Ideology of Death

The book deals with every possible form of anti-Judaism from the early days of Christianity in Europe through to the Reformation, World War I and World war II. The amount of research that must have gone into creating this book boggles the mind. The author shows clearly why the Holocaust happened in Austria/Germany and not in France, Spain, Italy or Great Britain. Topics discussed are many and include Martin Luther, Racial Purity, Patriotism, Anti-Democracy, Anti-Semitism as embedded government policy, Eugenics.

This was one of the first books I read on the historical anti-semitism in Germany. It is a great source beginning with the first Jews on German territories and their slow spiral toward the 'Final Solution" being initiated by the Germans in WWII. Although in fact many German Jews were converted or left and the majority of those Germans killed weren't Jews it is an important study to see how German anti-semitism was fostered throughout the centuries. Starting from the 'Hep! Hep!' riots in early 19th century the Jews of Germany were no longer reasonably safe within German territory and as a result some of the first immigrations to the US were German Jews. I found particularly interesting that rabid anti-semites would be seen walking the streets in Germany and mumbling to themselves "Jesus couldn't have been Jewish!" Even more interesting was that when Martin Luther saw he couldn't convert the Jews to his ideas he turned against them and in the end the Church itself labeled him a Jew for his ideas. An important work that will explain anti-semitism in Germany and how racist ideas came about and turned such a cultured and productive society into a genocidal machine during WWII.

An exceptional book full of important historical detail. Weiss makes clear that Hitler's anti- semitism was not unique. That, in fact, German and Austrian society was permiatted for decades by hatred for Jews, Slavs, and Gypsys. He traces the roots of anti-Semitism. The writing is excellent and the presentation is logical and easy to follow. The only falt I found with this book is that Weiss mainly used secondary insead of primary sources.

There are thousands of books on this subject, many filled with fact, conjecture and feeling. This work has all of that and more: it convinces you that the Holocast was not the result of one man's demented ideology but that is was rather the result of a long history of racism and hate in Germany. While being scholarly, the book is not heavy-handed or dull. It lays out the scenario for murder with chilling detail, starting off with the Crusades and then running through the Reformation and Enlightenment before tackling Nazism, the end product of such ongoing thought. This book should be read by any and all desiring a full understanding of how the Holocaust came into being.