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How Could This Happen: Explaining the Holocaust
The Holocaust has long seemed incomprehensible, a monumental crime that beggars our powers of description and explanation. Historians have probed the many sources of this tragedy, but no account has united the various causes into an overarching synthesis that answers the vital How was such a nightmare possible in the heart of western civilization?
In How Could This Happen , historian Dan McMillan distills the vast body of Holocaust research into a cogent explanation and comprehensive analysis of the genocide's many causes, revealing how a once-progressive society like Germany could have carried out this crime. The Holocaust, he explains, was caused not by one but by a combination of factors -- from Germany's failure to become a democracy until 1918, to the widespread acceptance of anti-Semitism and scientific racism, to the effects of World War I, which intensified political divisions within the country and drastically lowered the value of human life in the minds of an entire generation. Masterfully synthesizing the myriad causes that led Germany to disaster, McMillan shows why thousands of Germans carried out the genocide while millions watched, with cold indifference, as it enveloped their homeland.
Persuasive and compelling, How Could This Happen explains how a perfect storm of bleak circumstances, malevolent ideas, and damaged personalities unleashed history's most terrifying atrocity.
In How Could This Happen , historian Dan McMillan distills the vast body of Holocaust research into a cogent explanation and comprehensive analysis of the genocide's many causes, revealing how a once-progressive society like Germany could have carried out this crime. The Holocaust, he explains, was caused not by one but by a combination of factors -- from Germany's failure to become a democracy until 1918, to the widespread acceptance of anti-Semitism and scientific racism, to the effects of World War I, which intensified political divisions within the country and drastically lowered the value of human life in the minds of an entire generation. Masterfully synthesizing the myriad causes that led Germany to disaster, McMillan shows why thousands of Germans carried out the genocide while millions watched, with cold indifference, as it enveloped their homeland.
Persuasive and compelling, How Could This Happen explains how a perfect storm of bleak circumstances, malevolent ideas, and damaged personalities unleashed history's most terrifying atrocity.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published April 8, 2014
22 people are currently reading
719 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
September 22, 2021
This is a very short book (213 page) on an immense topic....the Holocaust. which frightens people like no other event in history. The particular horror of it was the way the Nazis denied the worth of human life and their credo that Jews were vermin that needed exterminated from the earth. The author attempts, to dissect the reasons why the population of Germany could be capable of such boundless inhumanity. He posits that it was the perfect storm...a broken people after the humiliation of their loss in WWI which was never accepted in Germany, destructive ideas. and the bleakest of circumstances to produce history's most horrible catastrophe.
He explains how Hitler came to power and was seen as a savior after the fall of the Weimar Republic; the anti-Semitism that was already present in Germany; the fear of Communism which Hitler thought was controlled by Jews; the rising belief of eugenics which placed the Jews at the bottom of human kind; the cheapening of life brought on by the slaughter of the Great War, just to name a few.
He writes succinctly and his thesis is one of the best I have read about the "why" of the Holocaust. The subject is unpleasant but one that is necessary for all people to attempt to understand. Highly recommended.
He explains how Hitler came to power and was seen as a savior after the fall of the Weimar Republic; the anti-Semitism that was already present in Germany; the fear of Communism which Hitler thought was controlled by Jews; the rising belief of eugenics which placed the Jews at the bottom of human kind; the cheapening of life brought on by the slaughter of the Great War, just to name a few.
He writes succinctly and his thesis is one of the best I have read about the "why" of the Holocaust. The subject is unpleasant but one that is necessary for all people to attempt to understand. Highly recommended.
May 6, 2014
In this thought-provoking and engaging book, historian Dan McMillan presents a synthesis of Holocaust literature and research to present the reader with a well-structured and clearly written account of an event that still seems incomprehensible. He examines how a whole series of events, circumstances and personalities all conspired to create such an unimaginable scenario. Extremely well-researched and demonstrating an astute and deep knowledge of his subject, McMillan has written an accessible account that offers much to the general reader as well as academics and scholars. This is an important and valuable book that goes a long way towards explaining the Holocaust, although I suspect no one, in the end, will ever really be able to understand just how it could happen.
