This is a detailed account of the 20th century during the revolution of the anti-Semitism, spearheaded by Adolf Hitler who propagated later the worst horrors that human beings will ever come across. There is a clear description of the Holocaust and its events. The ideologies of the Nazis are reflected in the description of the Christian anti-Semitic roots. One gets shocked at the level of human cruelty that people can be capable to do. These injustices are being done to fellow human beings by torturers while others are watching and doing nothing about it. Described events are unbelievable and tragic.
The violence perpetrated against the Jewish population is disheartening and sickening. The belief by Hitler that there was satanic Jewish power was the root cause of all these evils. He was of the strong conviction that they had to be completely phased out and eradicated from society. Hitler felt they were the source of all evil and were not worth living. It is conspicuously clear that there was more than the World War II. Germany through its leader Hitler wanted much more than to conquer a territorial superiority. Among other things, the dictator wanted to get rid of the Jews completely. This ideology, one notes, was a result of Germany utter defeat in the World War I. There was bitterness since Jews were abandoned by almost all the Christian religious bodies located in Europe. Specifically, they were the Protestants and the Catholics. This promoted the formation of the Nazi agenda, which was fully supported by the Hitler regime that saw Jews as bacterias and vermins, thus, did not deserve to exist at all. One can find an effectively described grave and inhuman actions organized by Nazism during the Holocaust.
The Holocaust studies highlighted controversies that erupted then like the issue of ‘ordinary men’ and ‘ordinary Germans’. Debates arise about the functionalists who were said to hold to the opinion that the Holocaust was a result of the war and, on the other hand, the intentionalists who believed, on the contrary, that Hitler was the reason of the Jewish extermination agenda. It is provoking whereby we learn about the Holocaust representation in the ‘modernity and the Holocaust’.
Religious observers are holding the view that the Holocaust was a representation of the western civilization agenda. However, some scholars consider it as brutal outcomes that came as a result of the western modernity. The big ‘why’, at the beginning, reflects the main theme revolving around the whole anti-Semitism concept. There is a conceivable and logical view that anti-Semitism was inherent to other countries and brought adverse effects. Poland, Russia and Austria were among others. Holocaust was an event whereby there were huge numbers of people who participated though the times were described as evil. It was a time when society adopted a carefree attitude and had problems in distinguishing what was good and what was evil. A new religion was born at the era of Hasmonean’s under the Roman yoke. The Jewish people were condemned and demonized. The hostility is clearly portrayed in their researches, specifically in their writings. The Christianity victory led to an increasing oppression. In his writings, Martin Luther King highlighted that this hatred was mutual to the affected parties. The genocide that was organized to and by the Armenians, the Gulag in Russia and the general suffering that happened in Roma were the most terrible atrocities committed then.
The disillusionment that faces Europe immediately after the World War 1 was overwhelming and the results were tragic if not underproductive. There were pointless deaths and massacres which paved way for the development of revolutionary movements. Communism and fascism were the main movements that cropped up at that time. In 1933, when Hitler gained power, German Jews started leaving the country. He had a secular salvation ideology that was crafted in his speeches to insinuate that Christ was using him to fight the Jews. Jews were safe for a moment, until Germans invaded Hungary, where they had sought shelter. This was in 1944. Despite protests and efforts by some sympathizers ‘Calvinists’, they were deported to Poland. This created a tension brought about an indifference and hostility among them.
Some countries were successful in rescuing their Jewish country men like Denmark. They did so by ferrying them to Sweden. Countries like United States and Great Britain sacrificed a lot in this battle. They introduced strict immigration policies. The most terrible action happened when they turned back an ocean liner Roosevelt which had Jewish refugees on board. They were all murdered on getting back. The Holocaust we come to realize was inspired by sadist ideologies which were enhanced by the large religious groups of Western Europe. They saw sacrificing human life as the only way to acquire and gain redemption.
The great endnotes are vital and successfully help one gain acknowledge and better understanding of what transpired during that time. They also help to gain insights on the world history of what happened and why. One gets to know why there are tensions among different countries worldwide. This is because of historical differences that they shared ago. The knowledge on historical injustices can be gained without even any other secondary source. The book is complete in its findings and description. The style used is also engaging and fluent which erases boredom. However, it should be read after some insights or a hint on what might have happened before reading this fictional format.