The Extermination of the European Jews

A major new interpretation of the Holocaust, contextualizing the destruction of the Jews within Nazi violence against other groups.

Christian Gerlach (Author)

9780521880787, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 March 2016

528 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 3.1 cm, 0.84 kg

'Over the past twenty years, Christian Gerlach has created a body of work on the Nazi Final Solution and on genocide more generally that challenges conventional judgment. The Extermination of the European Jews synthesizes his thinking while integrating the work of other German scholars of his generation who have used similar approaches. Because this research has heavily influenced this field and because most of it is only available in German, this volume is a helpful addition to the scholarship on the Holocaust and on mass killing more generally.' Norman J. W. Goda, Journal of Modern History

This major reinterpretation of the Holocaust surveys the destruction of the European Jews within the broader context of Nazi violence against other victim groups. Christian Gerlach offers a unique social history of mass violence which reveals why particular groups were persecuted and what it was that connected the fate of these groups and the policies against them. He explores the diverse ideological, political and economic motivations which lay behind the murder of the Jews and charts the changing dynamics of persecution during the course of the war. The book brings together both German actions and those of non-German states and societies, shedding new light on the different groups and vested interests involved and their role in the persecution of non-Jews as well. Ranging across continental Europe, it reveals that popular notions of race were often more important in shaping persecution than scientific racism or Nazi dogma.

1. Introduction
Part I. Persecution by Germans: 2. Before 1933
3. From enforced emigration to territorial schemes: 1933–41
4. From mass murder to comprehensive annihilation: 1941–2
5. Extending mass destruction: 1942–5
6. Structures and agents of violence
Part II. Logics of Persecution: 7. Racism and anti-Jewish thought
8. Forced labor, German violence and Jews
9. Hunger policies and mass murder
10. The economics of separation, expropriation, crowding and removal
11. Fighting resistance and the persecution of Jews
Part III. The European Dimension: 12. Legislation against Jews in Europe: a comparison
13. Divided societies: popular input to the persecution of Jews
14. Beyond legislation: non-German policies of violence
15. In the labyrinths of persecution: survival attempts
16. Conclusion: group destruction in extremely violent societies
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Fascism & Nazism [JPFQ], The Holocaust [HBTZ1], Social & cultural history [HBTB], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]