August 20, 2014
McMillan is very logical, laying out the reasons the Holocaust came about and why, without these special circumstances all working together, it can never happen again. These circumstances include many we've heard before: the punishing aspects of the Treaty of Versaille, a long history of German anti-semitism, the brutality of WWI had desensitized people to suffering and murder. But there are chapters on how the lack of experience with democracy led the German elites to favor dictators.
McMillan believes that the Holocaust is different from other recent genocides because the others had a political reason behind them. The perpetrators didn't stop victims from leaving; they encouraged it. They were only interested in victims within the their own borders; they didn't round them up in other countries. In other genocides they wanted to be rid of the other group but they didn't want to exterminate the group.
It is a well-researched book that is easily accessible to the non-scholar. And yet, McMillan still didn't convince me that this couldn't happen again. We know what men are capable of and must always be vigilant.
July 15, 2014
Good book although it doesn't really do anything more to answer the question. Just restates info and opinions both from then and now. Gives a little history but mostly of pre WWI Germany. I was expecting some history of the Jewish people's settlement in Germany and Europe. And maybe some insight into why it was so easy for the govt to be anti Semitic. Obviously not to place blame on the victims but was there anything about the way they participated (or not participated) in society that made them vulnerable to persecution
July 16, 2025
McMillan’s How Could This Happen offers a concise yet powerful overview of the political, cultural, ideological, and social forces that led to Hitler’s rise to power and ultimately to the Holocaust. His central argument is that the Holocaust wasn’t inevitable — but the result of a perfect storm of forces that coalesced in early 20th-century Germany.
What makes this book stand out is its readability. McMillan writes for a general audience without sacrificing depth, breaking down complex historical processes into clear narratives. He touches on the various & complex factors that led to one of the darkest times in history: the loss of World War I, Germany’s fractured democracy, economic despair, deep-rooted anti-Semitism, nationalism, propaganda, and the failures of political institutions — some themes which feel chillingly relevant today.
This is not a comprehensive Holocaust history — there are no detailed accounts of concentration camps or military campaigns. Instead, McMillan wants to understand why so many people allowed such horrors to unfold. It’s a book as much about human psychology and political failure as it is about ideology.
What makes this book stand out is its readability. McMillan writes for a general audience without sacrificing depth, breaking down complex historical processes into clear narratives. He touches on the various & complex factors that led to one of the darkest times in history: the loss of World War I, Germany’s fractured democracy, economic despair, deep-rooted anti-Semitism, nationalism, propaganda, and the failures of political institutions — some themes which feel chillingly relevant today.
This is not a comprehensive Holocaust history — there are no detailed accounts of concentration camps or military campaigns. Instead, McMillan wants to understand why so many people allowed such horrors to unfold. It’s a book as much about human psychology and political failure as it is about ideology.
December 16, 2023
The Holocaust is a difficult historical event about which to read but we really ought to do so to gain an understanding and be on the lookout to prevent it from happening again. At least that is my view of this monumental crime against humanity. This is interesting because it is an attempt to dig into the events and explain how they could take place in an ostensibly advanced 20th Century society.
I think that McMillan succeeds pretty well in his aims and it is refreshing to see so many strands come together and his steadfast refusal to simply throw up his hands and attribute it to generic evil or worse, events that are simply too enormous to contemplate. We do everyone who perished a disservice to simply give up on the explanations.
So this book attempts to draw the strands of history, WW1, the political rise of antisemitism, Hitler and the Nazis together and it works for me. I understand it better but I would like to return to this book next year and go over it again so that the messages really go in.
Not a long book but well argued and with a nod to the vile assertion that the Holocaust was a ruse and never happened. That is clearly contemptible and is given short shrift here but it is good that it is at least acknowledged. The Holocaust wasn't that long ago - we need to ensure it never happens again and understanding it is essential in that goal.
I think that McMillan succeeds pretty well in his aims and it is refreshing to see so many strands come together and his steadfast refusal to simply throw up his hands and attribute it to generic evil or worse, events that are simply too enormous to contemplate. We do everyone who perished a disservice to simply give up on the explanations.
So this book attempts to draw the strands of history, WW1, the political rise of antisemitism, Hitler and the Nazis together and it works for me. I understand it better but I would like to return to this book next year and go over it again so that the messages really go in.
