“The War Against The Jews” by Lucy Dawidowicz explores a very dark time in history and interprets it from her view. Through the use of other novels, she concurs and agrees to form her opinion. This essay will explore who Dawidowicz is, why she wrote the book, what the book is about, what other authors have explored with the same topic, and how I feel about the topic she wrote about. All in all, much research will be presented throughout the essay. In the end you will see how strongly I feel about the topic I chose. I believe that although Hitler terrorized the Jews, they continued to be stronger than ever, and tried to keep up their society. Lucy Dawidowicz, the author of “The War Against The Jews 1933-1945” grew up in New York. She was born in 1915. Lucy started her undergraduate at Hunter College, where she studied English. After completing her undergraduate with tremendous achievement she started going to Columbia University to finish getting her masters in English Literature. While she was studying profusely she interrupted her studies to “work and study Jewish culture at Yivo, the legendary research institute in Vilna, Poland.” (Lucy Dawidowicz, The War Against The Jews 1933-1945 (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1986), Front Cover.) She studied here for a rewarding year and then returned to New York to study more with the Yivo. After the debilitating WWII ended, she went over to Europe where she helped the Jewish people “recreate schools and libraries, and she recovered vast collections of books 2 seized by the Nazis”. (Richard Berstein, “Lucy S. Dawidowicz, 75, Scholar Of Jewish Life and History, Dies,” The New York Times, (1990): http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/06/obituaries/lucy-s-dawidowicz-75-... ... middle of paper ... ... A World History. New York: Pearson, 2012. Niewyk, Donald . "The Will to Survive." In The Holocaust Problems and perspectives of Interpretation, ed. Donald L Niewyk. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. 59-66. Irving, David John Cawdell. Hitler's war. New York: Viking Press, 1977. Hitler, Adolf, and Ralph Manheim. Mein Kampf,. Boston: Houghton Mifflin company, 1943. Feingold, Henry. "The War against the Jews." Jewish Social Studies 38, 1976. 82. Dawidowicz, Lucy S.. The war against the Jews, 1933-1945. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975. Bernstein, Richard. "Lucy S. Dawidowicz, 75, Scholar Of Jewish Life and History, Dies." The New York Times (NYC), December 6, 1990. Bruno Bottelheim, “Helpless Victims,” in The Holocaust Problems and perspectives of Interpretation, ed. Donald L. Niewyk (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997. 54-59.
The book begins by giving a brief background into the setting of America at the onset of the war. It details an anti-Semitic America. It also explains most of the anti-Semitism as passive, which ordinarily would do little harm, but during a holocaust crisis became a reason for America’s inaction.
Did the Jews of Germany do enough to prevent their wholesale massacre by the Nazis? Should they have resisted earlier and to a greater degree? Should the Jews in Western countries acted even when Jews within Germany did not? In 1933, there were several different responses to Germany's increasingly anti-Jewish tendencies. Then, on the eve of destruction, before the Nazis had fully planned for their extermination, the German Jews had a chance to affect Germany and their own lives. I have chosen a few of the German Jewish responses to examine in this essay.
Tent, James F. In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Nazi Persecution of Jewish-Christian Germans. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2003.
"Perpetrators." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. University of South Florida, 1 Jan. 1997. Web. 19 May 2014. .
"The Myth of Rescue" by William Rubinstein has no doubt been one of the most attacked books by reviewers on this matter of the Holocaust. Rubinstein disagrees with the idea that some scholars supported, that the allies could have done much more to help the Jews, and explains why it was so difficult to assist them. Rubinstein's construction of the situation faced by the Jews of Nazi occupied Europe demonstrates some coherent and thoughtful points about the period of the slaughter of the Jews.
Norton, James. The Holocaust: Jews, Germany, and the National Socialists. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2009. Print.
Throughout history, the human race has had to go through many horrible things. Famines, diseases, and war have always been present where there are people. However, a great thing about people is that we try to learn from our mistakes. The Holocaust was a horrible time in history and it should not be forgotten. The individuals involved in this experience went through awful things and it is crucial that people learn about this harsh time. In order to prevent a massacre like this from ever happening again, we must continue to teach future generations about the severity of this time. Remembering and memorializing the Holocaust by Holocaust Museums, Holocaust Ceremonies, and Holocaust victims are great ways because each of them support and keep the Holocaust in our thoughts.
Gutman, Israel. The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943: Ghetto, Underground, Revolt. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1982. Print.
Plank, Karl. Mother of the Wire Fence: Inside and Outside the Holocaust. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994. Print.
Dwork, Deborah, and R. J. Van Pelt. Holocaust: a History. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.
Hermanns, William. The Holocaust: From a Survivor of Verdun, New York, NY, Harper and Row
"A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims. University of South Florida. Web. 19 May 2014.
Bard, Mitchell G., ed. The Holocaust. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2001. Print. Turning Points in World History.
Kaplan, Marian A., Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany, Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1999