War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust

by Doris L. Bergen

In examining one of the defining events of the 20th century, Doris Bergen situates the Holocaust in its historical, political, social, cultural, and military contexts. Unlike many other treatments of the Holocaust, War and A Concise History of the Holocaust discusses not only the persecution of the Jews, but also other segments of society victimized by the Gypsies, Homosexuals, Poles, Soviet POWs, the Handicapped, and other groups deemed undesirable. With clear and eloquent prose, Bergen explores the two interconnected goals that drove the Nazi program of conquest and genocide-purification of the so-called Aryan race and expansion of its living space--and discusses how these goals affected the course of World War II. Including first hand accounts from perpetrators, victims, and eyewitnesses, the book is immediate, human, and eminently readable.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Holocaust, School, World War II, Read For School, War

263 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2002

About the author

Professor of Holocaust Studies

For the Professor of Educational Psychology see Doris Bergen

Reviews

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Merely the effort to live could be a form of resistance”

DOUBLE TO TEN STARS. I haven't written a book review in a while, but this book deserved every possible form of lavish praise my small, incomprehensible brain could summon.

Taking one of the most tragic and universally known events, Bergen explores both the horror and misconceptions of the Holocaust (and, by extension, causes of World War 2). A few personal revelations:

Weimar Republic's hyperinflation and Versailles' harsh reparations led to an inevitable economic incentive for aggression? Germany avoided paying most reparations (how would Allied countries force Germany and risk another war???) and its economy was relatively strong compared to its neighbor in the east and west (Remember: WW1 n e v e r reached German soil and destroyed their infrastructure).

Coercion to participate in the Nazi system? No german soldier was killed if he refused to participate in the Holocaust (not a single example has been found - lawyers defending war crimes tried to find a single case but there was none); They were simply transferred as other willing volunteers were always available.

I digress.

Yet, despite covering such a heavy topic, she deviates from sensationalized writing and discussion so common in writing about historical tragedies (Looking at you: trite SAS discussions and online websites). She presents all the facts to you in a concise manner with a few lines of commentary; the horror is left for you to slowly digest... This is not to say Bergen analysis doesn't provide an emotional punch. She analogizes the Holocaust to a burning house - certain pre-conditions, a spark, and the amicable war environment were requisite for the flaming inferno. Even I found her descriptions conservative. She didn't further detail the trappings of not just Jewish, but Roma, Polish, Soviets, disabled, homosexuals, and SO many other groups of people within the house, or the Nazi inferno (yet it's not a perfect flame but a cluster of individualized resistances and institutional tragedies - the number of nuances, ugh) scorching across Eastern Europe

Best of all, Bergen avoids the overburdening of details or stilted prose in the so many other History books I've had to abandon. Her discussion is perfectly structured into multiple sub-headings, each no more than 2-3 pages, easily allowing for bite-sized reading. Also, she includes an abundance of photos with revealing discussions of historical perspective behind each photographer (photography history??? :o)

I know this may not be the most formal review to a book on such a heavy topic, but after a volitale week of reading, my reaction reflects the theme of this master exploration - heroic, tragic, friendship, betrayal, horror, redemption, emotional, and analytical - all packed together into a deep, real-world reflection of our own humanity.

I haven't found such an informative and impactful work in a while. Pls consider!

[Benjamin Uke · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title says, a concise history of the Holocaust during World War II. The author, Doris Bergen, is the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies in the Department of History and the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto.

This book was several hours of inhumane heavy heart rending that would be hard to believe if you didn’t already know it was true. A direct narrative four primary points about the Holocaust:
1) it was a global event; it happened progressively over time (The roots of the Holocaust were much earlier than the Nazi era in Germany, looking at the boiling political undercurrents that caused it).
2) it was directly tied to World War II
3) while the Jews were the primary targets, “the Roma and Sinti, Polish elites, Russian prisoners-of-war, and homosexual men” were also victims.

Bergen effectively uses several literary devices to give the reader a coherent, organized focused review of the genocide of European Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, Soviet POWs, and others that Nazi Germany deemed as asocial.