Not a long book but well argued and with a nod to the vile assertion that the Holocaust was a ruse and never happened. That is clearly contemptible and is given short shrift here but it is good that it is at least acknowledged. The Holocaust wasn't that long ago - we need to ensure it never happens again and understanding it is essential in that goal.
November 8, 2017
Very interesting read and glimpse into what led up to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party's rise in Germany. It was a combination of deep political division, hatred that was based on a concept called "Darwinian" racism in which the belief is that the strongest race of people does what is necessary to survive and overall dysfunction of a civilization. I chose to read this book to get educate myself about some things about the Holocaust and Nazism. It opened my eyes about a lot of things, notably, it wasn't just "Nazis" who perpetrated this barbaric crime. It was combination of things including the elites or intellectuals of society, who may not have took place firsthand, but was complicit in it. Also, the average citizens who chose to turn a blind eye to what was happening. It also showed me how dangerous propaganda was, whether it is true or not, in the hands of people who have radical and extreme views. What I got out of this is always question the information you're being given. Don't be so quick to accept the negative information about your opponent or people who are different from you without asking yourself why the information is being put out there for people to digest in the first place.
January 13, 2015
A thorough examination of the root cause of the Holocaust. McMillan doesn't paint the German people with the broad brush of evil, but doesn't let them off the hook either. He provides a multi-faceted explanation with the lense of a historian, not placing the value judgement of 75 years of history on the perpetrators of the greatest crime against humanity, rather setting up the unique series of events that made it possible. There is hope in the fact that so many factors had to happen at just the right place, and just the right time, which helps us understand that this is not something that 'just happens'. At the same time, it helps us see that human nature is inherently heard like, and the average person, who may be outraged in hindsight, may follow the path of least resistance, even in the face of complete barbarism.
June 2, 2014
Reading Dr. Dan McMillan's book was truly an eye opener. I've read a lot of books about the Holocaust but none have ever given such a clear explanation of how it really happened and why. The evil events of the 2nd World War did not teach humanity a better behavior. All over the world we still have wars and the atrocities are still the same. We all have to do better. We will all have to try harder. I am the daughter of Holocaust survivors and lived with many terrible and heart wrenching stories told by my parents and their friends. This book should be taught in schools and universities. Dr. McMillan did a wonderful job of explaining the events and teaching us all not to make the same mistakes.
October 6, 2021
Well thought through. The argument is presented in easy to understand terms with supporting evidence.
It's sad to think, given the right combination of events and circumstances any group of humans can find themselves caught up in a genocide as either a victim, perpetrator, or bystander.
It's sad to think, given the right combination of events and circumstances any group of humans can find themselves caught up in a genocide as either a victim, perpetrator, or bystander.
August 2, 2019
Road to Armagedon
A well written summary of the factors leading to Hitler's rise and the Nazi execution of the Holocaust. History is not inevitable, and in this case there was a confluence of political moods and events which disastrously tipped in this direction. One such factor was the image of Bismarck as a successful militant redemptive political unifier with Hitler seen as his contemporary equivalent. Another was the lack of a German democratic tradition – Germany's first full democracy, the Wiemar Republic was established in 1918, its first act was to surrender to the Allies.
After the war a radical scapegoating of the Jews took hold, and here McMillan cites some interesting and popular precursors of Nazi policy. Heinrich Class. Chair of the Pan-Germanic League, who's book “If I were Emperor” went into 5 editions, considered Germans to be a race genetically superior to all others. He advocated stripping Jews of their right to vote or be employed in any form of government service, the military, law, media or theatre, nor could they own banks or rural land. Newspapers owned by Jews would have been required to be labelled and the State should subsidize cheap “German” newspapers to propagandize the masses. Friedrich von Bernhardi's 1912 best seller “Germany and the Next War”, advised a doctrine of Social Darwinism that opposed peace movements, arguing that war was a “biological necessity... [because] without war, all too easily inferior or degenerate races would overgrow the healthy vigorous elements”.
