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The enactment of the German extermination policies that resulted in the murder of six million European Jews depended upon many factors, including the cooperation of local authorities and police departments, and the passivity of the populations, primarily of their political and spiritual elites. Necessary also was the victims' willingness to submit, often with the hope of surviving long enough to escape the German vise. The Years of Extermination, the completion of Saul Friedländer's major historical opus on Nazi Germany and the Jews, explores the convergence of the various aspects of this most systematic and sustained of modern genocides. In this unparalleled work--based on a vast array of documents and an overwhelming choir of voices from diaries, letters, and memoirs--the history of the Holocaust has found its definitive representation.… (more)
User reviews
At its core, this book is a compilation of hundreds of sources that chronicle the evolution of Nazi policies from 1939-1945. Sadly, while the author quotes from numerous diaries and journals, the individual experiences of many of the victims comprise but a small part of the narrative; far too small in my opinion. Instead, the text is loaded with literally hundreds of excerpts from Nazi speeches and policy papers, all variations on the underlying theme of, "We're going to kill all the Jews". As a result, the writing is dry to say the least.
This book has perhaps two hundred pages of end notes and source material, an indication of its scholarly weight. Again, if you're doing research or enjoy such writing, this is the book for you. I think it says something that the writer, on a topic as emotionally laden as the Holocaust, left this reader feeling nothing, whereas other books on the topic have left me in tears.
As for this book, it is exhaustively researched and very well written. For a 600+ page book, it was very easy to read, because it was so organized and quite simply, fascinating. Worth reading for anyone who is interested in World War II history.