The Coming of the Holocaust: From Antisemitism to Genocide

316 Pages·2013·1.925 MB·English

by  Peter Kenez

TheComingoftheHolocaust
FromAntisemitismtoGenocide
The Coming of the Holocaust aims to help readers understand the
circumstances that made the Holocaust possible. Peter Kenez demon-
stratesthattheoccurrenceoftheHolocaustwasnotpredeterminedas
aresultofmodernhistory,butinsteadwastheresultofcontingencies.
Heshowsthatthreepreconditionshadtoexistforthegenocidetotake
place:modernantisemitism,meaningJewshadtobecomeeconomically
andculturallysuccessfulinthepost–FrenchRevolutionworldtoarouse
fearratherthancontempt;anextremistgrouppossessingadeeplyheld,
irrational, and profoundly inhumane worldview had to take control
of the machinery of a powerful modern state; and the context of a
majorwarwithmasskillings.Thebookalsodiscussesthecorrelations
betweensocialandhistoricaldifferencesinindividualcountriesregard-
ingthe“success”oftheGermansintheirefforttoexterminateJews.
PeterKenezisEmeritusProfessorofHistory,UniversityofCalifornia,
SantaCruz.Heistheauthorofmanybooks,includingHungaryfrom
theNazistotheSoviets:TheEstablishmentoftheCommunistRegime
in Hungary, 1944–1948 (Cambridge 2006); A History of the Soviet
UnionfromtheBeginningtotheEnd(2ndedition,Cambridge2006);
and Red Attack, White Resistance (2005). He is a board member for
thejournalRevolutionaryRussia.

The Coming of the Holocaust
From Antisemitism to Genocide
PETER KENEZ
UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107636842
(cid:2)C PeterKenez2013
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Firstpublished2013
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
Kenez,Peter,author.
ThecomingoftheHolocaust:fromantisemitismtogenocide/PeterKenez,
UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-04335-0(hardback)–isbn978-1-107-63684-2(pbk.)
1.Holocaust,Jewish(1939–1945) 2.Jews–Persecutions–History.
3.Antisemitism–History. I.Title.
d804.3.k46 2013
940.53(cid:3)18–dc23 2013015315
isbn978-1-107-04335-0Hardback
isbn978-1-107-63684-2Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls
forexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot
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Contents
Acknowledgments pagevii
Introduction 1
part one: the rise of modern antisemitism
1 FrenchJews 11
2 JewsoftheRussianEmpireandoftheSovietUnion 30
3 HungarianJews 52
part two: the national socialists take control
of the german state machinery
4 NationalSocialismandtheJews 71
5 Propaganda 88
6 WhattoDowiththeJews? 103
part three: war
7 GhettosinPoland,1939–1941 127
8 TheHolocaustintheSovietUnion 151
9 TheRomanianHolocaust 176
10 Germany,1942 196
11 TheHolocaustinWesternEurope 205
12 TheLastIsland:Hungary,1932–1945 235
13 ExterminationCamps 261
14 Afterthoughts 289
Bibliography 295
Index 303
v

Acknowledgments
My friends have encouraged me while working on this manuscript, and
I am grateful for their support. The idea of writing this book grew out
ofacoursethatIhavebeenteachingfordecadeswithmyfriendandcol-
league, Murray Baumgarten, who therefore has heard all the arguments
thatarepresentedhere.Twoofmykindfriends,Ge´zaKa´llayandBruce
Thompson, read the entire manuscript and made helpful comments. I
havereceivedencouragementandadvicefrommyfriendsForrestRobin-
son,JohnGams,ErichHeftmann,andPaulHollander.Ihavebeenmost
influenced in my thinking by the writings of my friend, Viktor Kara´dy.
Mywife,Penelope,towhomthisbookisdedicated,readandcommented
ontheentiremanuscript.
vii