In Chapter 7 “Why Hitler”, McMillan draws on Theodore Able [Why Hitler came to Power] and others to examine what beliefs drew Germans into supporting the Nazis. The idea of a national community based on racial blood accounted for 1/3, while ultra-nationalist or volkish ideas of unity accounting for another 1/3. 2/3 actively despised Marxism. Only 20% idealized Hitler's leadership, 2/3 expressed hostility towards Jews but only 1/8th said that this motivated them to join the party. Half believed that the Weimar Republic had been a failure. Hindenburg, people felt, had acted as a dictator. What also accounted for the rise in the Nazi vote from 2.6% in 1928 to 33.1% in 1932 was the feeling that the Nazis had never been in the government and therefore was not to blame for the economic collapse that came with the depression.
But the real key, in McMillan's view, was the prevailing idea that loyalty to Hitler's charismatic authority as Fuehrer overrode both law and tradition. Hitler's followers were pathological sycophants each of them trying to out do the other in fulfilling what they believed Hitler expected. Hans Frank, head of the Germany Academy of Law: “Whether the Leader governs according to a formal written Constitution is not a legal question of the first importance. The legal question is only whether through his activity the Leader guarantees the existence of his people” (1938). Arthur Grieser, administrator of Danzig and the Westz: in 1941 he received Himmler's permission to “liquidate” 100,000 Jews by poison gas in Chelmo. Later when he asked to murder 30,000 Poles he stated “I myself do not believe that the Leader needs to be asked again... [since] with regard to he Jews he told me that I could proceed with these according to my own judgement.” Erich Nauman, commanded an Einzengruppen murder squad of several hundred in Belarus. At his postwar trial he justified his actions “because there was a Leader Order”. (pp132-136).
It's not that the German people nor those in the countries that the Nazis invaded were unaware of what was happening. Not only did Allied leaflets (Jan 1943) explain the purpose of the death camps, often members of the public filed requests with Nazi officials for Jewish homes, furniture and possessions belonging to their Jewish neighbours, even before they'd been removed. (p187)
The role of historians is to describe the road map that we've previously travelled so that we choose wisely. No one cause can explain the whole; there's always a mix. We must remember that Hitler alone would have been just another crank author of another turgid conspiracy book. Power, charisma, the ability to emotionally stir his audience drew others to him, which doesn't absolve his enablers. Without followers who amplified him, Hitler would have amounted to nothing.
A well written summary of the factors leading to Hitler's rise and the Nazi execution of the Holocaust. History is not inevitable, and in this case there was a confluence of political moods and events which disastrously tipped in this direction. One such factor was the image of Bismarck as a successful militant redemptive political unifier with Hitler seen as his contemporary equivalent. Another was the lack of a German democratic tradition – Germany's first full democracy, the Wiemar Republic was established in 1918, its first act was to surrender to the Allies.
After the war a radical scapegoating of the Jews took hold, and here McMillan cites some interesting and popular precursors of Nazi policy. Heinrich Class. Chair of the Pan-Germanic League, who's book “If I were Emperor” went into 5 editions, considered Germans to be a race genetically superior to all others. He advocated stripping Jews of their right to vote or be employed in any form of government service, the military, law, media or theatre, nor could they own banks or rural land. Newspapers owned by Jews would have been required to be labelled and the State should subsidize cheap “German” newspapers to propagandize the masses. Friedrich von Bernhardi's 1912 best seller “Germany and the Next War”, advised a doctrine of Social Darwinism that opposed peace movements, arguing that war was a “biological necessity... [because] without war, all too easily inferior or degenerate races would overgrow the healthy vigorous elements”.
In Chapter 7 “Why Hitler”, McMillan draws on Theodore Able [Why Hitler came to Power] and others to examine what beliefs drew Germans into supporting the Nazis. The idea of a national community based on racial blood accounted for 1/3, while ultra-nationalist or volkish ideas of unity accounting for another 1/3. 2/3 actively despised Marxism. Only 20% idealized Hitler's leadership, 2/3 expressed hostility towards Jews but only 1/8th said that this motivated them to join the party. Half believed that the Weimar Republic had been a failure. Hindenburg, people felt, had acted as a dictator. What also accounted for the rise in the Nazi vote from 2.6% in 1928 to 33.1% in 1932 was the feeling that the Nazis had never been in the government and therefore was not to blame for the economic collapse that came with the depression.