It is a condensed but important work of Holocaust history. An expanded narrative could go on for thousands of pages of painful detail, but a reader would be lost in a dystopian malaise of hopelessness and loss.

[Ihor Kolesnyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Дуже сумна книга. Це історія людських страждань і насилля, яке настільки незбагненне розумом, що я розгублено завершив текст, у ще більшому дисонансі із тими подіями, які зараз відбуваються в Україні.
Звісно можна порівнювати: історія в Україні зараз і Голокост за масштабами неспівмірні. Тоді був Гітлер, а зараз Путін, і другий значно поступається у своїх можливостях.
Можна багато дискутувати про те, хто винен і як зробити, щоби не повторилися помилки.. Але як показує сучасність - в людях може проявитися таке зло, яке натякає на присутність Диявола, а там де Диявол, там і божествені події, і теологія, і чудо також присутні. А якщо відкинути теологію, то люди можуть бути неймовірними скотами, коли їм це вигідно, коли їм страшно, коли вони бояться за себе і своїх рідних. Вони можуть бути і неймовірно сильними людьми, які здатні вистояти і вижити, не забуваючи про цінність будь-якого життя. Шкода, що людей, які вистоять, завжди меншість.
Цю історію варто викладати у школах, щоб діти та їхні батьки знали про жахливі сторінки, які не можна повторити.

[Heather C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found War and Genocide to be an interesting read because it covered some niche areas that were not focused on in other books I was reading at that same time. While Bergen doesn’t spend as much time on the broad concepts of the war (she definitely touches on them), she digs in to smaller issues, for example, other victims of the Nazi actions. She analyzes the effects on the Jews, but also homosexuals, Communists, the disabled, and more. This was what I found new and informative because I had not heard of attacks on other populations during the rise of the Nazi party in other classes or readings which focus primarily on the attack on Jews. Bergen sticks with her thesis of the Nazi race and space rationale throughout the entire book.

The structure of this book is one that is easily readable and actually lends itself to bite sized reading; the sections are short and many, so you can certainly read this in between different events in your day. Also included, throughout the text, are many photos that enhance the reading. I always find photos integrated into the text more useful than a section centralized to the center of the text because you are provided with context. Interspersed in the text are anecdotal stories of everyday people who experienced something related to the focus of that section: for example, the stories of children forced into hiding.

At the end of the text the author provides an extensive list of sources that you can go to for further reading (broken up by chapters), but it doesn’t have a standard bibliography or footnotes which makes it challenging to fact check, but makes the book more readable.

If you are looking for a book that will give you a solid overview and understanding of the Nazi evolution and WWII, this isn’t that book. But if you already have an understanding of the generalities and are looking for a book that will dig in to different aspects this might be the book for yet.

This review was previously posted at The Maiden's Court blog.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well written and insightful. Starts with a look at the "tinders" that made the Holocaust possible, then an overview of Hitler's life from childhood to eventual Führer. There is a close examination of the victims and collaborators of Nazism and the chaotic interplay involved. Highly recommend.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than a book on the Holocaust, an excellent and manageable survey of the entire War. I use it with students.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doris Bergen’s War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust presents a straightforward account of the Holocaust. Rather than starting from a particular chronological point, Bergen begins with a short history of several thematic elements that she believes influenced German society and the beliefs of Adolf Hitler, leading to the rise of Nazism. These include antisemitism, racism, eugenics, imperialism, and the cheapening of human life in World War I. Significantly absent are notions of economic crisis, harsh reparations, and a weak Weimar democracy, all three of which Bergen believes are tropes which carry too much weight in the historiography of the Holocaust. For Bergen, Hitler is the key to the Holocaust. Bergen holds what she calls a “modified intentionalist position.” (30) She argues that the Holocaust was Hitler’s intention from even before his rise to power, arguing against the contention that atrocities of the Holocaust were made up “on the fly” during the context of war. She does not believe, however, that Hitler single-handedly directed the entirety of the Holocaust, largely because he did not have to. Bergen argues that the Nazi power structure was such that there was constant pressure on Nazi leaders to anticipate Hitler’s aims. Thus, Hitler had only to make his desires the slightest bit known for them to be enacted.

