Books & Discussion on the Holocaust Showing 501-550 of 1,027

[Lewis]

J. wrote: "I think it's important to trace the Holocaust all the way to its origins. So far, I've come up with 17 hypotheses regarding Hitler's motivation (if that's the proper word) for hating Jews. Most of ..."

It seems to me Hitler was clear on his hatred of Jews from his earliest speeches. I think he also truly believed that Germany could not be great if the Jews were not eliminated, although why he made that connection is not so clear to me. I dealt with these themes in A Flood of Evil, my just published historical novel set in Germany and Poland which shows the rise of Hitler (1923-33) and highlights those who could have stopped him but chose instead to try to use him to advance their own agendas.

[J.]

Lewis wrote: "It seems to me Hitler was clear on his hatred of Jews from his earliest speeches. I think he also truly believed that Germany could not be great if the Jews were not eliminated, although why he made that connection is not so clear to me."

The exact connection between Hitler and his desire for elimination of the Jews is explained in In the Mouth of the Lion. More trivial questions are addressed, if not exactly answered, as well, including who Hitler's mystery grandfather may have been. I've done considerable research, as you can see.

Your book looks very interesting, with good story value, and, based on the sample, is quite well written. I've flagged it for reading later on my Nook. I'd be interested in doing a review. Best regards, "J."

[J.]

Travelin wrote: "I've read that the Germans or maybe just Hitler, adopted a disease extermination mentality after the discovery that typhus was caused by insects. It seems that the world was accustomed to living wi..."

Possibly so, but there's no solid connection between an anti-disease mentality and the Holocaust, especially given the abysmal sanitation maintained in the camps. More relevant, perhaps, would be eugenics. A.E. Samaan has written a couple of books on the Eugenics movement, which was fashionable in academic circles in both US and Germany.

[Lewis]

J. wrote: "Lewis wrote: "It seems to me Hitler was clear on his hatred of Jews from his earliest speeches. I think he also truly believed that Germany could not be great if the Jews were not eliminated, altho..."

I hope you get a chance to read my historical novel A FLOOD OF EVIL, and if you do, that you find it both enjoyable and a useful learning experience.

[Colin]

Ironically, Himmler and Goebbels were very impressed with the approaches to eugenics, sterilization and targeted abortion as proposed by Margaret Sanger.

[Jonny]

I started KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps on Friday, just finished the prologue and into the early history of the camps. Some interesting points made already, and some preconceptions ready to be challenged. "If historians fall silent, much of the history of the camps would soon be left in the hands of cranks, dilettantes and deniers." True indeed.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Jonny wrote: "I started KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps on Friday, just finished the prologue and into the early h..."

Good point Jonny! I will be keen to hear your final thoughts on the book, keep us posted.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Jonny wrote: "I started KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps on Friday, just finished the prologue and into the early h..."

Jonny, hope this finds you well. I started this KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann a few days ago and so barely scratching the surface by progressing from prologue to "First Camps" but already I find the writing informed and well-researched and very readable (the list of sources and bibliography is almost never ending).

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Linking back to the earlier discussion on how the Holocaust/Final Solution hindered German war aims and operation, I read in a couple reviews of Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews 1933-49 by David Cesarani how it - the killing of the Jews [ and others] - was not planned but developed organically.

The Guardian's reviews says "This is a book as hard to read as a set of Human Rights Watch reports. But it's difficult not to be moved Cesarani’s freshest pages come with insights into how the Nazi bureaucracy veered between these two self-contradictory positions, encompassing the need to exploit and the desire to murder. Those tasked with Judenpolitik would empty ghettoes, massacring their inhabitants, only to fill them again when the Wehrmacht required uniforms. They were still shipping Jews to slave labour somewhere in Germany as late as 1945."

The Financial Times' review also writes in similar vein Persecution and murder did not proceed in an orderly way. From the beginning, and in various ways throughout its 12-year domination, Nazism’s destructive rampage was characterised by “improvisation and muddle”. Again and again, he documents what one author once called “the twisted road to Auschwitz” — the absence of detailed objectives, planning or clear lines of authority — even as Nazism constantly understood Jews as remorseless enemies. Nazism proceeded against the Jews implacably but inconsistently, and to the victims sometimes bewilderingly.

This shambles was the matrix for subsequent policy initiatives,” Cesarani writes. “Having allowed hurriedly conceived, partially thought-out policies to create a situation that satisfied no one and caused much restlessness amongst loyal party comrades, the Nazi leadership had to figure a way out. This [became] a familiar pattern.” When dealing with the Jews, German instruments were “low-cost and low-tech”.

A book for my TBR and so I wondered how other group members have found Mr Cesarani's final work?

[J.]

