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Why? : explaining the Holocaust / Peter Hayes.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2017]Edition: First editionDescription: xvi, 412 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780393254365
  • 0393254364
Subject(s):
Contents:
Why another book on the Holocaust? -- Targets : Why the Jews? Antisemitism ; Emancipation and backlash -- Attackers : Why the Germans? Nation and Volk ; Hitler's opportunity -- Escalation : Why murder? From Aryanization to atrocity ; Gentile and Jewish responses -- Annihilation : Why this swift and sweeping? From bullets to gas ; Perpetrators : the "generation without limits" ; Enslavement -- Victims : Why didn't more Jews fight back more often? Compliance and resistance ; The world of the camps -- Homelands : Why did survival rates diverge? Varieties of behavior ; The case of Poland -- Onlookers : Why such limited help from outside? Prewar evasions ; Wartime priorities -- Aftermath : What legacies, what lessons? Return, resettlement, retribution, and restitution ; Memory, myths, and meanings.
Summary: An exploration of the most commonly asked questions about the Holocaust challenges misconceptions and discusses how no single theory fully explains the tragedy, drawing on a wealth of scholarly research and experience to offer new insights.Summary: "Despite the outpouring of books, movies, museums, memorials, and courses devoted to the Holocaust, a coherent explanation of why such ghastly carnage erupted from the heart of civilized Europe in the twentieth century still seems elusive even seventy years later. Numerous theories have sprouted in an attempt to console ourselves and to point the blame in emotionally satisfying directions--yet none of them are fully convincing. As witnesses to the Holocaust near the ends of their lives, it becomes that much more important to unravel what happened and to educate a new generation about the horrors inflicted by the Nazi regime on Jews and non-Jews alike. Why? dispels many misconceptions and answers some of the most basic--yet vexing--questions that remain: why the Jews and not another ethnic group? Why the Germans? Why such a swift and sweeping extermination? Why didn't more Jews fight back more often? Why didn't they receive more help? While responding to the questions he has been most frequently asked by students over the decades, world-renowned Holocaust historian and professor Peter Hayes brings a wealth of scholarly research and experience to bear on conventional, popular views of the history, challenging some of the most prominent recent interpretations. He argues that there is no single theory that "explains" the Holocaust; the convergence of multiple forces at a particular moment in time led to catastrophe." -- Publisher's description
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 940.5318 H418 Available 33111008587301
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 940.5318 H418 Available 33111008878213
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Peter Hayes has been teaching Holocaust studies for decades and Why? grows out of the questions he's encountered from his students. Despite the outpouring of books, films, memorials, museums and courses devoted to the subject, a coherent explanation of why such carnage erupted still eludes people. Numerous myths have sprouted, many to console us that things could have gone differently if only some person or entity had acted more bravely or wisely; others cast new blame on favourite or surprising villains or even on historians.

Why? dispels many legends and debunks the most prevalent ones, including the claim that the Holocaust never happened. Hayes brings scholarly wisdom to bear on popular views of the history, challenging some of the most prominent interpretations and arguing that the convergence of multiple forces at a particular moment resulted in this catastrophe.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [347]-390) and index.

Why another book on the Holocaust? -- Targets : Why the Jews? Antisemitism ; Emancipation and backlash -- Attackers : Why the Germans? Nation and Volk ; Hitler's opportunity -- Escalation : Why murder? From Aryanization to atrocity ; Gentile and Jewish responses -- Annihilation : Why this swift and sweeping? From bullets to gas ; Perpetrators : the "generation without limits" ; Enslavement -- Victims : Why didn't more Jews fight back more often? Compliance and resistance ; The world of the camps -- Homelands : Why did survival rates diverge? Varieties of behavior ; The case of Poland -- Onlookers : Why such limited help from outside? Prewar evasions ; Wartime priorities -- Aftermath : What legacies, what lessons? Return, resettlement, retribution, and restitution ; Memory, myths, and meanings.

An exploration of the most commonly asked questions about the Holocaust challenges misconceptions and discusses how no single theory fully explains the tragedy, drawing on a wealth of scholarly research and experience to offer new insights.

"Despite the outpouring of books, movies, museums, memorials, and courses devoted to the Holocaust, a coherent explanation of why such ghastly carnage erupted from the heart of civilized Europe in the twentieth century still seems elusive even seventy years later. Numerous theories have sprouted in an attempt to console ourselves and to point the blame in emotionally satisfying directions--yet none of them are fully convincing. As witnesses to the Holocaust near the ends of their lives, it becomes that much more important to unravel what happened and to educate a new generation about the horrors inflicted by the Nazi regime on Jews and non-Jews alike. Why? dispels many misconceptions and answers some of the most basic--yet vexing--questions that remain: why the Jews and not another ethnic group? Why the Germans? Why such a swift and sweeping extermination? Why didn't more Jews fight back more often? Why didn't they receive more help? While responding to the questions he has been most frequently asked by students over the decades, world-renowned Holocaust historian and professor Peter Hayes brings a wealth of scholarly research and experience to bear on conventional, popular views of the history, challenging some of the most prominent recent interpretations. He argues that there is no single theory that "explains" the Holocaust; the convergence of multiple forces at a particular moment in time led to catastrophe." -- Publisher's description

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