Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Editors and Advisers
- Contents
- Polin
- Dedication
- Statement From the Editors
- JEWS IN WARSAW
- ARTICLES
- DOCUMENT
- COMMENTARY
- EXCHANGE
- REPORTS
- REVIEW ESSAYS
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Paul Wexler, Explorations in Judeo-Slavic Linguistics by A. de Vincenz
- Adam Zamoyski, The Polish Way: A Thousand-year History of the Poles and their Culture by Michael Hurst
- Michael Brocke, (ed.) Beter und Rebellen. Aus 1000 Jahren Judentum in Polen by Heinz-Dietrich Lowe
- Stefi Jersch-Wenzel, (ed.) Deutsche Polen Juden. lhre Beziehungen von den Anfiingen bis ins 20. Jaharhundert. Beitriige zu einer Tagung by Heinz-Dietrich Lowe
- Jerzy Kloczowski, et al. Histoire religeuse de la Pologne by Robert M. Kingdon
- Jacob Litman, The Economic Role of Jews in Medieval Poland by Jakub Basista
- Isaac Lewin, The Jewish Community in Poland by Jakub Basista
- Arnold Eisen, Galut. Modern Jewish Reflection on Homelessness and Homecoming by Harvey E. Goldberg
- Calvin Goldschider and Alan S. Zuckerman, The Transformation of the Jews by Harvey E. Goldberg
- Jewish-Polish Coexistence, 1772-1939. A Topical Bibliography compiled by G.]. Lerski and H. T Lerski by Tomasz Gąsowski
- M.A. Ouaknin, Le livre brule - Lire le Talmud by Daniel Tollet
- Daniel Beauvais, Polacy na Ukrainie 1831-1863. Szlachta polska na Wolyniu, Podolu i Kijowszci:.yznie by L. R. Lewitter
- John Doyle Klier, Russia Gathers Her Jews. The Origins of the ‘Jewish Question’ in Russia, 1772-1825 by Eli Lederhendler
- Jacob Katz, by David Sorkin (ed.) Toward Modernity: The European Jewish Model
- Shlomo Avineri, Moses Hess: Prophet of Communism and, Zionism by M. Mishkinsky
- Paul W. Massing, Vorgeschichte des politischen Antisemitismus by Peter Pulzer
- Martin Pollack, Nach Galizien. Von Chassiden, Huzulen, Polen unri Ruthenen by A. de Vincenz
- Robert S. Wistrich, Socialism and the Jews. The Dilemmas of Assimilation in Germany and Austria-Hungary by Jerzy Holzer
- Elzbieta Ettinger, Rosa Luxemburg. A Life by Mark Almond
- Stephen Birmingham, The Rest of Us. The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews by Ewa Morawska
- Miroslav Hroch, Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. A Comparative Ana(ysis of the Social Composition of Patriotic Groups among the Smaller European Nations by Michael Hurst
- Wolodymyr Kubijovyč, Etnichni hrupy pivdennozakhidnoi Ukrainy (Ha(ychyny) na l.l.1939. Natsionalna statystyka Ha(ychyny by Jerzy Tomaszewski
- Howard Aster and Peter J. Potichnyj, Jewish Ukrainian Relations: Two Solitudes by Michael Hurst
- Edward Prus, Wiadyka Swiftojurski: Rzecz of arcybiskupie Andrze.fu Szeptyckim (1865-1944) by Shimon Redlich
- Christopher R. Browning, Fateful Months. Essays on the Emergence of the Final Solution; Moshe Zimmerman Wilhelm Marr. The Patriarch of Anti-semitism by A. J. Nicholls
- ‘Historikerstreit’. Die Dokumentation der Kontroverse um die Einzigartigkeit der national sozialistischen Judenvernichtung by Peter Pulzer
- John F. Sweets, Choices in Vichy France. The French Under Nazi Occupation by N. J. Atkin
- Janina Bauman, Winter in the Morning. A Young Girl's Life in the Warsaw Ghetto and Beyond, 1939-1945 by Wtadyslaw Bartoszewski
- Joža Karas, Music in Terezin 1941-1945 by Marian FuksJoza Karas Music in Terezin 1941-1945 by Marian Fuks
- John Coutouvidis and Jaime Reynolds, Poland, 1939-1947 by Józef Garliński
- Irena Grudzinska-Gross and Jan Tomasz Gross, (ed.) War Through Children's Eyes. The Soviet Occupation of Poland and the Deportations by Mark Almond