But the real key, in McMillan's view, was the prevailing idea that loyalty to Hitler's charismatic authority as Fuehrer overrode both law and tradition. Hitler's followers were pathological sycophants each of them trying to out do the other in fulfilling what they believed Hitler expected. Hans Frank, head of the Germany Academy of Law: “Whether the Leader governs according to a formal written Constitution is not a legal question of the first importance. The legal question is only whether through his activity the Leader guarantees the existence of his people” (1938). Arthur Grieser, administrator of Danzig and the Westz: in 1941 he received Himmler's permission to “liquidate” 100,000 Jews by poison gas in Chelmo. Later when he asked to murder 30,000 Poles he stated “I myself do not believe that the Leader needs to be asked again... [since] with regard to he Jews he told me that I could proceed with these according to my own judgement.” Erich Nauman, commanded an Einzengruppen murder squad of several hundred in Belarus. At his postwar trial he justified his actions “because there was a Leader Order”. (pp132-136).
It's not that the German people nor those in the countries that the Nazis invaded were unaware of what was happening. Not only did Allied leaflets (Jan 1943) explain the purpose of the death camps, often members of the public filed requests with Nazi officials for Jewish homes, furniture and possessions belonging to their Jewish neighbours, even before they'd been removed. (p187)
The role of historians is to describe the road map that we've previously travelled so that we choose wisely. No one cause can explain the whole; there's always a mix. We must remember that Hitler alone would have been just another crank author of another turgid conspiracy book. Power, charisma, the ability to emotionally stir his audience drew others to him, which doesn't absolve his enablers. Without followers who amplified him, Hitler would have amounted to nothing.
August 16, 2020
McMillan's intent in writing How Could This Happen is to provide "the first comprehensive analysis of the causes of the Holocaust." His thesis is that other books on the Holocaust either don't tell a full and comprehensive story about how it happened or get lost in the mass of horrific details and fail to give underlying explanations.
While I don't entirely agree that other authors of the Holocaust failed in explaining the causes, McMillan cites these events/circumstances/factors as the interrelated explanation (some of which I had not previously considered) for why the Holocaust occurred:
- Germany's failure to become a democracy until 1918 (and the resultant lack of seasoned democratic institutions and norms and public legitimacy to deal with the great depression);
- The pointless slaughter of 10 million young lives in World War I which devalued human life;
- The increase in anti-Semitism in the decades before Hitler rose to power (and it's related dehumanization of this minority population);
- Hitler's own rise to power (which while perhaps the single most oft cited cause, was itself the product of many of the other failures noted here);
- The rise of "scientific- racism" which suggested (based on Darwin's theory of evolution) that there were stronger, more genetically successful races and populations whose survival and dominance was the inevitable product of human evolution; and
- The universal psychological mechanisms that can make it easy for men to kill or which allow bystanders to look away.
One of the author's key points is that any one of these factors alone would not have been enough to cause the Holocaust. Instead, "it took an almost impossible combination of dangerous ideas, ruined people, and unimaginably bad luck to make this catastrophe possible."
While many have blamed Germany and it's militaristic history as a a primary causal factor, McMillan doesn't believe humanity should be let off the hook so easily. "The specifically German causes of the Holocaust," he notes, "although they were indispensable to making it happen, don't make the Germans seem terribly different from other peoples, which is precisely the point: they weren't and they aren't." (p.209)
The writing here does not have the narrative power of other books that discuss the Holocaust. But there are some important ideas here that merit consideration - particularly at a moment in American history when our own democratic institutions are weak and we have fallen into our own pattern of dehumanizing language.
While I don't entirely agree that other authors of the Holocaust failed in explaining the causes, McMillan cites these events/circumstances/factors as the interrelated explanation (some of which I had not previously considered) for why the Holocaust occurred:
- Germany's failure to become a democracy until 1918 (and the resultant lack of seasoned democratic institutions and norms and public legitimacy to deal with the great depression);
- The pointless slaughter of 10 million young lives in World War I which devalued human life;
- The increase in anti-Semitism in the decades before Hitler rose to power (and it's related dehumanization of this minority population);
- Hitler's own rise to power (which while perhaps the single most oft cited cause, was itself the product of many of the other failures noted here);
- The rise of "scientific- racism" which suggested (based on Darwin's theory of evolution) that there were stronger, more genetically successful races and populations whose survival and dominance was the inevitable product of human evolution; and
- The universal psychological mechanisms that can make it easy for men to kill or which allow bystanders to look away.
