Rethinking the Holocaust
By Yehuda Bauer
(335 Pages)Publisher: Yale University Press, 2001
Yehuda Bauer, one of the world's premier historians of the Holocaust, here presents an insightful overview and reconsideration of its history and meaning. Drawing on research he and other historians have done in recent years, he offers fresh opinions on such basic issues as how to define and explain the Holocaust; whether it can be compared with other genocides; how Jews reacted to the murder campaign against them; and what the connection is between the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel.
He analyzes explanations of the Holocaust by other authors and then offers his own interpretation. Providing fascinating narratives as examples, he deals with reactions of Jewish men and women during the Holocaust and tells of several attempts at rescue operations. He explores the theology of the Holocaust and the connection with the founding of the State of Israel.