Bergen also places a heavy burden of blame on the German public. Bergen believes that without the support and silence of the German general public, the Holocaust could not have been enacted. She gives several examples of German public protest hindering the enactment of certain racial initiatives or at least driving them underground, such as in the case of early medical experimentation on the mentally ill. As for why the German public did not generally do this, Bergen provides a variety of reasons, but no monolithic explanation. For her, it merely seems most important that they did not. This is a huge loss as Bergen seems to think that early protest by the German public might have been the only way to prevent the Holocaust. Instead, many profited from and supported Nazi measures, particularly those against Jews. It should also be noted that by giving so much agency to the German public, Bergen dismisses the contention that foreign powers might have been able to prevent the Holocaust.

As for what Hitler’s core beliefs were, Bergen uses the phrase “race and space.” (36) She claims that Hitler believed the various ethnic races of the world were locked in a battle of survival with one another, and thus, for a race to win it needed to have more room, or territory. The “race” most vilified in Hitler’s system was the Jews. Thus, while Bergen makes it clear that the Nazis attacked several other groups in the Holocaust, such as Roma, the mentally handicapped, homosexuals, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, Bergen presents their sufferings as part and part of a system that was ultimately designed for the annihilation of Jews. She is not without sensitivity to the plight of all of those harmed, however. Although the book is largely written in an objective tone, the passages on the atrocities committed are laced with individual anecdotes and photos obviously meant to respect the humanity of those harmed while also reiterating the horrific events of the Holocaust.

Bergen also contends that Nazi war aims were fundamentally intertwined with Nazi racial policy due to the close linkage between race and space. This not only explains why so much manpower and resources were devoted to the murder of those persons considered unfit during the war period, but presents the sharp reminder that without Nazi victories in Czechoslavakia, Austria, Poland, France, and other areas, the Nazis would have been simply unable to harm the populations deemed “unfit” within those countries. The book is structured around these links between “race and space,” linking various phases of the German mobilization and war effort to phases of the Holocaust.
Although Bergen’s book certainly presents a streamlined account of the Holocaust, her own account seems oversimplified. Often her own evidence could be used against her. For instance, she tells the tale of a gentleman who informed the United States of the concentration camps rather early on during World War II, but Bergen still contends that other countries cannot be held accountable for not acting as they could not possibly have understood the nature of the atrocities. Although Bergen’s stance on multiple historiographic arguments is clear, she could have provided more evidence defending her point of view.

[Carly Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read it for class, but genuinely enjoyed it (which is why it even gets to be shelved in my goodreads).

[Kim Klett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reread this along with my community college students. I look forward to seeing the new edition.

[mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so good.

[Sam Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisitely written account of unfathomable atrocities.

[Abby Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

books have definitely made me cry before but I think this is the first one to ever make me throw up. a very concise history of the holocaust and i believe will serve as a good introduction to my study abroad. i am devastated and sick to my stomach to even live in the same time line as the atrocities committed during world war ii

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book calls itself a concise history of the Holocaust, but it felt like it was a lot more about the war in Europe than about the genocide. Still, the title reflects the dual nature of this work, and the author makes the argument that, to really understand the holocaust, you have to contextualize it with the war that brought it about. Overall, it was good, if disturbing because of the nature of the subject. I don't think she should have taken out any of the parts about the war, but I feel like she could have told me more about the Holocaust. Still, it is a good primer for anyone wanting an introduction into the subject. She also does a good job of detailing the groups that got caught up in the Holocaust, the Jews, but also the Gypsies, Homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, the handicapped, etc.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with any study dealing with the Holocaust, it is never a pleasure read. Reading this book for a graduate course in WWII was extremely difficult; not because of the level of language but the subject matter itself. Doris Bergen does fulfill the word 'concise' in this work. In 310 pages of reading text, she gives a power-packed overview of how widespread the Holocaust was and the many groups of people marked in the Nazi program of annihilation. A huge plus for this book is the number of photographs that are included with details about each one. This is a definite "must-have" for any WWII/Holocaust library shelf.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great update to the Holocaust literature. This book incorporates the most recent history of the Holocaust. Jewish and non-Jewish victims are featured, though the emphasis is on the former since their destruction was the initial aim of the Nazi genocide. Bergen documents the Nazi persecution of the Jews from inception to Holocaust. Victims' perspective is included throughout, and Bergen makes good use of photographs to add insight into the role of participants, victims and bystanders.
Useful as a textbook to classes on the Holocaust or genocide.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a class called “Politics and the Holocaust.” If you want to understand the political and social atmosphere that allowed Hitler to rise to power and be able to recognize if something similar is happening again, I would highly recommend reading the first half of this book.

