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Loading... Holocaust: The Nazis' Wartime Jewish Atrocities (edition 2020)by Stephen Wynn (Author)
Work InformationHolocaust: The Nazis' Wartime Jewish Atrocities by Stephen Wynn
None No current Talk conversations about this book.  atticusfinch1048 | Mar 22, 2020 |  no reviews | add a review
The Holocaust is without doubt one of the most abhorrent and despicable events not only of the Second World War, but of the twentieth century. What makes it even more staggering is that it was not perpetrated by just one individual, but by thousands of men and women who had become part of the Nazi ideology and belief that Jews were responsible for all of their woes.This book looks at the build up to the Second World War, from the time of Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, as the Nazi Party rose to power in a country that was still struggling to recover politically, socially and financially from the aftermath of the First World War, whilst at the same time, through the enactment of a number of laws, making life extremely difficult for German Jews. Some saw the dangers ahead for Jews in Germany and did their best to get out, some managed to do so, but millions more did not.The book then moves on to look at a wartime Nazi Germany and how the dislike of the Jews had gone from painting the star of David on shop windows, to their mass murder in the thousands of concentration camps that were scattered throughout Germany. As well as the camps, it looks at some of those who were culpable for the atrocities that were carried out in the name of Nazism. Not all those who were murdered lost their lives in concentration camps. Some were killed in massacres, some in ghettos and some by the feared and hated Einsatzgruppen. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)940.5318History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- World War II Social, political, economic history; Holocaust HolocaustLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.5)
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Wikipedia in English
1
When we think about the Holocaust today, many people automatically think of Auschwitz the Nazi extermination camp in Poland. When Auschwitz became part of the Nazi killing machine in 1943, most Jews of Eastern Europe were already dead. My family were originally from Skalat in what was Poland, now Ukraine, where the Germans, backed up by the UPA (Ukrainian Army) rounded up the Jews and murdered them. Men, women and children were not spared.
But this excellent short book from Stephen Wynn, looks at what started as painting the Star of David on Jewish Business’s and making German Jews where the star too. From there to the atrocities that wartime Germany undertook, in the name of Adolf Hitler. That some Germans tried to say they did not know is a lie, and again this book is a reminder of that.
So we get reminders of The Wannsee Conference, where the Final Solution was made real, Reinhard Heydrich and the Einsatzgruppen. The organ and the man who put the plan in to action, before being killed during the war, by Czech partisans.
Wynn looks at some of the Operations of the Nazis such as Operation Harvest Festival, as well as some of the female Nazi guards. As well as explaining the work of some of the death camps, not only Auschwitz, but Treblinka, an area even today you cannot hear birds singing, Sobidor a place that should send shudders down anyone’s spine. While there is no mention of the massacre of Wolyn, it is not surprising as the Ukrainian collaborators would not like that being highlighted.
With short chapters of when the Allies knew, I would say quite early, but the Polish Home Army was not believed by the Allies. Some even suggested the Poles were exaggerating the position. Even today more information comes to light and Wynn does mention the Holfe Telegram which came to light in the Public Record Office at Kew, in London in 2000, from 1943. This contained a number of cables that discussed how many Jews had been murdered in the occupied General Government area, and Ukraine.
This book will raise eyebrows if you do not know the full story of the Holocaust and this is an excellent introduction to the historiography which is consistently developing. Unfortunately, the Holocaust deniers will ignore this book, and basic facts. But for those wanting to start learning more about the Holocaust this is an excellent starting point. (