Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust - Language, Rhetoric and the Traditions of Hatred

Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust surveys the history of the Holocaust whilst demonstrating the pivotal importance of the historical tradition of anti-Semitism and the power of discriminatory language in relation to the Nazi-led persecution of the Jews.The book examines varieties of anti-Semitism that have existed throughout history, from religious anti-Semitism in the ancient Roman Empire to the racial anti-Semitism of political anti-Semites in Germany and Austria in the late 19th century. Beth A. Griech-Polelle analyzes the tropes, imagery, legends, myths and stereotypes about Jews that have surfaced at these various points in time. Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust considers how this language helped to engender an innate distrust, dislike and even hatred of the Jews in 20th-century Europe. She explores the shattering impact of the First World War and the rise of Weimar Germany, Hitler's rhetoric and the first phase of Nazi anti-Semitism before illustrating how ghettos, SS Einsatzgruppen killing squads, death camps and death marches were used to drive this anti-Semitic feeling towards genocide. With a wealth of primary source material, a thorough engagement with significant Holocaust scholarship and numerous illustrations, reading lists and a glossary to provide further support, this is a vital book for any student of the Holocaust keen to know more about the language of hate which fuelled it.

About the author

Beth A. Griech-Polelle is Kurt Mayer Chair of Holocaust Studies and Associate Professor of History at Pacific Lutheran University, USA. She is the author of Bishop von Galen: German Catholicism and National Socialism (2002). She is also the editor of The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial and Its Policy Consequences (2009; 2nd Ed., 2020) and the co-editor, along with Christina Guenther, of Trajectories of Memory: Intergenerational Representations of the Holocaust in History and the Arts (2008).

Product details

• Authors: Beth A Griech-Polelle, Beth A. Griech-Polelle
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.01.2017
• EAN: 9781472586926
• ISBN: 978-1-4725-8692-6
• No. of pages: 296
• Series: Perspectives on the Holocaust; Perspectives on the Holocaust
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Europe, European History, HISTORY / Europe / General, 20th Century, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / Jewish, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Jewish Studies, Jewish Studies, Second World War, The Holocaust, c 1940 to c 1949, Relating to Jewish people and groups, Social groups: religious groups and communities, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / Holocaust, History / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / European Theater