Synopses & Reviews
Can there ever be justice for the Holocaust? During the 1990s—triggered by lawsuits in the United States against Swiss banks, German corporations, insurance companies, and owners of valuable works of art—claimants and their lawyers sought to rectify terrible wrongs committed more than a half century earlier.
Some Measure of Justice explores this most recent wave of justice-seeking for the Holocaust: what it has been, why it emerged when it did, how it fits with earlier reparation to the Jewish people, its significance for the historical representation of the Holocaust, and its implications for justice-seeking in our time.
Writings on the subject of Holocaust reparations have largely come from participants, lawyers, philosophers, journalists, and social scientists specializing in restitution. In Some Measure of Justice Michael Marrus takes up the issue as a historian deeply involved with legal issues. He engages with larger questions about historical understanding and historical interpretation as they enter the legal arena. Ultimately this book asks, What constitutes justice for a great historic wrong? And, Is such justice possible? Winner, Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Award for Holocaust Literature
Review
“Some Measure of Justice offers a fresh perspective and one that I think is badly needed in the field.”—Michael Bazyler, Chapman University School of Law and “1939” Club Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies
Review
“Marrus is on target nearly every step of the way. He combines a deep knowledge of twentieth-century history with an expertise in legal matters.”—Anthony Sebok, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University
Review
"A significant contribution to the continuous effort of scholars to fathom the phenomenon known as 'The Holocaust.'" and#8212;Jewish Book World
Review
"[The Holocaust in the Soviet Union] is a magisterial work of great significance. Particularly for readers more familiar with the Holocaust in western Europe and occupied Poland, there is a great deal to learn from it."and#8212;Maarten Pereboom, Shofar
Review
"This book is a supreme achievement and an essential work for all Holocaust libraries."and#8212;Hallie Cantor, Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter
Review
"A masterful synthesis. . . . This study provides a much-needed panoramic view in a field that has produced mostly regional and microstudies in the past two decades. . . . Arad's remarkable tome has both an encyclopedic as well as broad-brush quality to it that makes it required reading in Holocaust Studies."and#8212;Bradley D. Woodworth, Russian Review
Review
"Arad's book constitutes a welcome and valuable contribution to Holocaust scholarship."and#8212;and#352;arand#363;nas Liekis, Journal of Baltic Studies
Review
"Yitzhak Arad has produced a notable work that is particularly valuable for its comprehensive documentation of Nazi crimes over a large geographic area."and#8212;Waitman W. Beorn, Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Synopsis
Published by the University of Nebraska Press and Yad Vashem,
The Holocaust in the Soviet Union is the most complete account to date of Soviet Jews during World War II and the Holocaust (1941and#8211;45). Reports, records, documents, and research previously unavailable in English enable Yitzhak Arad to trace the Holocaust in the German-occupied territories of the Soviet Union through three separate periods in which German political and military goals in the occupied territories dictated the treatment of Jews. Aradand#8217;s examination of the differences between the Holocaust in the Soviet Union compared to other European nations reveals how Nazi ideological attacks on the Soviet Union, which included war on and#8220;Judeo-Bolshevism,and#8221; led to harsher treatment of Jews in the Soviet Union than in most other occupied territories.
This historical narrative presents a wealth of information from German, Russian, and Jewish archival sources that will be invaluable to scholars, researchers, and the general public for years to come.
About the Author
Yitzhak Arad served as the director of Yad Vashem, Israeland#8217;s Holocaust Remembrance Authority, from 1972 to 1993. He is the author or editor of several books, including
Documents on the Holocaust: Selected Sources on the Destruction of the Jews of Germany and Austria, Poland, and the Soviet Union, 8th edition (Nebraska, 1999) and
In the Shadow of the Red Banner: Soviet Jews in War Against Nazi Germany.
Ora Cummings is a literary agent in Rehovot, Israel, and the translator of many works, most recently Rina Frankand#8217;s Every House Needs a Balcony: A Novel.
Table of Contents
Foreword by William A. Schabas
Preface
Introduction
1. Restitution in the 1990s
2. Art, Law, and History
3. Restitution in Historical Perspective
4. Restitution in Law and History
5. Evaluating Some Measure of Justice
Notes
Index