Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2008
576 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
The Allies stood by and watched Nazi Germany imprison and then murder six million Jews during World War II. How could the unthinkable have been allowed to happen? Theodore Hamerow reveals in the pages of this compelling book that each Western nation had its own version of the Jewish Question—its own type of anti-Semitism—which may not have been as virulent as in Eastern Europe but was disastrously crippling nonetheless. If just one country had opened its doors to Germany's already persecuted Jews in the 1930s, and if the Allies had attempted even one bombing of an extermination camp, the Holocaust would have been markedly different. Instead, by sitting on their hands, the West let Hitler solve their Jewish Question by eliminating European Jewry. 30 illustrations.
"Starred Review. Hamerow's important book is more than history: it is an indictment and an essential cautionary tale about how easily bigotry combined with complacency facilitates evil." - Publishers Weekly.
"Israeli scholar Shlomo Aronson's Hitler, the Allies and the Jews explores similar themes, but Hamerow's study is far more lucid and provocative and deserves a wider audience." - Library Journal.
"An important contribution to the scholarly literature about one of the seminal events in European history." - Kirkus Reviews.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Theodore S. Hamerow, professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is among the most distinguished historians of his generation. He is the author of several prize-winning books, the most recent being On the Road to the Wolf's Lair. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
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