Synopses & Reviews
The Path to Genocide studies three aspects of the events leading up to the Final Solution in Nazi Germany. First, Nazi's "solutions" to their self-imposed "Jewish problem" before resorting to mass-murder are examined, specifically ghettoization and early resettlement plans to expel Jews to Eastern Poland or the island of Madagascar. Second, the responsibility of shaping Nazi Jewish policy is shown to extend to the lower and middle echelon of government, through accommodation and conformity of a wide variety of perpetrators, including bureaucrats, doctors and policemen. Finally the role of Adolf Hitler in the decisionmaking process is examined, with a historiographical analysis of other accounts of his role. Browning argues that while Hitler did not operate according to a premeditated plan or blueprint, he did make the key decisions. This volume of essays provides perspectives on German Jewish policy both from the bottom of the government apparatus and from the top.
Review
"...a handy stocktaking of scholarship on some key questions about the Holocaust." Central European History"...the clarity as well as economy with which he writes, his firm grasp of the evidence and the balanced judgment he brings to its interpretation make this a most impressive performance....[Browning] uses his flair for uncovering new archival material to throw light on the attitudes and roles of a variety of people who became invlved in carrying out the Final Solution....Christopher Browning places himself in the front rank of historians of the Holocaust." Times Literary Supplement"...well written, densely footnoted, and a significant contribution to understanding the critical events that led to the gas chambers." German Studies Review"A magisterial, rigorously meditated study of how the industrialized murder of millions got under way." The New York Times Book Review"...an impressive collection of essays by one of the foremost historians of the Holocaust." Dimensions"Browning's arguments provide a sensible balance to those interpretations of the origins of the Holocaust that have focused exclusively on either Hitler or the Nazi system." Johnpeter Horst Grill, History"A meticulously researched, harrowing look at the evil humanity is capable of." Doug Wyatt, Savannah (GA) News/Press
Synopsis
The Nazi Holocaust haunts the modern imagination as one of the most compelling examples of the human capacity for organized atrocity on a mass scale. This authoritative account of the evolution of Nazi Jewish policy from 1939 to 1942 seeks to answer some of the fundamental questions about what actually happened and why, between the outbreak of war and the emergence of the Final Solution. Christopher Browning's account assesses the historians' interpretations and offers his own insights, based on detailed case studies that uncovered important and telling new evidence.
Synopsis
The Nazi holocaust haunts the modern imagination as a compelling example of organised human atrocity on a mass scale. This authoritative account of the evolution of Nazi Jewish policy seeks to answer fundamental questions about what actually happened, and why, between the outbreak of war and the emergence of the Final Solution.
Table of Contents
'Part I. The Prelude to Genocide: 1. Nazi resettlement policy and the search for a solution to the Jewish question, 1939 1941; 2. Nazi ghettoization policy in Poland, 1939 41; Part II. Conflicting Explanations: 3. German technocrats, Jewish labor, and the Final Solution: a reply to Götz Aly and Susanne Heim; 4. The holocaust as by-product? A critique of Arno Mayer; 5. âIntentionalismâand âFunctionalismâ: the decision for the Final Solution reconsidered; Part III. The Perpetrators: Accommodation, Anticipation and Conformity: 6. Bureaucracy and mass murder: the German administratorâs comprehension of the Final Solution; 7. Genocide and public health: German doctors and Polish Jews, 1939 1941; 8. One day in Józefów: initiation to mass murder.\n
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