Synopses & Reviews
In
Europe on Trial, acclaimed historian István Deák explores the history of collaboration, retribution, and resistance during World War II. The three themes are examined through the experiences of people and countries under Germanbut also under Soviet, Italian, and other military occupations. Those under foreign rule had to decide whether to cooperate with their occupiers, try to survive the war without any political involvement, or risk their lives by becoming resisters. Many chose all three, depending on wartime conditions. Following the brutal war, the author discusses the purges of real or alleged war criminals and collaborators, through various acts of violence, deportations and judicial proceedings at the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal as well as in thousands of local courts.
Europe on Trial helps us to understand the many moral consequences both during and immediately following World War II.
Foreword by Norman M. Naimark
"Sparing few words, István Deák brilliantly captures the complex and contradictory world that confronted Europeans under Nazi rule. From Belgium to Bulgaria, from the first German conquests to postwar trials, the book presents a refreshingly original and deeply insightful narrative that upends traditional stories of heroism, perseverance, or betrayal. In riveting and accessible prose, Deák gives us a story that will become the standard in university courses on the war and modern European history." Benjamin Frommer, Northwestern University
"No historian is better suited than István Deák to survey collaboration, resistance, and retribution in relation to the Second World War. Europe on Trial excavates the complexities, ambiguities, and ironies of these occupation experiences. Deáks insightful analysis and vibrant storytelling also follows an unerring moral compass. Here is a master scholars eloquent meditation on Hitlers Europe." James Mace Ward, University of Rhode Island
This is an excellent contribution on an important subject by en experienced scholar. The truly European range of the exposition is impressive; the attempt at evaluative balance is exemplary.” Konrad H. Jarausch, University of North Carolina
István Deák, a professor emeritus of history at Columbia University, is an authority on modern Central European and general World War II history. Writing often for the New York Review of Books and the New Republic, Deák has crafted review essays that cover the breadth and depth of the history of Hitlers Europe.
Review
István Deák takes the reader on a sweeping survey of some of the bleakest aspects of a bleak period in European history. He dispenses with comforting national myths and unexamined assumptions of national virtue. World War II was, as he writes, one of the greatest tragedies that humans ever brought upon themselves
a verdict that is amply illustrated by the many evocative, insightful, and distressing examples of human behavior that fill his book.”
The New York Review of Books
"Sparing few words, István Deák brilliantly captures the complex and contradictory world that confronted Europeans under Nazi rule. From Belgium to Bulgaria, from the first German conquests to postwar trials, the book presents a refreshingly original and deeply insightful narrative that upends traditional stories of heroism, perseverance, or betrayal. In riveting and accessible prose, Deák gives us a story that will become the standard in university courses on the war and modern European history."
Benjamin Frommer, Northwestern University
"No historian is better suited than István Deák to survey collaboration, resistance, and retribution in relation to the Second World War. Europe on Trial excavates the complexities, ambiguities, and ironies of these occupation experiences. Deáks insightful analysis and vibrant storytelling also follows an unerring moral compass. Here is a master scholars eloquent meditation on Hitlers Europe."
James Mace Ward, University of Rhode Island
"Professor Deák has provided an essential service to the historical profession by writing a book which provides a synthetic overview of collaboration and resistance in Nazi-Dominated Europe. His book fills an enormous gap in the textbook literature on the Third Reich by viewing the period through the lens of the various national histories of occupation and domination. He also illuminates the extent to which the Holocaust could not have been accomplished without the willing collaboration of many Europeans."
Benjamin Lapp, Montclair State University
"A good deal of the literature, especially on collaboration and retribution, is focused on western Europe. Deak, an accomplished scholar of modern central and east European history, brings much-needed balance to this discussion."
Robert Blobaum, West Virgina University
"This book should attract huge interest, not only among those of us who teach upper-level modern European history courses, but from the greater public as well."
Nancy Wingfield, Northern Illinois University
"Traditionally, historians have made a sharp break in 1945, either covering the war or postwar but not both. Recently, more and more scholars are realizing that the 1939-1949 decade hangs together in many ways. It is a real strength of this book that it embraces the whole decade."
James Felak, University of Washington
"István Deák's essays on Europe's crisis decades have long been indispensable reading for historians of modern Europe. His new book crowns a distinguished career, and offers a truly fresh perspective on one of the most fascinating and fateful periods in twentieth-century European history."
Bruce Thompson, University of California, Santa Cruz
"This is an excellent contribution on an important subject by an experienced scholar. The truly European range of the exposition is impressive. The interpretations are interesting and the attempt at evaluative balance exemplary."
