Print Price: $78.99

Format:
Paperback
832 pp.
233 mm x 156 mm

ISBN-13:
9780195045239

Copyright Year:
1992

Imprint: OUP US

The Holocaust

The Fate of the European Jewry, 1932-1945

Leni Yahil
Translated from the Hebrew by Ina Friedman and Haya Galai

When The Holocaust first appeared in Israel in 1987, it was hailed as the finest, most authoritative history of Hitler's war on the Jews ever published. Representing twenty years of research and reflection, Leni Yahil's book won the Shazar Prize, one of Israel's highest awards for historical work. Now available in English, The Holocaust offers a sweeping look at the Final Solution, covering not only Nazi policies, but also how Jews and foreign governments perceived and responded to the unfolding nightmare.
The Holocaust is astonishingly comprehensive. Yahil weaves a gripping chronological narrative that stretches from the Norwegian fjords to the Greek islands, from Amsterdam to Tehran--and even Shanghai. Her writing is balanced, objective, and compelling, as she systematically explores the evolution of the Holocaust in German-occupied Europe, probing its politics, planning, goals, and key figures. Yahil uses her command of the many relevant languages to marshal an impressive array of documentary and statistical evidence, driving her narrative forward with telling details and personal accounts--such as a survivor's description of her perseverance during a death march, or the story of the Struma, a boat that sank with over 700 Jewish refugees when the British refused to receive it in Palestine.
Along the way, she destroys persistent myths about the Holocaust: that Hitler had no plan for exterminating the Jews, that the Jews themselves went peacefully to the slaughter. Though Yahil finds that Nazi policies were often inconsistent, particularly during the years before the war, she conclusively demonstrates that Hitler was always working toward a final reckoning with world Jewry, envisioning his war as a war against the Jews. The book also recounts numerous uprisings and acts of resistance in ghettos and concentration camps, as well as the activities of Jewish partisan units. Yahil describes the work of Jews in America, Palestine, and world organizations on behalf of Hitler's victims--often in the face of resistance by the Allied governments and neutral states--and explores the factors that affected the success of rescue efforts.
The Holocaust is a monumental work of history, unsurpassed in scope and insightful detail. Objective yet compassionate, Leni Yahil brings together the countless diverse strands of this epic event in a single gripping account.

Reviews

• "This is an excellent book for undergraduate courses on the Holocaust. It is clear and concise, and sensitive, and it covers all the necessary areas."--Marsha Rozenblat, University of Maryland
• "A remarkable accomplishment; the most complete and up-to-date work on the subject. The research is broad and deep in a wide array of languages."--Marvin Swartz, University of Massachusetts
• "Great volume, a definitive work. I will use it in the future if not next semester."--Matthew Gore, Western Kentucky University
• "This is a very ambitious opus. The author shows deep insight into the life and thinking of the Jews before and during the Holocaust."--Vera Laska, Regis College
• "An engaging and comprehensive study surveying a wide range of Holocaust material with careful focus."--Dr. Eugene C. Kreider, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary
• "In this new one-volume history of the Holocaust, Leni Yahil addresses the needs of the current generation of Israelis for whom the Holocaust has "no direct bearing on their own reality" and for whom the "aberrant and abysmal elements of the Holocaust" are totally foreign....The author constructs a solid response to the accusations of Jewish passivity....In almost every chapter there are important but little known facts which broaden the reader's perspective....Nevertheless, this book-the first concise history to explore in depth not only Hitler's war against the Jews but the Jewish struggle to prevail-is a fine addition to Holocaust history."--Brana Gurewitsch, Hadassah Magazine \
• "Thoughtful, thorough, and judicious."--The New Yorker
• "A major contribution to the ever-growing field of Holocaust studies....The appearance of such a work is, in fact, long overdue....Yahil's penetrating re-examination of the fate that overtook European Jewry...compels us to contemplate anew an event that can never be forgiven or forgotten, a history that is not past but present, a history that remains both prophecy and warning."--The Chicago Tribune
• "Monumental and panoramic....A remarkable achievement....An ambitious undertaking, encyclopedic in its scope, its text smooth and highly readable....Has the makings of a standard work, a helpful reference to all students of the Holocaust, and accessible in its polished style to laymen."--The Boston Sunday Globe
• "Huge, and hugely compelling."--The Christian Science Monitor
• "Indispensable for the study of the Holocaust....Unique in its clarity of organization, scope and detail, as well as dealing with both the war against the Jews and the Jewish response."--George L. Mosse, author of Fallen Soldiers and Toward the Final Solution
• "A magisterial study based on new sources in many languages....It analyzes the deeds, perceptions, and reactions not only of the perpetrators but also of the victims. A major and unique study which no one can afford to ignore."--Eberhard Jäckel, University of Stuttgart
• "Scores of richly detailed, enlightening lessons....Clearly, this is an unprecedented work of the history of the Holocaust in terms of its scope and detail....Represents 20 years of meticulous research and reflection. When "The Holocaust" first appeared in Israel in 1987, it was saluted as the most definitive history of Hitler's war on the Jews ever published.... Using her impressive command of languages, Yahil was able to gather an array of carefully analyzed documentary and statistical facts that unfold and weave the reader through the tragedy....Yahil manages to retain both fairness and compassion as she drives her narrative forward with evoloving accounts of politics, events and the goals of key figures. Her narrative is gripping....Yahil demolishes perpetual myths about the Holocaust....Monumental work....I salute in this monumental edition the birth of a classic work that will provide nourishment for scholars and non-scholars alike for generations to come."--The Jewish Times
• "A solid, thoroughly documented, and well written history....Bound to emerge as one of the major standard texts on the Holocaust."--Randolph L. Braham, Director, The Csengeri Institute for Holocaust Studies, CUNY
• "An excellent resource--clear and full of information."--David Hay, Coe College