If you want to understand the consequences, read the other half.

This is far from an easy read. Honestly, if I hadn’t had to read it for a class I don’t think I would have been able to read the entire thing. Am I glad I did? Absolutely.

[AskHistorians]

A brief, yet comprehensive, and accessible overview of the Holocaust, tracing from the prewar Nazi ascent to power through the end of World War II. Written by one of the best academics currently working on the subject. Includes a good amount of analysis of postwar Holocaust scholarship, too.

[John Bardsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't give this five stars because i enjoyed reading it. Rather, because I struggled reading it. Saying that, this is a book I truly believe everyone should read this. It's haunting, but important. The most thorough account of Holocaust I've ever encountered.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

lowkey surprising that I'm rating a school textbook 4 stars but it's mostly cause I found it super interesting (and very sad). I learned a lot about the holocaust that I might not have otherwise known if I hadn't read this book. I certainly don't recommend this book to everyone especially cause it's basically a giant trigger warning but like if you are interested in the holocaust this is a good source to explore. Anyway, that's all I have to say about this textbook.

[Emilija · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

2020 52 Book Challenge - 1) A Book With The Letter ‘W’ In The Title

I thought this book was very interesting, and I especially found the parts that covered the Roma people and disabled people interesting.

I also found it to be quite an easy read, not the subject matter but how the book was structured, as it was broken up into small sections that were easy to pause between daily life.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for class, very well structured textbook.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

was genuinely a good book but also it was required for a class and reading it every night was kind of a force because as we know i tend to do things last minute

[Angela Kay Manion · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the hardest history books to read that I have ever encountered. It was not because of the subject matter. The title is mis-leading and does not describe this book at all. I had to force myself through the poorly edited and often disorganized chapters of this book. I get that Ms. Bergen was trying to offer a concise book on the Holocaust and what led up to it, but what I did not get was the way in which she organized her book. There was an attempt at chronology which quickly fell by the wayside as she described the various people groups that were targeted by the Nazi regime. I found that her sub chapters often were confusing as she would begin by telling a story and quickly fall off track. She repeatedly presented the same argument or evidence throughout the book, reiterating something that had previously been said before. Do not keep telling me your argument or stating facts that have already been covered, defend your thoughts! There was very little discussion of hard facts, but more often she used simplified explanations for her arguments and choose to remind the reader of information that had already been presented multiple times. He writing format was written in a form that most high school students would find irritating.
For a PHD college professor I expected a college level critically written account of Holocaust. I could say more, but I am trying to be nice. As a PHD History candidate myself, this was a HUGE disappointment. I am just glad that I do not have to read it again or ever!

[Ilene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best synopsis of the Holocaust I have ever read. It is very concise, yet challenges some common historical inaccuracies such as the over-stated significance of the Treaty of Versailles in causing the Germans to become so hateful. These different perspectives are well researched, documented, and supported. I think this is a book that anyone who loves history would enjoy. Nevertheless, if you aren't a history buff you may find it a bit dry. I however, really enjoyed it and learned a great deal from it. It had me consider the Holocaust from a different perspective. Considerable time is dedicated in the book to understanding the atrocities of Stalin and the Soviet Union upon the Jews during this same time period. I found it fascinating. It was so good that I will probably try to read every book in the series of "Critical Issues in History".

