The Holocaust: An Unfinished History by Dan Stone - #BookReview

Ideology does not come from nowhere. The history of ideas is crucial, though it is insufficient for explaining the historical origins of Nazism. Ideas that seemed marginal at one moment became decisive at another, following the German defeat in the First World War and, especially, after the terrible effects of the Great Depression. In order to grasp the power of the forces that fuelled the Holocaust, we have to understand the toxic mix of ideas and events which propelled an apocalypic movement to the fore. Nazism was not merely a political programme but sought to be, as Goebels put it, "the very air which we breathe". It was not just an ideology but a... worldview.
 

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An authoritative, revelatory new history of the Holocaust, from one of the leading scholars of his generation

The Holocaust is much-discussed, much-memorialized and much-portrayed. But there are major aspects of its history that have been overlooked.

Spanning the entirety of the Holocaust and across the world, this sweeping history deepens our understanding. Dan Stone reveals how the idea of 'industrial murder' is incomplete: many were killed where they lived in the most brutal of ways. He outlines the depth of collaboration across Europe, arguing persuasively that we need to stop thinking of the Holocaust as an exclusively German project. He also considers the nature of trauma the Holocaust engendered, and why Jewish suffering has yet to be fully reckoned with. And he makes clear that the kernel to understanding Nazi thinking and action is genocidal ideology, providing a deep analysis of its origins.

Drawing on decades of research, The Holocaust: An Unfinished History upends much of what we think we know about the Holocaust. Stone draws on Nazi documents, but also on diaries, post-war testimonies and even fiction, urging that, in our age of increasing nationalism and xenophobia, we must understand the true history of the Holocaust.

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The Holocaust is a topic that we have become very familiar with although its ability to shock never lessens.  We all like to assign this level of barbarity to the distant past; something that happened a long time ago in history. 

However, the truth is that this happened less than a century ago and that fact alone is horrifying. It is beyond disturbing that ordinary people, fathers, sons, husbands and brothers were complicit in this.

Dan Stone's book sets out to explain how this, amongst other things were able to happen.  Of Hitler he says:

"This total absence of compromise, an inability to regard anything or anyone other than himself as correct, was why Hitler was so impervious to criticism, so assured of his own destiny - and why so many Germans were attracted to him.

The author goes on to explain how it was not the Nazi's alone, but other European countries that were compliant in the killing of the Jews and this was one factor towards the acceptance of killing on such a huge scale.  It was... "a continent-wide crime with many perpetrators, not just Germans."

As the book progresses the author looks to the way is which the Holocaust in remembered. He writes that this perception of the Holocaust as solely a German atrocity, and the downplaying of the involvement of other European nations has distorted history.

Just when we think that there is nothing to add to the canon of books on the Holocaust, a work such as this comes along and presents many new and challenging ideas. Personally, I learnt much that I had not considered before.  

Outstandingly researched and written, this book is a worthy addition to this particular field of study and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

ISBN: 978-0241388709

Publisher: Pelican

Formats:  e-book, audio and hardcover

No. of Pages: 464 (hardback)

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About the Author:

Dan Stone is one of the foremost experts on the Holocaust of his generation. He is Professor of Modern History and Director of the Holocaust Research Institute (Royal Holloway, University of London), and was on the advisory panel for the Imperial War Museum's new Holocaust Galleries. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Histories of the Holocaust and The Liberation of the Camps.

(ARC and author info courtesy of the publisher)

(author image courtesy of University of London)

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