- Richard I. Cohen, The Burden of Conscience. French Jewry 's Response to the Holocaust by N. J. Atkin
- Irena Hurwic-Nowakowska, A Social Ana(ysis of Postwar Polish Jewry by Zygmunt Bauman
- Alexander Scheiber, Essays on Jewish Folklore and Comparative Literature by Raphael Patai
- Maria Brzezina, Polszczyzna Źydów by A. de Vincenz
- LEITER TO THE EDITORS
- CONTRIBUTORS
- OBITUARIES
Christopher R. Browning, Fateful Months. Essays on the Emergence of the Final Solution; Moshe Zimmerman Wilhelm Marr. The Patriarch of Anti-semitism by A. J. Nicholls
from BOOK REVIEWS
- Frontmatter
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Editors and Advisers
- Contents
- Polin
- Dedication
- Statement From the Editors
- JEWS IN WARSAW
- ARTICLES
- DOCUMENT
- COMMENTARY
- EXCHANGE
- REPORTS
- REVIEW ESSAYS
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Paul Wexler, Explorations in Judeo-Slavic Linguistics by A. de Vincenz
- Adam Zamoyski, The Polish Way: A Thousand-year History of the Poles and their Culture by Michael Hurst
- Michael Brocke, (ed.) Beter und Rebellen. Aus 1000 Jahren Judentum in Polen by Heinz-Dietrich Lowe
- Stefi Jersch-Wenzel, (ed.) Deutsche Polen Juden. lhre Beziehungen von den Anfiingen bis ins 20. Jaharhundert. Beitriige zu einer Tagung by Heinz-Dietrich Lowe
- Jerzy Kloczowski, et al. Histoire religeuse de la Pologne by Robert M. Kingdon
- Jacob Litman, The Economic Role of Jews in Medieval Poland by Jakub Basista
- Isaac Lewin, The Jewish Community in Poland by Jakub Basista
- Arnold Eisen, Galut. Modern Jewish Reflection on Homelessness and Homecoming by Harvey E. Goldberg
- Calvin Goldschider and Alan S. Zuckerman, The Transformation of the Jews by Harvey E. Goldberg
- Jewish-Polish Coexistence, 1772-1939. A Topical Bibliography compiled by G.]. Lerski and H. T Lerski by Tomasz Gąsowski
- M.A. Ouaknin, Le livre brule - Lire le Talmud by Daniel Tollet
- Daniel Beauvais, Polacy na Ukrainie 1831-1863. Szlachta polska na Wolyniu, Podolu i Kijowszci:.yznie by L. R. Lewitter
- John Doyle Klier, Russia Gathers Her Jews. The Origins of the ‘Jewish Question’ in Russia, 1772-1825 by Eli Lederhendler
- Jacob Katz, by David Sorkin (ed.) Toward Modernity: The European Jewish Model
- Shlomo Avineri, Moses Hess: Prophet of Communism and, Zionism by M. Mishkinsky
- Paul W. Massing, Vorgeschichte des politischen Antisemitismus by Peter Pulzer
- Martin Pollack, Nach Galizien. Von Chassiden, Huzulen, Polen unri Ruthenen by A. de Vincenz
- Robert S. Wistrich, Socialism and the Jews. The Dilemmas of Assimilation in Germany and Austria-Hungary by Jerzy Holzer
- Elzbieta Ettinger, Rosa Luxemburg. A Life by Mark Almond
- Stephen Birmingham, The Rest of Us. The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews by Ewa Morawska
- Miroslav Hroch, Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. A Comparative Ana(ysis of the Social Composition of Patriotic Groups among the Smaller European Nations by Michael Hurst
- Wolodymyr Kubijovyč, Etnichni hrupy pivdennozakhidnoi Ukrainy (Ha(ychyny) na l.l.1939. Natsionalna statystyka Ha(ychyny by Jerzy Tomaszewski
- Howard Aster and Peter J. Potichnyj, Jewish Ukrainian Relations: Two Solitudes by Michael Hurst
- Edward Prus, Wiadyka Swiftojurski: Rzecz of arcybiskupie Andrze.fu Szeptyckim (1865-1944) by Shimon Redlich
- Christopher R. Browning, Fateful Months. Essays on the Emergence of the Final Solution; Moshe Zimmerman Wilhelm Marr. The Patriarch of Anti-semitism by A. J. Nicholls
