A work of the utmost importance--as authoritative as it is explosive--Hitler's Willing Executioners will fundamentally change our perception of the Holocaust and of Germany in the Nazi period. Goldhagen reaches conclusions that are both uncompromising and savage, rejecting as inadequate the conventional historical explanations for how an entire country could allow the Holocaust to happen, and gives the first detailed, broad-ranging account of the actual killers of the Jews. 31 photos.
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A work of the utmost importance--as authoritative as it is explosive--Hitler's Willing Executioners will fundamentally change our perception of the Holocaust and of Germany in the Nazi period. Goldhagen reaches conclusions that are both uncompromising and savage, rejecting as inadequate the conventional historical explanations for how an entire country could allow the Holocaust to happen, and gives the first detailed, broad-ranging account of the actual killers of the Jews. 31 photos.
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Fair. Book is in acceptable condition. May have shelf wear edge wear and spine wear but a very readable copy. May not come with supplemental materials if applicable. Does not include original dustcover jacket. Possibly Ex Library Copy.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Fair. Connecting readers with great books since 1972. Used textbooks may not include companion materials such as access codes, etc. May have condition issues including wear and notes/highlighting. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Collectible, Fine in Near Fine jacket. Book Octavo. hardcover, fine in near fine brown pictorial dj. First Ed., 5th printing. B&W Photos and Maps 622 pp. Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. 634 pp. National book critics circle award finalist. A very original work that radically transforms our understanding of the Holocaust and of Germany during the Nazi period.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Very Good. 2nd printing, Knopf hardcover w/ DJ, 1996. Book is VG+, w/ clean text, tight binding; stain to bottom edge. DJ is VG to VG+, w/ very light edgewear. Free delivery confirmation.
You read in one history book or another that the Nazis killed millions of Jews, and the text just passes before you without much meaning. This book takes you to the day-by-day, hour-by-hour level of how is carried out. How the order comes down to the troops (police battalions mostly) to round up the Jews in some city; how the troops react to the order (some ask their girlfriends to join them) and some decline to participate, because it is all voluntary duty; and how the troops take relish in, not simply to carry out their duty, but to inflict as much pain and humiliation on the victims as possible ? killing them is not enough. The main premise of the book is that anti-Semitism was an integral character of the German people and it did not take much persuasion for the Nazis to unleash these hidden demons for their own diabolical ends.
At times, the book did get a little repetitive, making the same point over and over again, but there is ample, original research throughout to make it worthwhile reading.
cindobindo
Sep 17, 2008
How the Holocaust was possible
This is a VERY disturbing book. It is well-written, with copious footnotes, and Goldhagen makes a VERY strong case for his belief that anti-Semitism in Germany was "in the air" LONG before Hitler, and that what Hitler did was to give that anti-Semitism a government-backed outlet. Goldhagen uses documents and quotes from the Germans themselves to make his points. One of the most disturbing forms the title of the book. It is widely believed that Germans assisted in the slaughter of Jews, or at least did nothing to stop it, out of fear of being executed or otherwise punished if they did. Goldhagen cites sources indicating that that was NOT the case, that it occured sometimes that officers would tell their men that they didn't have to join in an ordered mass killing if they didn't want to, and would not get any punishment for refusing to. Even so, hardly anyone DID refuse. And the men and units written about in the book WERE "ordinary Germans", belonging to non-military units of the "order police", who were reservists who were civilians, teachers, doctors, civil servants and the like, when not on duty in their units. Their viciousness in tormenting their victims before their killings began is outlined in chilling detail. The Germans' abrupt and dreadful change of manner when some supposed German citizens are suddenly identified as Jews is sickening. The German men involved wrote orders and journal entries, and sent letters home, including photographs, often of themselves grinning at the mistreatment of their Jewish victims, and some of the photos and writings are included in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who wonders about the Holocaust and the German attitudes that made it possible there,but it is NOT a book for the squeamish.
