The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In a memorable exchange some years back, Gore Vidal accused Norman Podhoretz, then-editor of the American Jewish Committee publication Commentary, of being un-American..." (more)
Key Phrases: compensation monies, looted assets, dormant accounts, New York, United States, American Jewish (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A lucid, provocative and passionate book. -- New Statesman

Breathtaking in [its] angry accuracy and irony. -- The Jewish Quarterly

Finkelstein's downright pugilistic book delivers a wallop. -- LA Weekly

His basic argument that memories of the Holocaust are being debased is serious and should be given its due. -- The Economist

The most controversial book of the year. -- The Guardian

When it comes to analyzing how 'The Holocaust' has been employed to advance political interests, Finkelstein is at his best. -- The Nation

[S]cathing in his denunciation of the institutions and individuals who have cropped up around the issue of reparations. -- New York Press

Product Description

This iconoclastic study was one of the most widely debated books of 2000. Finkelstein indicts with both vigor and honesty those who exploit the tragedy of the Holocaust for their own personal political and financial gain. This new edition includes updated material discussing the initial reception to the book's publication.

In an iconoclastic and controversial new study, Norman G. Finkelstein moves from an interrogation of the place the Holocaust has come to occupy in American culture to a disturbing examination of recent Holocaust compensation agreements. It was not until the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, when Israel's evident strength brought it into line with US foreign policy, that memory of the Holocaust began to acquire the exceptional prominence it enjoys today. Leaders of America's Jewish community were delighted that Israel was now deemed a major strategic asset and, Finkelstein contends, exploited the Holocaust to enhance this newfound status. Their subsequent interpretations of the tragedy are often at variance with actual historical events and are employed to deflect any criticism of Israel and its supporters. Recalling Holocaust fraudsters such as Jerzy Kosinski and Binjamin Wilkomirski, as well as the demagogic constructions of writers like Daniel Goldhagen, Finkelstein contends that the main danger posed to the memory of Nazism's victims comes not from the distortions of Holocaust deniers but from prominent, self-proclaimed guardians of Holocaust memory. Drawing on a wealth of untapped sources, he exposes the double shakedown of European countries as well as legitimate Jewish claimants, and concludes that the Holocaust industry has become an outright extortion racket. Thoroughly researched and closely argued, The Holocaust Industry is all the more disturbing and powerful because the issues it deals with are so rarely discussed.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Verso (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859843239
• ISBN-13: 978-1859843239
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #796,034 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

555 of 610 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Criticism is not prejudice, October 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (Hardcover)

I am an American Jew, and no, I don't "hate myself" or hate my ethnic heritage. I am proud of my Jewish heritage. I feel all Jews should read this book and give serious thought to it. Contary to what his critics say, Finkelstein does not deny and never has denied that European Jews suffered one of the most terrible atrocities in human history under the Nazi holocaust. (He does, however, argue persuasively that Jews are not the only people in history to have suffered genocide. This is NOT the same as holocaust denial.) What Finkelstein argues, and the critics of this book refuse to consider, is that many Jews unfortunately feel that this tremendous suffering confers upon them some kind of moral blank-check for whatever political or financial purposes they see fit--kicking Palestinians out of their homes, for example. It is a controversial statement in the current political climate, but Finkelstein presents a tight, devastating argument in favor of it, and all morally serious people should at least evaluate the argument in terms of facts and logic, rather than dismissing it off-hand with ad hominem attacks against the author. (I am not suggesting, by the way, that ad hominem attacks are never admissable in the course of argument--Finkelstein loves to pepper his argument with stinging, and often quite comic, insults to his opponents. However, Finkelstein realizes that these attacks must be an addition to, not a substitute for, reasoned argument. His opponents, in turn, don't seem to care much for reasoned argument at all, and prefer instead to employ ad hominem attacks exclusively.)

It is sad, though I suppose inevitable, that some anti-Semitic elements have latched on to this book as providing "support" for their prejudice. What is even more sad, however, is that many Jews somehow seem to think that this fact alone is enough to condemn the book. If some racist bigot latched on to a tightly-argued, well-reasoned book criticizing, say, Al Sharpton or Louis Farrakhan, and used this book to justify their prejudice towards African-Americans, would that fact in and of itself negate the conclusions of the book? Criticism is not the same thing as prejudice or hatred, even if that criticism is exploited by the purveyors of prejudice and hatred. Unfortunately, those who dismiss this book just can't seem to grasp this elementary distinction.

