| Predicting the Holocaust: Jewish Organizations Report from Geneva on the Emergence of the "Final Solution," 1939-1942 Contributor(s): Matthäus, Jürgen (Author) |
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ISBN: 1538121670 ISBN-13: 9781538121672 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers OUR PRICE: $55.44 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: March 2019 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Jewish - General - History | Europe - General |
| Series: Documenting Life and Destruction: Holocaust Sources in Conte |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (1.05 lbs) 230 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Jewish |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Historians long have analyzed the emergence of the "final solution of the Jewish question" primarily on the basis of German documentation, devoting much less attention to wartime Jewish perceptions of the growing threat. J rgen Matth us fills this critical gap by showcasing the highly insightful reports compiled during the first half of World War II by two Geneva-based offices: those of Richard Lichtheim representing the Jewish Agency for Palestine and of Gerhart Riegner's World Jewish Congress office. Since the first days of war, Lichtheim's predictions of Jewish dead ran in the millions and increased progressively with the rising tide of Nazi rule over Europe. His and Riegner's perceptions of German anti-Jewish policy resulted from shared goals and personal experiences as well as from their bureaus' range of functions and the massive problems that impacted the gathering and communicating of information on the unfolding Holocaust in German-controlled Europe. Beyond the specifics of the wartime Geneva setting, these sources show how human cognition works in times of extreme crisis and contribute to a better understanding of the potential inherent in Jewish sources for gauging perpetrator actions. The reports and contextual information featured here reflect the first narratives on the Holocaust, their emergence, evolution, and importance for post-war historiography. |
