List Books Supposing 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
Define About 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 | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 634 pages |
| Published | : | January 28th 1997 by Vintage (first published 1996) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. World War II. Holocaust. War. Cultural. Germany |
Interpretation Concering 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 Inquirer
Rating About Books Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
Ratings: 3.68 From 4262 Users | 227 ReviewsCritique About Books Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
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 FinancialEveryone 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
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
Those of you who know me, know that I've never handed out a 1-star review before today. I was replying to my friend Mark when I remembered this embarrassment. Seriously, I blush when I recall that the author and I are of the same SPECIES. He took relationships that were either nonexistent, or at best, spurious, and stretched them out into this "book." It's awful. To suggest that there was something about the German people that somehow perfectly primed them for accepting with open arms Hitler,
Well, there is a lot to say about this book, but I won't go in too deep-- I think you can find similar thoughts to mine on plenty of other reviews of this book. Essentially, Goldhagen argues that the Holocaust was not a result of silly things like "psychology" or "human nature." Instead, perpetrators of the Holocaust were not necessarily "ordinary men" but "ordinary Germans," who were evidently different than most of the human race during the Third Reich. This difference is rooted in the
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
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