305 of 337 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Holocaust Industry, August 11, 2000

By	Reno de Caro "renodecaro" (Boulder Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (Hardcover)

The thrust of Professor Finkelstein's unsettling book is that powerful interests (Israel and Jewish organizations in America) have hijacked what has become known as the holocaust. And while Israel has exploited the holocaust as a weapon to deflect criticism, regardless how justified, American Jewish organizations have used the plight of supposedly needy survivors to extort staggering sums of money from the rest of the world. This was done not for the benefit of survivors, but for the financial advantage of these organizations.

There are no conclusions reached in Professor Finkelstein's book that a careful reader of daily newspapers could not have reached, assuming the reader could read between the lines and base his judgment on evidence and common sense rather than the politically correct slant of the media reporting.

Finkelstein has infuriated his critics not by ranting or raving or misrepresenting the evidence, as they have accused him, but by painstakingly supporting his arguments with irrefutable documentation. The first line of defense of the mass media in America, one of the holocaust industry's most effective and compliant tools (second only to the Clinton administration), was to pretend Finkelstein's book did not exist. Once this tactic became ineffective due to an outpouring of Internet exposure, the mass media launched scathing attacks on the author and his book. Read the New York Times book review for one such "hit piece" and compare that review with your own reading of the book. Naturally, reading the book is something the review is designed to discourage.

A zealous supporter of the holocaust industry, Professor Zweig from Tel Aviv, posted a negative "one star" review of Dr. Finkelstein's book on Amazon.com before the book was even available to the American public (July 19). This was no doubt a preemptive Internet strike to discourage potential readers without giving the book the publicity even a negative not-.com media review would have had. After Finkelstein was invited for a radio interview in the U.S., the holocaust industry enlisted Professor Zweig, who they doubtless consider a "heavy hitter," to join Finkelstein on the air and put the heretic in his place. An alternative explanation would be that Professor Zweig was given an opportunity to do penance and rehabilitate himself by debunking Finkelstein on the airwaves after it was discovered that the latter had cited information in Zweig's own book which blackens the holocaust industry.

In the ensuing debate, the best Zweig could do was claim that Finkelstein had taken statements made in his book out of context. This is the standard damage control employed by any public figure who said or wrote something he subsequently discovered was not in his best interest.

The bottom line of Finkelstein's book is that it says what was very long overdue to be said. But few academics have the courage or intellectual fortitude to weather the defamation campaign that will predictably descend on anyone who challenges this multi-billion dollar industry. Historically speaking, it has seldom been the politically correct Professor Zweigs of a given time that brought us closer to the truth, but the defiant and much-maligned "heretics" such as Norman Finkelstein.

I recommend the advice Nietzsche gave his readers 130 years ago: "If you want to know something about a book or its author, read what HE wrote rather than what his critics or enemies say about him." In addition to reading the book, I highly recommend listening to the radio debate between Professor Finkelstein and Professor Zweig, the holocaust industry's first choice to represent their side in the controversy. From the debate it becomes clear that Professor Finkelstein is extremely comfortable when dealing with the charges leveled against him by his detractors. He refutes them calmly and convincingly. No wonder the spokespersons for the holocaust industry prefer writing unopposed "hit pieces" like the New York Times review over challenging Professor Finkelstein directly...

93 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A reasonable approach, July 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (Hardcover)

Mr Finkelstein's basic point is that there are certain groups in the state of Israel and the World Jewish Community who use the Holocaust as a means of protecting themselves from any kind of criticism whatsoever: As soon as anyone would question what they are doing, they would point the finger to the Holocaust as a justification for it. At first, I was not really sure what to make of this idea. Should I condemn it, as it could be a try to end Holocaust commemorance? Or should I read on and see what it was about? I decided to do the latter, and I have not regretted it.

Norman Finkelstein does not object to remembering the Holocaust. His parents were sent to a concentration camp by the Nazis - why should he want to forget what they had gone through? What Mr Finkelstein does object to, is the exploitation of their suffering, and all the other victim's suffering, by a Holocaust Industry that has hardly a connection to them. It would be a mistake to try to summarize his arguments in this short review, as this would only lead to generalizations and misunderstandings. This book is neither an attack on Holocaust commemorance nor on the Jews and their religion. It is an attempt to take a reasonable approach to a topic that has been, up to now, often discussed in a much too emotional way.