Hitler's Willing Executioners

Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust

This groundbreaking international bestseller lays to rest many myths about the Holocaust: that Germans were ignorant of the mass destruction of Jews, that the killers were all SS men, and that those who slaughtered Jews did so reluctantly. Hitler's Willing Executioners provides conclusive evidence that the extermination of European Jewry engaged the energies and enthusiasm of tens of thousands of ordinary Germans. Goldhagen reconstructs the climate of "eliminationist anti-Semitism" that made Hitler's pursuit of his genocidal goals possible and the radical persecution of the Jews during the 1930s popular. Drawing on a wealth of unused archival materials, principally the testimony of the killers themselves, Goldhagen takes us into the killing fields where Germans voluntarily hunted Jews like animals, tortured them wantonly, and then posed cheerfully for snapshots with their victims. From mobile killing units, to the camps, to the death marches, Goldhagen shows how ordinary Germans, nurtured in a society where Jews were seen as unalterable evil and dangerous, willingly followed their beliefs to their logical conclusion.

"Hitler's Willing Executioner's is an original, indeed brilliant contribution to the...literature on the Holocaust." --New York Review of Books

"The most important book ever published about the Holocaust...Eloquently written, meticulously documented, impassioned...A model of moral and scholarly integrity." --Philadelphia Inquirer

Cover photograph: Thousands of Germans gather at a mass antisemitic rally on August 15, 1935, in Berlin. The two banners read: “The Jews Are Our Misfortune” and “Women and Girls, the Jews Are Your Ruin.” Photograph courtesy of NIOD, Amsterdam, Netherlands

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing photographs, maps, tables, and a schematization of dominant beliefs from the book.

Strong look at a neglected aspect of the Holocaust

The book is more timely then ever. While general knowledge of the Holocaust is common, the society wide delusions that gripped Germany are not. Goldhagen conclusively proves his case that Germans chose to engage in the genocidal slaughter because it was a rational choice based on what they believed, beliefs that were akin to the ravings of a madman.

Explodes the myth that most Germans were anti-Nazi

An exploration of a hundred years of virulent anti-semitism in Germany and how the Nazis were a natural next step. A bit of a slog at times, but well worth it. The library of books on Nazi Germany is huge, and this is a good contribution.

An excellent insight into a challenging topic

One doesn't really think about this kind of detail but Goldhagen thoroughly and dispassionately dissects a very difficult subject, getting to the heart of German's willingness to enthusiastically slaughter Jews with demonic zeal during the Show.

Too wordy

He talks forever to make a point that could be made much more precise. Too wordy.

excessively verbose

the repetition is painful, delusions of self-importance are evident. the material could easily be covered by half as many words, this is not poetry there is nothing pretty about it