History of an Obsession

by Klaus P. Fischer

Book Overview

Klaus Fischer charts the tortured history of German-Jewish relations over a millennium, from migration and ghettoization in the Middle Ages to enlightenment and emancipation in the eighteenth century... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826410898
• ISBN13: 9780826410894
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Continuum
• Length: 532 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Historical Perspective of the Holocaust

Having read some 39 books on the Holocaust, Mr. Fischer's is perhaps the best for gaining a general overview of what took place in the German psyche. His approach is much less spectacular than others who have been criticised for condemning the entire German populace for the murder of millions; however, there is little doubt in Mr. Fischer's mind that Hitler had grassroot support from the very beginning. Mr. Fischer does a creditble job of reviewing the historical make-up of the German Judeophobia, which began centuries ago. The book is well-written, and illicits enough controversy to keep the reader on his toes. Again, a wonderful read for anyone seeking a general historical perspective on Nazi Germany.

Intelligent & Provocative Look At Causes of The Holocaust

This is an interesting and quite diverting study of the Holocaust in terms of what the author describes as a pathological, irrational fear of and prejudice toward Jews which he argues quite convincingly characterized the German people in the decades leading up to the Second World War. Rather than refer to this syndrome as a virulent form of anti-Semitism, he calls it "Judeophobia", maintaining it constitutes a culturally unique psychodynamic form of such prejudice and fear found most profoundly affecting the worldview and general attitudes of the Germans of the early 20th century. Of course, no other phenomenon in this century had been so psychologized as the Holocaust, yet one finds much to learn from this latest effort to understand how an otherwise culturally advanced and civilized society such as Germany could have participated so willingly in the horrific torture and murder of the Jews. He easily illustrates (long before Daniel Goldhagen, by the way) the logical fallacy involved in subscribing to the self-serving "I didn't know what was going on" excuses that attribute sole blame for the events in Germany to the National Socialists and the exclusive egregious excesses of the fabled Nazi organizations such as the SS or Gestapo. According to Fischer, there were far too many people involved in the activities collectively referred to as the Holocaust to take such protests of individual benign ignorance of the systematic collection, deportation, and murder of the Jews seriously. One would have had to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to recognize what was happening all around them. As others have argued since, the truth of the events seem to be a complex web of fear, cowardice and opportunism in a society in which all norms of civilized behavior had suddenly vanished in favor of terror, intimidation, and a feeling it was "every creep for himself". Under such circumstances, it is no surprise to see so many of these cretins then drift out of the woodwork and into public and political prominence. Fortunes were made and careers established at the expense of the Jews. The author also covers a lot of historical ground in tracing the origins and promulgation of "Judeophobia", going back literally into antiquity to discover and analyze its roots in Christian doctrine as early as St. Paul, and ascribing early forms of virulent "Jew-hatred" in vestiges of the Crusades, and an element of such anti-Semitic attitudes in Torquemada and the first Grand Inquisition. Yet, while the fortunes of the European Jews rose and fell with some gravity over the centuries, nothing approaching the level of systematic persecution, displacement, and murder of the Third Reich can be found in history. He also argues quite eloquently that the ideological impetus for the Holocaust was located in the ordinary German's propensity for easy answers and convenient self-delusion. Associated with this, of course, are the wicked excesses resulting from

Insightful Inquiry into the Causes of the Holocaust

Klaus Fischer, the author of one of the most enlightening recent histories of Nazi Germany that I've encountered, tackles here the thorny question of the causes of the Holocaust from the perspective of German history and social psychology. He presents an intriguing multi-causal explanation, pointing (among other things) to the key role of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, and the ensuing instability of German society and politics; the separate, very visible identity of Jews in Germany despite widespread assimilation; a historic German inability to answer conclusively what it means to be a German; and a German unwillingness (that persists to the present) to foster a pluralistic, diverse society. Less satisfying are explanations that point to particular elements of the German character, such as blind obedience, orderliness, authoritarianism, militarism, etc. This is a pithy book, not for those seeking snap answers to difficult historical questions, however. The author has mined the historiographic literature as well as contemporary sources to illustrate amply the points he makes. One of the few criticisms I would register, however, is that Fischer seems excessively sanguine in his belief that the Holocaust could never happen again in the future in Germany. Certainly, people's unwillingness to believe that a progrom of this extent could happen in this enlightened "nation of Dichter und Denker" (poets and philosphers) in the first place was one of the reason that Hitler succeeded with relatively little interference from inside or outside Germany until it was too late. Even despite the fact of 50 years of strong democratic tradition in Germany since the war, continued incidents of xenophobic terrorism and the continued strength of racist right wing parties in the country indicate that continued vigilance is in order.But the book offers a balanced, articulate analysis of German Judeophobia--the author rightly uses this term in place of anti-Semitism-- and the horrible results that it produced. It is a book well worth reading for anyone interested in this area.