The Holocaust and anti-semitism : the Goldhagen argument and its effects

In response to Daniel Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners, " contends that the Nazi genocide and the wartime brutalities perpetrated against Jews cannot be attributed to an innate German antisemitism. In pre-Nazi Germany, antisemitism was not greater than in other countries. Although Hitler was a paranoiac antisemite, it was not his antisemitism which brought him electoral success. It was not only Jews who were victims of the Nazis and it was not only Germans who tortured Jews. The brutal camp guards were specially trained; they were not common Germans. Hitler failed to infect all Germans with his hatred of Jews. Dwells on the Nazis' terror and deception system, which facilitated their control over the Germans; it was this system, not innate German antisemitism, which stifled popular resistance to the Nazi genocidal program. Includes bibliographical references (pages 101-104) and index. xv, 107 pages ; 22 cm