One of the author's key points is that any one of these factors alone would not have been enough to cause the Holocaust. Instead, "it took an almost impossible combination of dangerous ideas, ruined people, and unimaginably bad luck to make this catastrophe possible."
While many have blamed Germany and it's militaristic history as a a primary causal factor, McMillan doesn't believe humanity should be let off the hook so easily. "The specifically German causes of the Holocaust," he notes, "although they were indispensable to making it happen, don't make the Germans seem terribly different from other peoples, which is precisely the point: they weren't and they aren't." (p.209)
The writing here does not have the narrative power of other books that discuss the Holocaust. But there are some important ideas here that merit consideration - particularly at a moment in American history when our own democratic institutions are weak and we have fallen into our own pattern of dehumanizing language.
January 18, 2020
How Could This Happen: Explaining the Holocaust is by Dan McMillan. Dan McMillan tries to explain how the Holocaust happened in this compelling book. He looks beyond the obvious and tries to see what made the millions of Germans seem to blindly follow Hitler. To answer this question, he looks to the late formation of Germany as a democracy and the inability of the people to fully accept the duties and responsibilities of being a democracy. He looks at the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Hitler as a charismatic speaker, the acceptance of anti-Semitism by the German people, their indifference to the plight of others, and their inability to say no to deadly actions. His arguments make sense and he also looks at other genocides to point out the differences between those and the Holocaust. The book is interesting and makes you seriously think about the causes of this horrific event in history. The book is one that you read in stages so you can think about what you have just read before going on. Thus, it takes a while to read this book. The information is out there in other sources; but he brings it all together in one place.
September 6, 2024
Many things came together at the right (wrong?) time which allowed the horror of the Holocaust to occur. We must understand them to see the signs before it happens again. History does repeat itself. It may not repeat in the same way, but it does repeat. Previous books about the Holocaust focus on personal experiences or the courage of those who tried to speak out. While those are significant works, they do not give the reader a why. McMillan tries to fill the gap and explain why. I found this book to be enlightening and well worth the time. This book is not overly scholarly and technical, you won’t have trouble understanding it. The writing is concise and well done. The subject matter is well-researched. This is an important book for anyone interested in history and for those who realize that it can, and most likely will, happen again if we cannot recognize all the forces that came together to cause the Holocaust.
July 8, 2023
Interesting read from a expert in this subject matter. Gives you some good background as to what was going on before and during the Holocaust in Germany/Europe and why "normal" citizens turned towards Hitler. One paragraph from the book struck a chord-
"As Hitler's leading biographer explained, Hitler had only one strategy throughout his political career. Incapable of compromise, he took aggressive action or threatened force if his demands were not met, which worked only as long as his opponents backed down. This was not the strategic wisdom of a statesman, but the impulsive brutality of a thug."
A bit of the sound of current politics.
"As Hitler's leading biographer explained, Hitler had only one strategy throughout his political career. Incapable of compromise, he took aggressive action or threatened force if his demands were not met, which worked only as long as his opponents backed down. This was not the strategic wisdom of a statesman, but the impulsive brutality of a thug."
A bit of the sound of current politics.
February 2, 2022
I originally choose this book because I thought it would give me more information about the Holocaust, but it gave me more details than I thought it would. The book went into immense detail about the Holocaust trying to explain why it happened from every possible angle. It explained everything from how Hitler rose to power, why Germany chose the Jewish people, and how the Holocaust was carried out. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the Holocaust.
January 28, 2025
Though this book is very well written and detailed I would only recommend it to anyone who is interested in history very much so. Otherwise it’s not the book for you. But I must admit that the author has done a great deal of research and has used it very well.
February 7, 2025
Deeply moving, captivating, and utterly terrifying. Beautifully and awesomely written.
My goal from reading this book was to learn some context of the holocaust, and it did far more than that - i’ve gained both compassion and fear.
My goal from reading this book was to learn some context of the holocaust, and it did far more than that - i’ve gained both compassion and fear.
May 7, 2018
A very thoughtful and insightful book on an extremely difficult topic.
January 9, 2023
Informative, succinct, comprehensive, and well sourced.
