The War Against the Jews

1933-1945

By: Lucy S. Dawidowicz

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

A history of how anti-Semitism evolved into the Holocaust in Germany: "If any book can tell what Hitlerism was like, this is it." (Alfred Kazin)

Lucy Dawidowicz's groundbreaking The War Against the Jews inspired waves of both acclaim and controversy upon its release in 1975. Dawidowicz argues that genocide was, to the Nazis, as central a war goal as conquering Europe, and was made possible by a combination of political, social, and technological factors. She explores the full history of Hitler's "Final Solution", from the rise of anti-Semitism to the creation of Jewish ghettos to the brutal tactics of mass murder employed by the Nazis. Written with devastating detail, The War Against the Jews is the definitive and comprehensive book on one of history's darkest chapters.

©1975 Lucy S. Dawidowicz; Introduction to Tenth Anniversary edition copyright 1986 by Lucy S. Dawidowicz (P)2021 Tantor

Not Objective in my Opinion

I have read numerous books about WW II from William Shirer to Volker Ullrich and this book although based in what would deemed as fact seems to have a multitude of personal judgments that should not be factored in.
I realize it is a very emotional subject that but should not be factored into the righting.
Good read but skewed by personal interjections

Very informative

This book was ver y interesting and I learned a lot about the holocaust I didn’t know

Brilliant and important

This is a brilliant and important book, and anyone interested in World War II, Jewish history in general or the Holocaust in particular should read it. Suzanne Toren’s careful narration does it justice.

Dawidowicz makes her case a thousand times over, from a factual point of view. If there is a flaw in the book, it is that the analytic structure she has chosen to some extent lessens the dramatic impact. The book is divided into three parts. The first describes the Nazi atrocities. The second describes the Jewish resistance — and if you’ve bought into the idea that the Jews did not resist, you especially need to hear this section. The third part gives a systematic country-by-country catalogue of crimes against the Jews. The structure allows her to treat each topic with clarity and thoroughness, but it makes it difficult to listen to emotionally, because in essence you have to read the appalling story from the beginning three times.

Still, of all the books on the subject I’ve read, this gives the starkest and most brutal (and most persuasive) account of what happened to the Jews of Europe during that 6 year period.

Chilling

The details of how the madness of Adolf Hitler and his insane hatred turned into a world war blew me away.

The consequences of antisemitism in Europe.

This book is a thorough, scholarly study of the antisemitism in Europe that led to the Holocaust. It is a must read for anyone interested in learning the sequence of events, some policies beginning decades before the "Final Solution of the Jewish Problem" began under the Third Reich. While this is the most comprehensive account of the when and how of these events, I don't think I will ever understand the why. We must never forget.