- ‘Historikerstreit’. Die Dokumentation der Kontroverse um die Einzigartigkeit der national sozialistischen Judenvernichtung by Peter Pulzer
- John F. Sweets, Choices in Vichy France. The French Under Nazi Occupation by N. J. Atkin
- Janina Bauman, Winter in the Morning. A Young Girl's Life in the Warsaw Ghetto and Beyond, 1939-1945 by Wtadyslaw Bartoszewski
- Joža Karas, Music in Terezin 1941-1945 by Marian FuksJoza Karas Music in Terezin 1941-1945 by Marian Fuks
- John Coutouvidis and Jaime Reynolds, Poland, 1939-1947 by Józef Garliński
- Irena Grudzinska-Gross and Jan Tomasz Gross, (ed.) War Through Children's Eyes. The Soviet Occupation of Poland and the Deportations by Mark Almond
- Richard I. Cohen, The Burden of Conscience. French Jewry 's Response to the Holocaust by N. J. Atkin
- Irena Hurwic-Nowakowska, A Social Ana(ysis of Postwar Polish Jewry by Zygmunt Bauman
- Alexander Scheiber, Essays on Jewish Folklore and Comparative Literature by Raphael Patai
- Maria Brzezina, Polszczyzna Źydów by A. de Vincenz
- LEITER TO THE EDITORS
- CONTRIBUTORS
- OBITUARIES
Summary
Despite the immense amount of research which has taken place into the mass murder of European Jews during the Second World War, there are still areas of controversy surrounding the subject, particularly so far as the motivation of the murderers is concerned. Leaving aside the preposterous notion that Hitler himself was ignorant of the ‘final solution’, there has been serious debate as to the exact timing of the decision to commence genocidal operations, and the reasons which lay behind such measures. In particular, it has been argued by those who tend towards an institutional rather than an ideologically-based explanation that it was Hitler's first setback against the Red Army which scotched any hope of ‘resettling’ Jews in the Russian steppes and therefore left the Nazis with only one possibility-mass extermination. To be fair to the authors of this interpretation they have not advanced it as an excuse for genocide, but usually as an antidote to simplistic versions of Third Reich history in which Nazi crimes are blamed on a small number of hate-crazed fanatics whilst everybody else obeyed orders without really knowing what was going on.
Christopher Browning is certainly not likely to fall into that error. As he himself puts it: ‘ … one fact is undisputable: Hitler alone did not murder the European Jews’.
He does, however, argue very persuasively that the crucial decision to establish mass extermination camps must have been taken in the summer of 1941 - that is at a time when Hitler expected rapid victory in the East.
Painstakingly surveying the evidence available, Browning points out that already in the autumn of 1941 Nazi ‘experts’ were looking around in Poland for suitable sites in which to erect death camps. These men were specialists in mass killing who had gained experience in the euthanasia programme designed to murder mentally handicapped Germans, a programme directly controlled from Hitler's Chancellery. From the chronology convincingly built up by Browning it appears that Hitler must have given orders to Himmler and Heydrich in late July 1941 and that they passed these on to Eichmann and Hoss the following month. By October the ‘experts’ were already at work preparing the Chłmno and Bełżec camps for their nefarious activities. Hence the notorious Wannsee Conference in January 1942 was as much a bureaucratic tidying-up operation as a meeting to initiate policy.
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- The Jews of Warsaw , pp. 416 - 421Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2004