The Holocaust Encyclopedia [Hardcover]

Judith Tydor Baumel (Author), Walter Laqueur (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

The Holocaust has been the subject of countless books, works of art, and memorials. Fiftyfive years after the fact the world still ponders the enormity of this disaster. The Holocaust Encylopedia is the only comprehensive single-volume work of reference providing both a reflective overview of the subject and abundant detail concerning major events, policy, decisions, cities, and individuals, Up-to-date and designed for easy access, the encyclopedia presents information on the major aspects of the Holocaust in essays by scholars from eleven countries who draw on a number of sources - including recently uncovered evidence from the former Soviet bloc - to provide in-depth studies on the political, social, religious, and moral issues of the Holocaust as well as short entries identifying events, sites, and individuals. The book also has more than 250 photographs, many of them rare, and 19 maps. The volume includes: Raul Hilberg on concentration camps and Gypsies; Ruth Bondy, Israel Gutman, and Dina Porat on major ghettoes; Roger Greenspun on the Holocaust in cinema and television; Richard Breitman on American policy; Michael Berenbaum on theological and philosophical responses; Saul Friedlander on Nazi policy; Michael Hagemeister on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion; Michael R. Marrus on historiography; Christopher R. Browning on the Madagascar Plan; Robert S. Wistrich on Holocaust denial; James E. Young on Holocaust literature;

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although most libraries now contain many shelves of books describing various aspects of the Holocaust, comprehensive one-volume histories or reference books on the subject are rare. Thus, The Holocaust Encyclopedia, edited by Walter Lacquer (a modern European historian who has taught at Harvard, Brandeis, and Tel Aviv University, among others), fills an important gap in existing Holocaust literature. His book gathers accessible articles by many of the world's leading Holocaust scholars on the full range of people and places involved, from Adolph Hitler and Gypsies to Russia and the Soviet Union. The articles are complemented by a comprehensive chronology and an excellent bibliographical essay, and by almost 300 illustrations, including maps and photographs. The photographs, by Adam Kaczkowski, are particularly well chosen and designed. Photography's importance in the act of Holocaust remembrance is poignantly understated by Roger Greenspun in his entry on "Cinema and Television," in which he writes, "This was the first great human catastrophe to have so many pictures taken of it." The Holocaust Encyclopedia will become the first stop in the library for high school students wishing to learn about the Holocaust. It will also provide college students and adults with a reliable, authoritative, big-picture perspective on aspects of a genocide that, no matter how fully it is known, will never fully be understood. -- Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

The last two decades of the 20th century witnessed a veritable explosion of Holocaust scholarship. We have endowed university chairs devoted to Holocaust studies, and museums and monuments to the Shoah bloom. Yet the public at large is no closer to an understanding of those momentous events today than we were two generations ago. Now comes a book that can at least partly remedy that situation. Editor Laqueur, a notable Holocaust historian (Generation Exodus, Forecasts, Feb. 19), has done a masterful job of bringing together more than 100 contributors from nearly a dozen countries, including such leading scholars in their fields as James Young, Stanley Payne, Michael R. Marrus, Raul Hilberg, Israel Gutman, Saul Friendl„nder, David Cesarani, Daniel Carpi and Christopher Browning. The result is a comprehensive one is tempted to say exhaustive, but the subject can never be exhausted volume. Of particular value are a 17-page chronology of events; the bibliographical essay by Robert Rozett, director of the Yad Vashem Library in Jerusalem; and Adam Kaczkowski's haunting and powerful photographs. These are joined by approximately 250 illustrations that cover all aspects of the Nazi extermination program but also offer intimate portraits of the culture of Jewish life in Nazi-occupied Europe. Entries range in length from a few sentences to a dozen pages on Hitler, anti-Semitism and Auschwitz. Laqueur asks, "Is it possible now, more than fifty years after the Holocaust, to write about it with authority?" The encyclopedia itself is authoritative, and Laqueur argues that "it is most unlikely... that any future revelations will necessitate a radical revision of the present picture." Finally, Laqueur is eloquent and humble in acknowledging the epistemological shortcomings of this (or any) work on the subject: "Documents cannot possibly tell the full story; they do not smell, they do not starve or freeze, they are not afraid." But this is no ordinary reference work; in it we can indeed see and even smell the horrors of the Final Solution, and yes, we are afraid. (Apr. 19)Forecast: There will undoubtedly be much media attention paid to this momentous book, aided by its publication on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 816 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300084323
• ISBN-13: 978-0300084320
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loaded with useful and educational information, April 4, 2004

By 

R.J. Corby (Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Holocaust Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

This book is a must for World War II aficionados and scholars alike. It certainly is worthy of the title "encyclopedia," as it contains just about every known figure on both sides of the Holocaust. I highly recommend getting the book, no matter your expertise level. It's a great teaching tool for beginners who want to learn the ABCs of what happend and why, and it's a great reference book for scholars who want to learn intimate, small and minute details about one of the worst tragedies mankind has ever known. Well worth the money.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive & Authoritative Study On Genocide., September 22, 2003

By 

M. D Roberts (Gwent, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Holocaust Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

This is an invaluable source of reference for those interested in studying the Holocaust. It is superbly presented and extremely well written, consisting of over 800 pages & containing some 276 photographs (some previously unpublished) together with19 maps plus a full index and reference section.

The study declares that anti-Semitism (hatred of the Jews) was a central issue to the intended physical extermination/genocide of the Jews and it is the central topic of this book.

This comprehensive, authoritative one-volume reference provides reliable information on this ignoble and frightening episode of modern history covering an immense number of issues pertaining to the Holocaust, all of which are presented alphabetically for ease of access and reference. Historical essays are also written for each country with a sizable Jewish community.

Such issues addressed are "Holocaust denial", "the Protocols of the Elders of Zion", "Kristallnacht", "Gypsies", "Nazi policy", "British policy" & "medical experimentation" in what is one of the most readable histories of the Holocaust available. My only criticism of this book is that I would have liked more coverage of the Nazi individuals behind the atrocities and horrors so commendably documented here. Although some are included, many are not.

Having said that I would encourage all interested parties to acquire this book if at all possible. As stated, one of the subjects covered is "Holocaust denial" and as survivors become fewer and fewer, possession of such a priceless reference cannot be understated. Thank you.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not sure how helpful this is but its packed full o' info., September 27, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: The Holocaust Encyclopedia (Hardcover)

Its about time a Holocaust Encyclopedia appeared on the shelves. This wonderful volume includes refferences to everything you could ever possibly want to know about the holocaust. This 800 page volume contains many useful maps and pictures which will be helpful. Coverage is well done. Their is some question as to the accuracy of the entry detailing the rvolt at Auschwitz as various sources("Anatomy of a death Camp') have put the number of Germans killed at 4 or 5 while 'Doctors Eyewitness account' put the numbers at as many as 100. Clearly something is missing. THe SS kept such extensive records of the numbers of Jews they killed one would think that someone could unearth the number of SS killed/hospitalized after the crematorium revolt.

Nonetheless this large piece of information will be helpful for reference. As a general rule Encyclopedias are pretty much useless outside of research as they appear to be usefull but the reader will gnerally get no happy times or enjoyment out of reading them. I recommend Martin Gilberts 'The Holocaust' as the best and most accesible account of the terrible event.

Far superior to the Rozett 'Encyclopedia of the Holocaust' which is smaller and not as authoritative.