Read
March 7, 2024Book Club pick
September 1, 2014
There just isn’t an answer... and I think that’s part of what makes it such an intriguing subject to learn about. It just boggles the mind. It’s scary to think that something like this is possible – still possible; call me a cynic but I don’t think humanity is immune from a repeat.
Paraphrasing myself from another book review: Institutionalized racism is insidious. What starts off as a guideline (often times misguided) for the alleged benefit of the community can quickly devolve into an us versus them mentally, pitting people against each other and stirring up violence and hatred and intolerance. It scares me how people don’t see a slippery slope when it’s staring them in the face. Charter of Values in Quebec anyone?
This book presents a lot of interesting ideas of how culture and history mixed over the years to create the right conditions for the Holocaust, and it does puts forward some very plausible causes, but in the end I think it’s the ultimate unanswerable question.
Paraphrasing myself from another book review: Institutionalized racism is insidious. What starts off as a guideline (often times misguided) for the alleged benefit of the community can quickly devolve into an us versus them mentally, pitting people against each other and stirring up violence and hatred and intolerance. It scares me how people don’t see a slippery slope when it’s staring them in the face. Charter of Values in Quebec anyone?
This book presents a lot of interesting ideas of how culture and history mixed over the years to create the right conditions for the Holocaust, and it does puts forward some very plausible causes, but in the end I think it’s the ultimate unanswerable question.
February 14, 2014
A one of a kind book, that is truly important and leaves a mark.
The book is incredibly well researched and written. The topic can lead to either very dry or difficult to read texts, but this one flows with simple beauty and truth.
Each chapter takes the reader through a different topic to explain the Holocaust, ranging from a historical overview of German politics, Hitler's history, social background of the time, economic climate, the pulse of other European countries and anti-Semitism in various forms.
I am grateful to the author for writing this book. It stands alone, no other book I've read can touch it.
The book is incredibly well researched and written. The topic can lead to either very dry or difficult to read texts, but this one flows with simple beauty and truth.
Each chapter takes the reader through a different topic to explain the Holocaust, ranging from a historical overview of German politics, Hitler's history, social background of the time, economic climate, the pulse of other European countries and anti-Semitism in various forms.
I am grateful to the author for writing this book. It stands alone, no other book I've read can touch it.
June 13, 2014
Nicely researched and succinctly written. Adequately illustrates how events that happened before (going back to how Germany was created) Hitler's rise to power attributed to the Holocaust.
This is one of those books that everybody should read!
However, I would have enjoyed more of an explanation/statistics (since it sounded too much like conjecture) after the author makes the assertion on pg. 88 that, "before 1918 only the much-maligned socialist party had demanded that the country become a democracy," and then states that the party was more moderate in their policies in 1914 without supporting evidence etc..
This is one of those books that everybody should read!
However, I would have enjoyed more of an explanation/statistics (since it sounded too much like conjecture) after the author makes the assertion on pg. 88 that, "before 1918 only the much-maligned socialist party had demanded that the country become a democracy," and then states that the party was more moderate in their policies in 1914 without supporting evidence etc..
November 5, 2014
Great summary of the history and other background relevant to the Holocaust. Falls a bit short of its goal of being the first general work to explain the reasons. I don't buy the author's claim that there's a consensus among historians as to the reasons and the only need is a good general wok on the topic. But this book is a great start in that direction and a great addition to the discussion. A quick read and well worth the time.
December 30, 2016
A fairly academic and fairly dry assessment of the social and economic factors behind the holocaust. The author claims that he is discussing points that previous authors have not in other books about the holocaust, but I found his arguments pretty run-of-the-mill. Still, not a bad book by any means. There was a lot of emphasis in explaining how the holocaust was unique compared to other genocides, which I found interesting.
August 6, 2016
In school, we were taught that WW2 happened because the Germans were humiliated after WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles. This book delves farther back (before WW1) and pinpoints Germany's late conversion to democracy (i.e., later than England and France) that led up to WW2.
April 10, 2014
My Amazon Review - http://www.amazon.com/review/RLPUBC5I...
January 22, 2015
On BookTV, Dr. Dan McMillan presented his well-researched book on "How Could This Happen." Here is a book review: (http://www.drdanmcmillan.com).
August 10, 2014
good for overarching ideas but left some questions.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews