The Holocaust Chronicle: A History in Words and Pictures

Three books in one: A detailed 1) history, 2)timeline and 3)personal vignettes that create a rich hologram-like view of the enabling preconditions, actual events and aftermath of the Genocide of the Jews of Europe at the hands of the Nazis. Back in July of this year, I wrote a review of Ellie Wiesel's "Night," a new edition that had been translated by his own daughter. This small book captured the essence of one man's subjective experience with the subject of this much larger effort, contributed to by dozens of historians and scholars and published by a non-profit organization. This is not a `sit down and read a book today' publication. Each of it's 750 richly illustrated pages are packed with personal stories about individual people, a detailed on-going time-line, detailed with specific events beginning in 1500 BCE (The modern Jewish term for "BC", standing for "Before the Common Era."), and passing through the establishment of the State of Israel and into the late 1990's, and a continuous narrative history of more details than most people have ever imagined were available in the telling of this particularly horrific tale of humanity gone wrong. There is, in fact, so much information, that each page calls for a slow overview, and then at least several readings to capture the totality of what is being presented. It is a book to which ongoing time must be devoted to really appreciate what it gives us: As Dragnet's Sgt. Joe Friday would have said, "Nothing but the facts." The Preconditions: Through hundreds of historical, scholarly, organizational and literary references, this book makes it clear that without certain preconditions having been developing in European (and, indeed, in world-wide) culture for many centuries, Hitler could never of orchestrated what in the Jewish Community is referred to as the Sho'ah. Ascribing Germany's readiness to follow their fascist leader and his cronies into the annihilation of about six-million Jews as well as millions of Catholics, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, physically handicapped and mentally ill people, homosexuals and others to the aftermath of Versailles is shown to be a gross over-simplification. Anti Semitism (not always known by that now well-known name) had existed across the face of much of the globe for many centuries. The realities across the world, indeed including here in our own United States, were active contributors to creating the preconditions that allowed the Holocaust to happen. Impressive in this particular book is that unlike so many others, the authors painstakingly provide documentary evidence and facts that support this and other key concepts. As is the case with the other two parallel tracks of this volume, the actual events of the Holocaust itself and the aftermath, the preconditions are examined and documented through all three of the `tracks' of this book: The narrative history, the timeline and the individual storied and personal vignettes. The Event Itself: The Holocaust its

I have read extensively on the holocaust, visited many of the ghettoes of Europe and this year visited Auschwitz/Birkenau.Amazingly it was this book that gave me the feeling that I finally understood something of the enormity of the pain and suffering and the amazing heroism of many of Europe's Jews in withstanding the assault initiated by the Nazis and extended by many others...it made me simultaneoulsy proud to be a human and also ashamed.There are a few flaws.. but they are overwhelmed by the incredible array of facts and human stories that populate its pages...It is what a book should be.

This is a vivid and monumental work, and should be lauded on the basis of its many merits. One of them is that this enormously complex subject is often explained in one number: Six million. It is a mind boggling number that a person cannot readily comprehend, and therefore any personal value attached to this tragedy is often not felt. The Holocaust Chronicle has taken a step to correct this, using an absolute wealth of photographs (many you have probably never seen before) to try and present to the reader the progression of Nazi malice against European Jews. It simply does a wonderful job of making this information not only readable but easy to digest. Every page contains multiple photos, and a timeline runs along the bottom of every page relating some form of persecution that happened on that month and year. Every other page has a yellow box with the personal story of someone who either suffered at the hands of the Nazis, someone who helped the Jews in their plight or someone who committed horriffic crimes against humanity. This book is written in easy-to-read style, and I think the intent is to convey this terrible chapter of humanity in a way that will not only be easily understood but also something the reader finds interesting and knowledgeable. This history is perfectly balanced, and the research is outstanding. An excellent reference in the back allows you to look up the exact dates that many anti-Jewish laws were enacted or abuses were committed, making this an excellent choice for anyone wanting to educate young adults on this sad chapter of humanity. One other thing: There is always a Holocaust denier in every group, and this subject always bring one out of every crowd. Please commpletely disregard the reviewer comments that are titled "Inaccurate and Shameful", as nothing could be farther from the truth. This is a work of historical integrity that should be in every High School library.

This massive volume is undoubtedly the most comprehensive collection of text, illustrations, and pictures that I have ever encountered. Never before have I seen such care and thoroughness applied to a book about the Holocaust. Every single page is packed, and I mean PACKED, with every tidbit of information you could possibly want to know. You could literally spend hours with it in your lap and just scratch the surface of what's inside. The appeal of this title not only applies to research afficionados but to the general public as well. The style in which it is written flows very easily and does not sound like an encyclopedia entry, which would turn me right off. This book is an absolute and definitive must for any person who has an interest in the history of the Holocaust. Do yourself a favor. Track down this book and buy it on the spot!

What an amazing book! It's about time that a book waspublished about the Holocaust that is as easily accessible andreadible as "The Holocaust Chronicle" is.As a Jewish high school educator, I know that this book will be a valuable resource in my classroom for years to come.It is a difficult subject, and therefore this book can be exhausting as you leaf through it's almost 800 pages, but it is a subject that needs to discussed and taught for generations to come.Buy this book. Give it to your school, put it on your bookshelf at home. You will be glad you did.