Encyclopedia of the Holocaust [Hardcover]

Robert Rozett (Author, Editor), Shmuel Spector (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2009

The teaching of the history of the Holocaust is mandatory in many states in the U.S. as part of the secondary school curriculum. ''Encyclopedia of the Holocaust'' is a comprehensive, authoritative one-volume resource that provides reliable, non-sensational information on this heinous and frightening period of recent history. Teachers will find it an invaluable instructional tool to help students confront, understand, and never forget the people lost, the lives forever torn apart, and the events that gave rise to the persecution. Yad Vashem, created by the Israeli Parliament in 1953 as the premier memorial for the Jewish people, contains the world's single largest repository of information on the Holocaust; its name is synonymous with the most extensive collection of published and unpublished documents on this subject in existence in one place. Written in association with Yad Vashem, this encyclopedia features eight essays on the Holocaust on such topics as the history of European Jewry, Jewish achievements and contributions to European culture, and the rise of anti-Semitism. The essays are followed by more than 650 entries on the major subjects of the Holocaust, including people, cities and countries, camps, resistance movements, political actions, and outcomes. More than 300 black-and-white photographs - many never before published in one resource - bear witness to the horrors of the Nazi regime and attest to the invincibility of the human spirit. This book covers people such as: Irena Adamowicz, David Ben-Gurion, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Jacob Edelstein, Adolf Eichmann, Dwight David Eisenhower, Anne Frank, Joseph Goebbels, Herman Goring, Rudolf Hess, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler, Cordell Hull, Josef Mengele, Benito Mussolini, Pope Pius XII, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Oskar Schindler, Joseph Stalin, Raoul Wallenberg, Elie Wiesel, Simon Wiesenthal, and Kurt Waldheim. It covers nations such as Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, and Yugoslavia. It covers cities such as Antwerp, Berlin, Brussels, Luxembourg, Munich, Minsk, Nuremberg, Odessa, Paris, Prague, and Warsaw. It covers camps such as: Auschwitz, Belzec, Bergen-Belsen, Blechhammer, Buchenwald, Dachau, Gross-Rosen, Pawiak Prison, Plaszow, Ravensbruck, Sachsenhausen, Sobibor, Skarzysko-Kamienna, Strasshof, Stutthof, and Treblinka. Events: The Anschluss, Anti-Nazi Boycotts, the Barbie Trial, the Bermuda Conference, Death Marches, the Eichmann Trial, Slovak National Uprising, and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It also covers organizations such as: American Jewish Conference, Christian Churches, Council for German Jewry, Deutsche Ausrustungswerke, French Police, the Gestapo, Hungarian Gendarmerie, Institut d'Etudes des Questions Juives, Iron Guard, Office of Special Investigations, Red Cross International, Relief Committee for the War-stricken Jewish Population, United Nations War Crimes Commission, War Refugee Board, the Wehrmacht, and World Jewish Congress and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Combining essays (ranging in length from 4 to more than 15 pages) with encyclopedia entries, this reference work offers student and adult researchers a comprehensive look at the Holocaust. The eight essays, covering a variety of Holocaust-related topics, were all written by scholars associated with Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Israel. Covering topics such as different aspects of European Jewry, the Nazi rise to power, the Allies, and the aftermath of the Holocaust, the essays are written in a very readable style. Unfortunately, the dense text and few photographs make them appear otherwise. Words in capital letters indicate entries in the encyclopedia portion of the volume.

The encyclopedia contains more than 650 alphabetical entries covering famous, infamous, and unfamiliar people; places, such as countries and concentration camps; events, including death marches and Kristallnacht; and concepts, such as Art of the Holocaust , Aryanization , and Final Solution . The entries vary in length from one paragraph to several pages and, like the essays, are readable for students. Captioned black-and-white photographs, totaling more than 300, appear on many of the pages. Most are of people, but some illustrate documents and places. Words and phrases within the text, printed in capital letters, indicate other entries in the encyclopedia.

The volume includes a day-by-day chronology from 1933 to 1945, a bibliography arranged by subject, and an index. The bibliography contains mainly adult titles, many of which will not be accessible for younger high-school students who could be using the volume. Bolface numbers in the index denote encyclopedia entries.

The contributing scholars have managed to make the information accessible to many age groups. This volume is written in a style that will make it useful for high-school students looking for information on various aspects of the Holocaust, and even the adult researcher will find in-depth nformation on most Holocaust topics. Larger libraries should have both this title and the more detailed and comprehensive Encyclopedia of the Holocaust published by Macmillan in 1990, but smaller libraries may find the title under review sufficient for their needs. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

An ideal reference work. It will be invaluable for students or general readers who want accurate, unbiased information, or merely an insight into this important subject. --Reference Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Lambda Publishers, Inc.; illustrated edition edition (January 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816043337
• ISBN-13: 978-0816043330
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,395,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed, September 27, 2003

By 

Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (Hardcover)

The description of this book should turn you off right away. 'nonsensational material' is how the book bills itself. What does this mean? That the death of 7 million people, the attempt to exterminate a people(whose only crime was that they didnt meet psuedo-scientific racial criteria) is not sensational! What an awful way to begin.

Next this volume is weaker then the Laqueur 'Encyclopedia of the holocaust' which is a much more authoritative volume that includes tomes more information, has more pcitures and more maps and is sensational in that it doesnt dumb down the TRUTH.

This encyclopedia continues the virulent anti-semitism that tries to convince us that the 'Jews' were a 'people apart'. How can this be when we all know Jews held top jobs in the governments, businesses, colleges and medical insistutions in both Poland and Germany. The attempt to blame the holocaust on the Jews by showing us the object of the 'wondering Jew' is something that seems to seap through the introductory passages of this book.

Stating that teaching the holocaust is mandatory in most schools and that hsi book will be helpfull is a nice and noble goal. But it doesnt seem to be a valid reason for creating a compendium of holocaust material. Shouldnt we have an encyclopedia of the holocaust not just because kids are 'required' to learn about it?

This volume does not include the variety of contributors(although they convinced Yad Vashem to contribute) nor the plethora of maps and pictures that other similar works include. This reference is not academic, but maybe thats to its credit since it pitches itself to 'secondary school' where it is 'required' to learn the holocaust.