Perpetrators Victims Bystanders: Jewish Catastrophe 1933-1945

by Raul Hilberg

Book Overview

The man the New York Times has called the preeminent scholar of the Holocaust tells the stories of those who caused, experienced, and witnessed the great human catastrophe.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060995076
• ISBN13: 9780060995072
• Release Date: September 1993
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Brutally Honest

This is Hilberg's discussion of the significant individuals involved in the holocaust. His judgments are coolly stated; he lets the facts speak for themselves rather than give angry statements. Even his treatment of the Judenrat (Jewish Councils) is historical, sympathetic and familiar, and he counts them as victims, without diminishing their responsibility in facilitating the holocaust. The understanding one is left with is complex, even as the responsibility is ultimately quite simple - he implicates both the NSDAP (Nazi) and the German pre-NSDAP bureaucracy. This understanding both angers and disgusts. I have one minor complaint: the author decides not to translate 'reich', but rather leaves it as is: Third Reich, rather than Third Empire; this is somewhat Eurocentric, as the Third 'Reich' was not much different from other European empires, including earlier German empires (see e.g. the destruction of the Herero) except that it killed Europeans instead of non-Europeans.

Don't fault a book for sticking to its scope

I agree that most studies of atrocities in WW2 may focus excessively on the Jewish Holocaust to the detriment of other groups. However, the title of this book specifically designates it as a study of the "JEWISH" catastrophe. Hilberg aptly addresses the topic. Don't fault a book for being precise and sticking to its designated scope.