Book Description

This anthology of selected, thematic articles is a unique approach to Holocaust Studies because it focuses on the responses to and consequences of Holocaust persecution rather than on the fact of it. After a brief overview of the Holocaust itself, the book is divided into two sections, “Responses to Holocaust Persecution” and “Consequences of Holocaust Persecution.” Each section of the book begins with a scholarly essay by an internationally recognized scholar. Robert Satloff, Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and author of Among the Righteous: Lost Stories of the Holocaust’s Long Reach Into Arab Lands, contributes a scholarly essay to the Responses section of this volume called “Countering Holocaust Denial in the Middle East: A New Approach.” Satloff maintains that Holocaust denial in Arab regions may be more effectively countered if recognition is given to Arabs who helped Jews during the Holocaust and if the fate of Jews in Arab lands, particularly during World War II, is given a more thorough consideration. Two additional essays in this segment of the book focus on Arab or Muslim reactions to the Holocaust. In addition, the Responses section includes articles concerning both collaboration with the German occupiers and Jewish rescue of Jewish victims, as well as essays that discuss political and personal responses to Nazi persecution. Gerhard L. Weinberg, author of the magnum opus A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, is generally considered to be the world’s most important authority on the Second World War. He contributes the primary article in the Consequences section of this volume, “The Holocaust and the Nuremberg Trials.” His essay argues that the evidence presented at the Nuremberg tribunal as well as the legal principles established at Nuremberg, have set important precedents in international law that also influence the course of contemporary politics as well as both Holocaust and genocide studies. Subsequent articles in this section of the book discuss the legal, personal, moral and political consequences of the Holocaust.