I consider the Holocaust inevitable, given Hitler's psyche and his possession of absolute power. Yes, there was a process involved, and not all parts of the Reich were playing from the same sheet of music at the same time. There were certain milestones. It will be interesting to see where these fall in Cesarani's recent book, if at all. I've requested a copy from a nearby college's collection and will check in here after I've read it.

[Chin Joo]

Geevee wrote: "Linking back to the earlier discussion on how the Holocaust/Final Solution hindered German war aims and operation, I read in a couple reviews of Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews 1933..."

For those who want a shorter introduction to the Final Solution, the chapter in the book below is good . The other good chapter is the one on Heydrich. But not all chapters are as interesting.

The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I have a copy of Nikolaus Wachsmann's book; KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps yet to read along with a copy of this book:

Nazi Germany and the Jews: The Years of Extermination, 1939-1945 by Saul Friedländer

Plus this one:

Ravensbrück: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm

Is anyone interested in a Holocaust buddy read in 2017?

[Michal]

Rick I am!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Michal, I will set something up in a month or two if that is OK?

[Bev]

I might be.

[Dimitri]

I could help with Cesarani, Friedlander or Wachsmann in that case.

[J.]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I have a copy of Nikolaus Wachsmann's book; KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps yet to read along with a copy of this book:

[bookcover:Nazi Germany and the Jews: The Years of Exterminati..."

I'm in.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

OK, sounds good. I will work out a month and post details and folks can join in with whatever book they like covering the Holocaust.

[Jonny]

I'd be in too, once I get January out of the way.

[zed]

Will be but not for a couple of months.

[Alex]

Fritz in ostkrieg also highlights articulately and succinctly the twisted decision making path to the final solution ands its connection with the war in the east.

[Pamela]

Sign me up for the Holocaust buddy read !



'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I have a copy of Nikolaus Wachsmann's book; KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps yet to read along with a copy of this book:

[bookcover:Nazi Germany and the Jews: The Years of Exterminati..."

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I have a copy of Nikolaus Wachsmann's book; KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps yet to read along with a copy of this book:

[bookcover:Nazi Germany and the Jews: The Years of Exterminati..."

[Pamela]

Regarding Ostkrieg, I've just finished the first chapter and have a bunch of questions. Will be posting them soon. Where is the Ostkrieg discussion? I think i lost track


Alex wrote: "Fritz in ostkrieg also highlights articulately and succinctly the twisted decision making path to the final solution ands its connection with the war in the east."

[Dimitri]

Pamela wrote: "Regarding Ostkrieg, I've just finished the first chapter and have a bunch of questions. Will be posting them soon. Where is the Ostkrieg discussion? I think i lost track

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Michal]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hi Michal, I will set something up in a month or two if that is OK?"

yeah thats fine as long as u give me 2 week notice so I can order book :)

[Pamela]

Thanks Dimitri !!


Dimitri wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Regarding Ostkrieg, I've just finished the first chapter and have a bunch of questions. Will be posting them soon. Where is the Ostkrieg discussion? I think i lost track

https://www..."

[Bevan Lewis]

Sounds good. There are so much good scholarship in the past few years (I see Laurence Rees, historian and documentary maker, has a new one out too). I'm always aware that I'm danger of approaching it too much from the perspective of trying to comprehend how it could happen and thus looking at it from the perpetrators point of view, important to keep the victim's perspective in mind.

[J.]

Bevan wrote: "I'm always I'm danger of approaching it too much from the perspective of trying to comprehend how it could happen and thus looking at it from the perpetrators point of view, important to keep the victim's perspective in mind."

That's true, Bevan. On the other hand, your first instinct is valid: prevention of a recurrence is paramount and requires exactly that comprehension of 'how it could happen.' This necessitates traveling into Hitler's mind, an unpleasant place, one I'd be reluctant to revisit. I think I'm done writing about "der Fuehrer."

BTW, none of the candidates in the recent US election came close to matching Hitler's 19 definitive traits, despite the Godwinian mud-launching from all sides. I know some will be disappointed to hear this.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

How does March sound to folks to have our buddy read on the Holocaust? That should give people pretty of time to organise a book of their choice on the subject.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Bevan wrote: "Sounds good. There are so much good scholarship in the past few years (I see Laurence Rees, historian and documentary maker, has a new one out too). I'm always aware that I'm danger of approaching ..."

I do like Rees' work.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "How does March sound to folks to have our buddy read on the Holocaust? That should give people pretty of time to organise a book of their choice on the subject."

Good for me Rick, thanks. I have Friedlander's to read as well.

[Michal]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "How does March sound to folks to have our buddy read on the Holocaust? That should give people pretty of time to organise a book of their choice on the subject."

