Robbing the Jews: The Confiscation of Jewish Property in the Holocaust, 1933-1945 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521888257)

Robbing the Jews reveals the mechanisms by which the Nazis and their allies confiscated Jewish property, demonstrating the close relationship between robbery and the Holocaust. The spoliation evolved in intensifying steps. The Anschluss and Kristallnacht in 1938 reveal a dynamic tension between pressure from below and state-directed measures. In Western Europe the economic persecution of the Jews took the form of legal decrees and administrative measures. In Eastern Europe authoritarian governments adopted the Nazi program that excluded Jews from the economy and seized their property, based on indigenous antisemitism and plans for ethnically homogenous nation states. In the occupied East, property was collected at the killing sites - the most valuable objects were sent to Berlin, items of lesser value supported the local administration and rewarded collaborators. At several key junctures robbery acted as a catalyst for genocide, accelerating the progression from pogrom to mass murder.

Author: Martin Dean
ISBN-10: 0521888255
ISBN-13: 9780521888257
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 09/01/2008
Pages: 448
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.70lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.50w x 1.30d
Award: National Jewish Book Award - Winner

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2009