Ashes in the Wind: The Destruction of Dutch Jewry [Paperback]

J. Presser (Author), Jacob Press (Author), Arnold J. Pomerans (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0814320376 | ISBN-13: 978-0814320372 | Publication Date: November 1988

Setting out the processes that allowed the Nazis to perpetuate mass murder, this detailed history documents the destruction of Dutch Jewry, from isolation to deportation and, ultimately, extermination. Focusing on a country often forgotten in Holocaust histories, this comprehensive account describes how 110,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands to concentration camps in 1940 but less than 6,000 returned at the end of the war. Utilizing 15 years of research and documents from the Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation, the incremental demands on Jewish citizens are analyzed—starting with forced registry and ending with death at concentration camps—while demonstrating how this slow progression led the Germans involved to accept these atrocities. Graphically recounting stories of persecution, going into hiding, and life in the transit camps, it conveys the despair experienced as families and lives were destroyed, while showing how these stories fit into a wider, global picture. This newly updated version also provides additional information on Dr. Presser himself and how he wrote this book.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Dutch (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Dr. Jacob Presser was forced to live in hiding from 1943 to 1945 to escape the Nazi occupation during the Netherlands. After the war, he was a professor of modern history at the University of Amsterdam.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 572 pages
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press (November 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814320376
• ISBN-13: 978-0814320372
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,315,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A riveting first-hand account of the tragedy of 1940-1945, March 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ashes in the Wind: The Destruction of Dutch Jewry (Paperback)

The author, a school-teacher in pre-war Holland, describes the events that befell the Jewish community in the Netherlands following the German invasion in 1940 -- from the first, seemingly harmless bureaucratic steps of registering the population according to religion, right through to the banal industrial efficiency of the deportation and incineration of 100,000 human beings into smoke and ashes in the death camps of Poland.

This book will dispel any illusions you might have that the Anne Frank experience was at all typical of the fate of most Dutch Jews. The book makes clear that everyone involved in this sordid story tried to act in what were their own selfish interests -- from the German soldier who was "only obeying orders", the Jewish communal functionaries who "tried not to make trouble", the non-Jewish population who out of fear for their own lives did very little to intervene, to the average man and woman in the street who desperately tried any means to wriggle their way out of the trap.

The book is well-written, thoroughly researched, and accurate. The lesson to be learned is how easily the bourgeois stability of a Westernized, democratic, tolerant, peace-loving country like the Netherlands, could be transformed almost overnight into an unbelieveable hell-hole.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent First Hand Account, December 24, 2011

By 

Idonnoyou "momuv8im" (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Ashes in the Wind: The Destruction of Dutch Jewry (Paperback)

One of the best books I could find on the subject. At times it becomes difficult to follow and I think that is a result of having been translated from Dutch. Eye-opening, riveting, and if one is of Dutch descent it gives a lot to think about. Since my parents and other relatives come from the Hague and Nunspeet, it is not clear to me what their involvement or attitudes may have been during the war. However, the author makes an excellent case that all Dutch people living in Amsterdamn had to have been aware of what was happening and that all were at best passive observers.