Book Review: Holocaust by Angela Gluck Wood Analyzed

Introduction: The Challenge of Holocaust Historiography

For some people alive today, the memories of the Holocaust — whether lived experience, family legacy, or cultural inheritance — remain painfully fresh. The indelible scars that the atrocity branded onto the world are continuously perceptible in an artistic, literary, and cultural tenacity that has persisted in reminding the collective of its responsibility to honor the victims of humanity's worst conceits. But as more time stretches between the systematic murder of six million Jews across Eastern Europe during World War II and the firsthand cognizance of such horrors in present-day witnesses, it will become increasingly difficult for historical observers to properly contextualize the precious testimonials that are currently available and the shocking statistical breadth of events directly related to them.

This challenge is especially acute given the emotionally charged nature that Holocaust historiography tends to take on. The culture which has formed around historical remembrance of the Holocaust is inextricably tied to the psyche of the Jewish people and, indeed, to the world's broader perspective on ethnic cleansing in any form. Museums, educational programs, and comprehensive textbooks are certainly practical to the function of education and enlightenment. However, in constructing such resources there is a singular challenge: to balance objectivism with a fair account of the truly heinous extent of events occurring during the Holocaust.

In its concise discussion points, its intensively dense collections of statistical information, and its faithful reference to survivor testimonies, the text simply entitled Holocaust by Angela Gluck Wood has contributed a thorough and emotionally balanced perspective on the events of isolation, encampment, and genocide that were obsessively pursued by the Nazis.

Framing Jewish History Through the Lens of Anti-Semitism

The text is largely centered on the history of the Jews, framing the Holocaust as the pivotal event in the history of the Jewish people. By orienting the text through a carefully conceived introduction that remarks on the sequence of injustices visited upon the Jewish people throughout their history — and then proceeding to examine in ambitious breadth the implications of the Holocaust for Jewish life — Wood essentially tells the story of this group according to the persistence of anti-Semitism. This approach manifests in a tragic discussion on the vagaries of human nature, bringing an unusual life and humanism to a history hardback. Its collages of text and image, artifact and document are selected with careful attention to this sentiment, without ever becoming cloying or descending into condescending depictions of the victimized group.

Portraying the Perpetrators: Germans Under Nazism

Wood's treatment is assisted by an intriguing and nonetheless damning portrait of the Germans. The text illuminates the nature of the political and cultural pressures levied upon an economically embattled population. Of this, Wood writes that "at first there was little support for the Nazis in Germany, but they learned the powerful appeal of uniforms, symbols, rallies, and salutes from the experience of Italian fascists. Nazi theories of race also helped to make ordinary Germans feel superior and strengthened popular support" (Wood, 34). Such passages are accompanied by visually compelling spreads that incorporate a broad and stunning array of images, illustrations, artifacts, and propaganda materials.

Among the accompanying photographs are images of Germans — especially young children — held in collective thrall while extending the one-armed Hitler salute. These images drive home the disturbing human elements of the Holocaust, showing its perpetrators to be, frankly, ordinary people. On the same page, an advertisement featuring an attractive young Aryan girl solicits donations to the Hitler Youth, subtly reinforcing the racial superiority posited by the Third Reich.

Conclusion: The Enduring Power of Wood's Account

It is moving to read Wood's discussion on the moment at which the world became fully aware of the atrocities committed by the Germans. The text tells that "the soldiers in the liberating armies, whether Soviet, British, or American, were deeply shocked by what they found in the death camps and the horror has stayed with them" (Wood, 148). Indeed, this horror stays with the reader of Wood's text as well, indicating that she has effectively delivered — in appropriate detail — the realities and implications of the Holocaust.

References

Publisher's Weekly (PW). (2007). Review: "Holocaust." Amazon.com.

Wood, A.G. (2007). Holocaust. DK Children.