2011
John
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I don't know what I thought. I read this because it comes up pretty frequently in other books on WWII and the Holocaust as being controversial. Basically, Goldhagen's argument is that Hitler and the SS did not conduct the Holocaust by themselves. They had the help of thousands of other German people. (And some other nationalities, which Goldhagen chooses not to discuss much) Many other scholars have analyzed reasons that these other Germans participated in the Genocide, some saying the Germans w
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Nov 09, 2007
Ted
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As has been said by others (smarter than me), Goldhagen has ruined a perfectly good piece of research with the need to put forth a particular thesis. In this case, the facts speak for themselves. The body of Holocaust literature and research is sufficiently rich and broad that HWE can be avoided.
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Dec 21, 2011
Tyler
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My rating is a split verdict: the author has a good yet poorly written argument, but neither element should be decisive in convincing potential readers to take up the book or ignore it. Goldhagen steps into a niche no one dares touch.
It’s a shame such a provocative theme got taken up by so limited a talent. The text is really just 483 pages, including three appendices, plus 130 pages of often important notes that readers will want to consult. Most of these notes should have been folded More...
It’s a shame such a provocative theme got taken up by so limited a talent. The text is really just 483 pages, including three appendices, plus 130 pages of often important notes that readers will want to consult. Most of these notes should have been folded More...
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Feb 07, 2011
Matt
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Everyone knows it’s hard to get published. There are a lot of authors and a lot of books, and it’s difficult to stand out among the sea of words. It’s a bit easier for memoirists, who can rely on shabby childhoods and drug addictions. For a historian, it’s 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 be
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(10 people liked it)
Oct 17, 2010
Kristin
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I downloaded this book from my Kindle thinking that it was Christopher Browning's book Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. I had forgotten the title and just remembered that the word "ordinary" was in the title. As it turns out, Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's book was a fascinating and informative read; it just lacked the diary and journal entries that I know are a part of Browning's book.
One thing I found extraordinary was Goldhage More...
One thing I found extraordinary was Goldhage More...
Nov 29, 2010
Elaine
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This book really has pissed people off. Goldhagen takes a very different view of Germans, Nazi or not, who actively helped in brutalizing and murdering Jews. He claims they weren't forced to do it, but chose to. They were not automatons blindly following orders, rather their particular brand of Jew hatred made them willing exterminators of people who had no power.
He does acknowledge other victims of Nazism, but this book is about German anti-semitism and Jews. That is a long en More...
He does acknowledge other victims of Nazism, but this book is about German anti-semitism and Jews. That is a long en More...
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(2 people liked it)
Aug 02, 2011
Mark
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Almost as good as Arendt's 'Eichmann in Jerusalem' as to how ordinary people can be brought to serve evil while believing in a common good. The say "they didn't know". But how true was that? While it was no secret that the SS were killing Jews- or at least, "putting them someplace we can't see them"- the actual machinery of death was something the Reich could not bear making general public knowledge- individual German Army members who protested participation were generally pe
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Aug 27, 2008
Corey
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It's absolutely fascinating to think that normal people willingly went along with the final solution. This book examines that phenomenon in a way I've never seen before.
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Apr 10, 2011
Michael
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Overall this is a very good book. You can agree or disagree with the central thesis of the book, that Germany was uniquely situated to enact the Holocaust, while still appreciating the author's unrelenting attempt to make clear that the Holocaust was carried out by men and women all to willing to engage in the extermination of Jews. The book is well researched and for the most part Goldhagen provides a compelling narrative that is a good counter to the dominant interpretive approaches to the
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Jul 17, 2008
Daniel
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Terrible history, but a good read, especially if you're not a big fan of Germans. And the author is a nice man, I hear.
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Jul 31, 2011
Manuel
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El libro plantea una tesis interesante y provocadora: el Holocausto no fue obra de unos locos al margen del pueblo alemán, sino que fue obra de personas muy alemanas y contó con la anuencia culpable de gran parte de la sociedad alemana. En la obra se analiza cómo el antisemitismo se convirtió en una obsesión de la vida política alemana durante gran parte del siglo XIX, generando el caldo de cultivo necesario para que el Holocausto tuviera lugar. Se analiza, además, la actuación de instituciones
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Aug 23, 2008
Katherine
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Slow reading and hard to get through. Did not seem to me that it was written with full honesty.
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Jan 07, 2012
Ken
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[Deep breath] This is a difficult book to review as the subject matter is so contentious and horrific. The thesis under question is nothing less than examining why Nazi and SS troops and officials carried out the Holocaust. Goldhagen wants to make the question simply whether the Germans were willing participants or not, and he argues they were. I'd agree -- but then point out that the phrase "willing participants" is misleading and wrong. Of course they were willing participants in the
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Feb 15, 2011
Matt
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I finally made it through Hitler's Willing Executioners, by Goldhagen. It might be one of the thickest books I've ever read, and I do not mean in terms of the quantity of pages. Goldhagen approaches the Holocaust with an exhausting analytical eye, and speaks from knowledge in a variety of areas, including history, sociology, psychology, logic reasoning and vast empirical research.
Hitler's Willing Executioners was written in the late 90's and was fairly controversial when it was releas More...
Hitler's Willing Executioners was written in the late 90's and was fairly controversial when it was releas More...
Jan 13, 2012
Stephanie
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This book really got to the core of the people behind the Holocaust. I still have many "whys" that weren't answered, but I think the author does too. Why would someone, who wasn't associated with the Nazis or SS men, take this route? Why would they bury their humanity or completely ignore the humanity of the Jews? Why did they treat the Jews so much worse than other POWs? This book showed that, even though there are answers to who and how, there are not always answer to why.
Sep 27, 2010
Meg
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I had a hard time reminding myself this was a history book. Goldhagen's insistence on a monocausal reason for the Holocaust - "Germans wanted to kill Jews" I found to be overly simplistic. I think Goldhagen spent too many pages driving home the same point over and over again. The repetitive nature of his claims makes his book difficult to read.
