Encyclopedia of the Holocaust

Rating:
Summary: Not impressed
Review: The description of this book should turn you off right away. 'nonsensational material' is how the book bills itself. What does this mean? That the death of 7 million people, the attempt to exterminate a people(whose only crime was that they didnt meet psuedo-scientific racial criteria) is not sensational! What an awful way to begin.

Next this volume is weaker then the Laqueur 'Encyclopedia of the holocaust' which is a much more authoritative volume that includes tomes more information, has more pcitures and more maps and is sensational in that it doesnt dumb down the TRUTH.

This encyclopedia continues the virulent anti-semitism that tries to convince us that the 'Jews' were a 'people apart'. How can this be when we all know Jews held top jobs in the governments, businesses, colleges and medical insistutions in both Poland and Germany. The attempt to blame the holocaust on the Jews by showing us the object of the 'wondering Jew' is something that seems to seap through the introductory passages of this book.

Stating that teaching the holocaust is mandatory in most schools and that hsi book will be helpfull is a nice and noble goal. But it doesnt seem to be a valid reason for creating a compendium of holocaust material. Shouldnt we have an encyclopedia of the holocaust not just because kids are 'required' to learn about it?

This volume does not include the variety of contributors(although they convinced Yad Vashem to contribute) nor the plethora of maps and pictures that other similar works include. This reference is not academic, but maybe thats to its credit since it pitches itself to 'secondary school' where it is 'required' to learn the holocaust.