Sounds like a plan :)

[Jonny]

Good for me. I need a nudge to get on with Wachsmann.

[J.]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "How does March sound to folks to have our buddy read on the Holocaust? That should give people pretty of time to organise a book of their choice on the subject."

That should work for me.

[Pamela]

March works for me

[Bev]

Should work for me too.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Perfect, March it will be then!

[Dj]

J. wrote: "Bevan wrote: "I'm always I'm danger of approaching it too much from the perspective of trying to comprehend how it could happen and thus looking at it from the perpetrators point of view, important..."

Ahhhh, you just shot down sixteen conspiracy theories. People will be upset about that.

Of course comparisons like that are generally, either over stated or just so full of malarkey.

This generally applies to conspiracy theories during any time frame. Slapton Sands to keep it in the WWII context.

[Colin]

On the Holocaust read, some of you may like my older book Occupation and Insurgency: A Selective Examination of The Hague and Geneva Conventions on the eastern Front 1939-1945. This book examines many specific examples of mass murder, and breaks down the legality (if any) and illegality of these actions under the existing Geneva of 1929 and Hague 1907. It is full of interviews with SS and other military personnel. This was my dissertation, edited for public release a few years ago.

[J.]

Colin wrote: "On the Holocaust read, some of you may like my older book Occupation and Insurgency: A Selective Examination of The Hague and Geneva Conventions on the eastern Front 1939-1945.... It is full of interviews with SS and other military personnel...."

Duly noted and added to my list. High ratings on Amazon BTW.

Occupation and Insurgency: A Selective Examination of The Hague and Geneva Conventions on the Eastern Front, 1939-1945

[J.]

I received a new review today for my Jung-analyzes-Hitler book. SPR called it 'a portrait of two “giants” going head to head.'

In the Mouth of the Lion

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Here is a July 2017 (UK) release that may interest some members in the group:

Perpetrators: The World of the Holocaust Killers by Guenter Lewy
Description:
The Nazis' attempt to annihilate the Jewish people, the Holocaust, continues to raise a disturbing question. About six million defenseless men, women, and children were murdered for no reason but their ancestry. Close to two million Jews were killed in mass shootings, while the remainder were asphyxiated or worked and starved to death. How could such terrible deeds happen in the heart of Christian Europe and among a nation known for its poets and thinkers, a people that had produced Schiller, Goethe, Bach, and Beethoven? What had converted so many seemingly ordinary people into killers, willing participants in what is probably the worst crime in modern history? That is the question Guenter Lewy seeks to answer in this book.

Lewy provides a critical synthesis of recent literature on the perpetrators, broadening the discussion and developing a more complete and systematic answer to the question of why so many ordinary German people became mass murderers, drawing on previously untapped valuable sources, including officers' and soldiers' diaries; some 35,000 letters written by soldiers serving in the East, many of which describe the murder of Jews; the recollections of Jewish survivors, and most importantly, the record of the trials of hundreds of Nazi perpetrators by German courts. The result is a wealth of information about the Holocaust in all its horrible particulars and about those who carried out those hideous deeds. The book systematically examines the role of individual pathology, of specifically German factors such as obedience to authority, and the impact of ideology on group behavior. The actual perpetrators, Lewy concludes, acted out of a variety of motives. Some were convinced haters of Jews, while others killed out of a sense of duty, to advance their career, because they followed orders, or because they wanted to conform to the group. There was no uniform Nazi perpetrator type.

Guenter Lewy grew up in Germany and lived some six years under Nazi rule. During the November 1938 pogrom known as Kristallnacht, he was on the receiving end of storm-trooper brutality, and his father was taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp, barely surviving his three-month ordeal there. The question of "why they did it," therefore, is of far more than theoretical interest for the author-it is a passionate attempt to illuminate a dismal chapter of history that cannot be forgotten.

[J.]

I've arranged for a giveaway here on Goodreads, running until February 16th. https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

10 paperback copies of my historical novel/espionage thriller In the Mouth of the Lion will be given to lucky winners.

Carl Jung, OSS Agent #488, uncovers client Adolf Hitler's secrets...including the darkest secret of all: Why Hitler ordered the Holocaust.



[PS: as Bev has noted below, books can be delivered only in the US.]

[Bev]

Note the giveaway is only for people in the US.

[Dimitri]

I really start to hate that giveaway addendum.

[Michal]

love it!

[J.]

Dimitri wrote: "I really start to hate that giveaway addendum."

Sorry, Dimitri. I'll be in touch.

[Doreen]

Just started reading The Last Jew of Treblinka by Chil Rajchman.

[Dimitri]

A new, nicely timed release:
Imprisoned: Drawings from Nazi Concentration Camps by Arturo Benvenuti

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Something a bit different! Thanks for posting the details Dimitri.