Jews and Germans is the only book in English to describe the history and challenges of the German-Jewish relationship from before the Holocaust through today. Were the Weimar Republic years (1918-33) truly reciprocal for Jews and Germans? In the aftermath of the Holocaust, how has that complex relationship evolved?
The Nazis' attempt to annihilate the Jewish people, the Holocaust, continues to raise a disturbing question. About six million defenseless men, women, and children were murdered for no reason but their ancestry. How could such terrible deeds happen in the heart of Christian Europe and among a nation known for its poets and thinkers, a people that had produced Schiller, Goethe, Bach, and Beethoven? That is the question Guenter Lewy seeks to answer in this book, by drawing on previously untapped material, including officers' diaries, letters written by soldiers, and the record of the trials of hundreds of Nazi perpetrators in German courts.
The first English language study of book censorship in Nazi Germany, this book describes the way in which various state and party organizations in Germany exerted control over the creation, publication, and distribution of books. By presenting the fate of authors and publishers, who came into conflict with the organs of censorship, it sheds light on intellectual life under the Nazi dictatorship.
The book explores the contentious issue of criminalizing genocide denial, urging readers to reconsider the implications of such laws. Guenter Lewy delves into the rationale behind these legal measures while highlighting the potential dangers of allowing governments to dictate historical narratives. By examining the balance between combating denial and protecting free speech, the author provides a nuanced discussion that neither condones genocide denial nor trivializes its consequences.
Thousands of documents from German and Austrian archives provide a horrifying picture of how Europe's nomadic Gypsies were ostracized, abused, and branded by the Nazis in the quest for racial purity. 20 halftones.
The book provides a critical examination of the moral decline in contemporary America, attributing this crisis to the effects of secular modernity. It emphasizes the importance of religiousness as a vital defense against prevalent social issues, arguing that a return to spiritual values could help counteract the challenges faced by society today.