Selling the Holocaust: From Auschwitz to Schindler; How History Is Bought, Packaged and Sold

The title "Selling The Holocaust" does not do the book credit -- Cole is not uncovering a "Holocaust marketing conspiracy", rather he is looking at and analysing several places and people that have become a mainstay of modern Holocaust discourse, such as Yad Vashem, Oskar Schindler and Anne Frank. The book does not come up with a succinct answer or bottom - line analysis, instead it plainly offers food for thought, which is good enough for me. If you are interested in the subject matter you should also read Peter Novick's "Holocaust In American Society" (title varies somewhat depending on the country of publication).

A brave and much needed voice in a sea of corrupt and greedy Holocaust industry. A necessary companion to Mr. Norman Finkelstein's expose on the same subject. A handful of moguls and profiteers are raking in millions of dollars by turning one of history's most tragic events into a money machine. Most shocking of all - the people involved in the Holocaust industry are continuing to get away it!

Our "love affair" with the Holocaust has gone beyond comprehension, to the point of ignoring all other acts of genocide. Certainly, as Bosnians were being ethnically cleansed, I received an advertisement to donate money to build the American Holocaust Museum which now stands in Washington DC. How about doing something novel, like using the money to help victims of genocide which was happening here and now?The Holocaust has also allowed Israel--besides giving it its reason for being--to operate outside of international law and conduct their own little holocaust on the Palestinians. But shielded by the memory of the Holocaust, they can steal, kill, torture, expell, conquer--do whatever they like because remember, they suffered terribly.Thank you, Mr. Cole, for finally starting to put this into perspective.

"Selling the Holocaust" is an excellent study of how history is presented. While Tim Cole uses the Holocaust as the subject for this particular study what he shows is how history generally develops at various times and in various places.History-at any particular time and place--is a refining and processing of pertinent facts with the cultural values of the existing establishment that creates a `myth' of the historic reality. Different times in the same place or different places at the same time result in varying `myths'.The subtitle of the book--"From Auschwitz to Schindler, How History is Bought, Packaged and Sold"-is most appropriate in expressing this manipulation of historic events to conform to a particular country's existing policies.Cole analyzes six subjects for illustration: the diary of Anne Frank; the trial of Adolf Eichmann; Steven Sondheim's film "Schindler's List"; the concentration camp at Auschwitz; the Israeli memorial of Yad Vashem; and the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C.By exploring each, he shows us that in different places (Israel, United States, Poland) and at different times (post World War II, post six-day war, `80s, `90s) the Holocaust has been interpreted and portrayed differently. The cultural values of each unique time and place determine how we perceive the Holocaust.This is obviously a study of how all of history is revealed. Events looked at in distant places and times acquire different meanings-often at variance with what actually occurred. Writers who challenge conventional history by disclosing the truth are usually criticized as revisionists and are reviled and disregarded by the establishment.This analysis is obviously in conflict with the author's message and with other readers' interpretations. Nevertheless, it relies on six excellent case studies for validation.

As a Jewish American born in the waning days of World War II, I heard much of camps, crematoria and other horrible atrocities directed exclusively and uniquely against my people because of our religion. Imagine my surprise when I began dating the Polish Catholic woman who is now my wife. Her grandfather a partisan, was beaten to death in Auschwitz. Her grandmother, mother and aunts, within moments of being shot because of his activities, were somehow spared and sent to work camps where they would have starved if not for the rats they ate. She too grew up hearing of Nazi atrocities directed against the Poles whose nation was destroyed, oh and yes, the Jews too. She found it incomprehensible for me to seek exclusive posession of a holocaust which did not personally harm me or any of my family, but nearly destroyed hers! Fortunately for our marriage we share many other less contentious areas. This fascinating book has allowed me to see how different groups (Americans, Poles, Israelis, Communists etc.)spin the holocaust to suit their weltanschaung. Perhaps Claude Lanzman (director of the epic "Shoah") is right...there can be, there should be, no intelligent discussion of the holocaust. Now if I can only get Anna to read it!