Life Unworothy of Life: Racial Phobia and Mass Murder in Hitler's Germany

by James M. Glass

Book Overview

In this path-breaking work of intellectual and cultural history, James M. Glass provides a provocative new answer to the questions about the Holocaust that bedevil us to this day: How and why did so... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465098444
• ISBN13: 9780465098446
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

'Life Unworthy of Life' is wonderful!

In his latest book, 'Life Unworthy of Life,' James M. Glass has artfully crafted a masterpiece in the fields of Holocaust literature and political psychology. He boldly challenges the reader to consider each idea he presents and come to his/her own conclusion. What may be ultimately difficult for the reader is that there is truly only one conclusion to come to: that the author is right. Many books written on the subject of the Holocaust present controversial theses as to the mindset, breadth of relevant knowledge of "what was really going on," and unique-monster attributes of every key (and not so key) individual involved in the mass slaughter of six million Jews. It is extraordinarily difficult to make palpable to a reader something so distasteful as the notion that an entire society or "race" could knowingly, systematically and enthusiastically murder so many. What is even harder to swallow is that there were signs and evidence along the way that The Final Solution would be the end result and yet, there was little to no mass repudiation within Weimar and Third Reich/Nazi society. James Glass has constructed a convincing argument in 'Life Unworthy of Life' and the reader ultimately must confront something within himself/herself and grapple with the notion that ordinary people will do and in fact HAVE DONE extraordinarily horrific things for irrational and illogical reasons. What's more, millions upon millions of people cooperated and agreed, volunteered and eagerly participated in the systematic dehumanization, destruction and mass murder of an entire people and culture. One lunatic is easy to understand. Millions of "normal" people going along with popular and ingrained sentiment which encourages and embraces hate and ostracization (leading to death) is not so easy to understand. James Glass explains it beautifully.