ISBN:
9780674036239
Language:
Undetermined
Pages:
213 S.
,
8ʻ
Year of publication:
2009
DDC:
940.53/1842
Abstract:
In November 1938, supposedly in response to the shooting of a German diplomat by a young Jew in Paris, an orgy of violence against Jews erupted across Germany. Synagogues burned, shops were looted, Jews were murdered in the streets and more than 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps. Historical accounts have generally stressed the top-down nature of the attacks, emphasizing that the attacks were planned and organized by top Nazi officials and carried out with the incitement and participation of party members at the local level. In this compact but riveting study, Steinweis acknowledges the fundamental role of the Nazi hierarchy. However, Steinweis also convincingly maintains that much of the extreme violence perpetrated upon Jews was a spontaneous expression of the rabid anti-Semitism that permeated German society. Utilizing primary sources, including the voices of both victims and victimizers, he illustrates that モordinaryヤ Germans gleefully took part in what amounted to a pogrom against their fellow citizens. This is an outstanding re-examination of a seminal event along the road leading to mass murder.
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