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly the best introduction to the topic I've come across, not to mention a book that is incredibly, incredibly well-written.

"In order for a house to burn down, three things are required. the timber must be dry and combustible, there needs to be a spark that ignites it, and external conditions have to be favorable--not too damp, perhaps some wind."

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book read for a class. A well written, concise oversight of the main issues of the holocaust. I enjoyed reading it, not because of the subject matter, but because it was presented in an easily understandable manner.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent concise history of the Holocaust

[Anna Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This history has no happy ending, no uplifting message of redemption. It leaves us only with human beings, with their startling capacity for good and evil, and with an awareness of the complex ties that connect the fates of people and nations all over the world."

A review of the 2nd edition. War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust is an apt title for this concise work that touches briefly on a number of topics, including the factors that contributed to the development of the Holocaust along with the varied active phases of the Holocaust throughout an increasingly Nazi-occupied Europe as the war continued.

The most important element of the book, in my opinion, is how Bergan highlights the high degree of complicity (and at best, ambivalence) required for the Holocaust to happen. Bergen shows how, again and again, the public barely seemed to respond as the Nazis gradually stripped people of their rights, freedom and finally, their lives. As Bergen notes of a former Hitler Youth who described his enthusiastic belief in the Nazi system, he "was no brainwashed automaton. He was just one of the millions of 'ordinary people' who, for all kinds of ordinary reasons, endorsed and accepted a brutal system."

I have two noted frustrations with the work. The first being that there are no proper citations--no footnotes or end notes. Bergen provides a selected bibliography for the chapters at the end of the book, but not an actual citations page. I think this does anyone utilizing the book for study a disservice, especially if one is trying to fact check specific information or dig into a topic further.

Another frustration is that the writing occasionally seems to ramble and lose track of itself. There were a few times where Bergen proposed addressing specific facts or elements of the Holocaust in the introduction of a chapter, and the chapter simply... did not actually circle back around to addressing them.

I would recommend this book as a concise primer for a basic history of the broad events that led to the development of the Holocaust, but with the caveat that Bergen does not provide standard footnotes and you'll have to do the legwork of research yourself if you want to look into anything further.

[Hal Triedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brutal, transfixing, and emotionally-draining read. Bergen lives up to the title of this book: it is concise, short, and direct, sometimes to an extent that is overwhelming. Coming one after another, the descriptions of unimaginable massacres, mass death, and inhuman cruelty felt crushing to read. I can't imagine the soul-destroying reality of living through it (or just witnessing a sliver of it).

What I appreciated most of all was Bergen's clarity in her moral perspective — she focuses on clearly and plainly presenting the suffering of Jews, disabled people, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and others. She delves into the ideas, events, and people that shaped Nazi thought and swept millions of ambivalent (or enthusiastic) Germans along for the ride. She details resistance, in all of its various shapes and forms. All the while, she explicitly refuses to turn the the Holocaust into a tale of monstrous men, political teleology, or redemptive suffering. It was a messy, complex time, in which normal people did unspeakable things and were forced to make impossible choices.

Highly recommend this book — not because it's easy, but because it's necessary.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent. The subtitle is accurate - it is concise. Not short, necessarily, but concise.

WW2 and the Holocaust is my favorite era of history to study. Perhaps because I see often so many parallels to what is going on in our modern world. But I haven’t taken the time to think about just how interconnected the two were…or how Hitler managed his rise to power…or the sheer unimaginable impact on so many people of the Holocaust. This book made me stop and think about each of these things.

I didn’t realize how much the Holocaust rose out of preconditions in Europe/Germany. Hitler didn’t bring in something new - he expanded on prejudices and thought processes already in place in his country.

I especially enjoyed the stories of resistance in chapter 7.

I could put several quotes here, but I think I’ll stick with this one that has had me thinking the most about its potential connection to todays world:
“In any case, leading Nazis found out that unanimous approval was not required. Indifference of the majority was all that was needed to carry out many plans.” (62)