Konrad H. Jarausch, University of North Carolina
Coming from an experiences scholar, this insightful analysis provides a fresh perspective not only on the war; Europe on Trial helps readers understand the many moral consequences both during and immediately following World War II.” SirReadaLot
An engrossing probe into the decisions made by political figures and individual citizens during [World War II].” Midwest Book Review
Synopsis
Renowned scholar István Deák brings us the comparative history of collaboration, retribution, and resistance during World War II.
Synopsis
Europe on Trial explores the history of collaboration, retribution, and resistance during World War II. These three themes are examined through the experiences of people and countries under German occupation, as well as Soviet, Italian, and other military rule. Those under foreign rule faced innumerable moral and ethical dilemmas, including the question of whether to cooperate with their occupiers, try to survive the war without any political involvement, or risk their lives by becoming resisters. Many chose all three, depending on wartime conditions. Following the brutal war, the author discusses the purges of real or alleged war criminals and collaborators, through various acts of violence, deportations, and judicial proceedings at the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal as well as in thousands of local courts. Europe on Trial helps us to understand the many moral consequences both during and immediately following World War II.
Synopsis
Foreword by Norman M. NaimarkIn Europe on Trial, acclaimed historian István Deák presents the comparative history of collaboration, retribution, and resistance during World War II. Deák explores these three themes through the Western and Eastern European countries that suffered at the hands of German military occupation. The occupied countries had to face the question of whether to cooperate with their German occupiers, try to survive the war without any political involvement, or risk their lives by opposing the Nazis. Deák delves deep into the decisions that various countries and individuals made during this critical time. Following the brutal war, Deák discusses the purging of the ancient régime through lynching, acts of private vengeance, denunciation, firings, forced retirements, deprivation of citizens rights, expulsions, mass deportations, arbitrary internment, and judicial proceedings including the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal from 1945-1946, which judged the principal German war criminals. Europe on Trial helps us to understand the many moral consequences both during and immediately following World War II.
About the Author
István Deák, a professor emeritus of history at Columbia University, is an authority on modern Central European and general World War II history. Writing often for the
New York Review of Books and the
New Republic, Deák has crafted review essays that cover the breadth and depth of the history of Hitlers Europe.
Norman M. Naimark is the Robert and Florence McDonnell Professor of East European Studies at Stanford University and Sakurako and William Fisher Director of the Stanford Global Studies Division. He is also Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman-Spogli Institute of International Studies.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1 From Brutality to International Conventions to Renewed Brutality: Foreign Occupations in European History
2 Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland: The First German Conquests
A Perfect Union
Without Firing a Shot
To the Last Bullet
3 Defeat and Submission: Europes Honeymoon with Hitler, 1939-1941
Toward a Great Germanic” Brotherhood?
The Belgians and the French under German Rule
Cozy Islanders
The Pitfalls of Collaboration in the Balkans
4 The Invasion of the Soviet Union and East European Collaboration
Caught Between Two Giants
The Worst Place to Be: Ukraine during the War
Toward a Turning Point in the Conflict
5 Germanys Many Allies: A Blessing or a Curse?
The Allies of Germany and the Final Solution”
Mutual Jealousies and Suspicions
Ethnic Cleansing
Hitlers Strong-Man” Allies
6 The Beginnings of German Decline: The Growth and Many Dilemmas of the Resistance Movements
Life and Death in the Resistance
The Resistance Press and Radio
The Special Operations Executive (SOE)
Resistance in the Countries Expecting British and American Liberation
Helping Jews
7 Resistance and Civil War in Eastern, Southern, and Southeastern Europe
The East European Tragedy
Poland: An Extraordinary Case
Polish and Jewish Resistance: A Difficult Relationship
Resistance in the German-Occupied Parts of the Soviet Union
Resistance and Chaos in the Balkans
The Gorgopotamos Saga
Slovakia and Transylvania
8 Freedom Fighters or Terrorists: Case Studies of Resistance and Reprisal
The Via Rasella and the Ardeatine Cave
The Oradour Tragedy
Revenge and Ethnic Cleansing at Novi Sad
9 The End of the War, the Apparent Triumph of the Resistance Movements, and the First Retributions
The End in Germany
The Legacy of the German Resistance
The End in the East
10 Purging Hitlers Europe
The Road to Nuremberg and to the National Court Trials
Justice and Injustice at Nuremberg
Justice and Injustice in the National Courts of Justice
11 The Long Aftermath of Collaboration, Resistance, and Retribution
The Cold War and the Suspension of Retributions
Renewed Attempts at Reprisals
Epilogue
Suggestions for Further Study