Review

General Books

Omer Bartov's edited volume is an important contribution to Holocaust studies. As part of the Routledge series, "Rewriting Histories," this volume includes an introductory essay by Bartov analyzing both historic and contemporary scholarship on the topic in three areas: the Holocaust's origins, implementation of genocidal policies, and the aftermath of the Holocaust. Bartov's introductory essay begins with a summary of major historic interpretive structures that have dominated Holocaust studies to the 1980s: the study of totalitarian ideology, the role of European Fascism as the end of capitalism, and the Holocaust as the outcome of historic anti-Semitism. Contrasting more recent scholarship with these interpretations, Bartov presents the book's contents within a tripartite structure or "Origins," "Implementation" and "Aftermath." The "Origins" section includes major historians in the field—Raul Hilberg, Michael Burleigh and Henry Friedlander—who present different perspectives on the origins of the Holocaust, while establishing connections between long-term antecedents of the Shoah and elements of modernity (examples include science, bureaucratization and amorality. Regarding "Implementation," Bartov reviews the intentionalist-functionalist debate that since the 1970s has been a major focus of Holocaust scholarship and then critiques that debate. He notes that the two poles of interpretation (intentionalist—a "straight line" from emergence of Nazism to the "final solution"; versus functionalist—the "final solution" emerging from decisions made by trial and error or defined by wartime conditions, and not resulting from a preconceived plan for annihilation of the Jews) are now moving closer together, based upon newer scholarship. In particular, more recent scholarly emphasis on studies of "average" perpetrators, bystanders and survivors, highlighted by extensive use of first-person accounts (examples include the Klee, Dressen and Riess, Horwitz and Kovaly chapters) illustrate how everyday decision-making and behaviors were often influenced by factors drawing from both perspectives. "Aftermath" addresses the complexities of memory and how survivors and contemporary observers come to terms with the Holocaust's legacy. Efforts at Holocaust denial and revisionism are discussed by Bartov, with particular reference to Primo Levi's essay "The Gray Zone" and Alain Finkielkraut's study of the Klaus Barbie trial. Bartov correctly distinguishes between scholarly revisionism that provides legitimate efforts in rethinking historic interpretations, and the negationism undertaken by individuals who deny the very existence of the Holocaust, or who seek to minimize its scale and significance.	1
Bartov's brief introductions to each chapter also place their contents in the larger context of Holocaust scholarship, as well as within the broad structure of the contributor's own work. Because many of the book's chapters are excerpts from more extensive works, these introductions are pathways to further study of the topic. This volume is a useful starting point for teachers desiring a structured anthology illustrating the major historiographic trends in the field. Teachers using this volume will find it well organized and highly readable, and if they pursue detailed study of the larger works from which many of the chapters are excerpted, they will establish a solid foundation for their own teaching of Holocaust history. Because the book is not an encyclopedic review of all Holocaust historical studies, readers will not find specific chapters devoted to case studies of the Holocaust's impact in specific European countries, nor how the Holocaust is represented in film, art, or music. Literary representations of survivors are discussed in the Langer and Levi chapters of the "Aftermath" section, but the primary focus is the work of historians. Teachers considering classroom adoption of this volume should employ it with a narrative history of the Holocaust, since the complexity of the issues requires a thorough familiarity with nineteenth/twentieth century European history. It is appropriate for undergraduate use when coupled with a strong narrative history of the Shoah, such as Leni Yahil's The Holocaust: The Fate of European Jewry (New York: Oxford U. Press, 1991) and excerpts can be used with capable secondary school students possessing a strong foundation in the history of the rise and fall of Nazi Germany.	2
The appearance of Bartov's The Holocaust: Origins, Implementation, Aftermath challenges publishers in the field of Holocaust studies to prepare comparable anthologies in the fields of Holocaust memoirs, art, music, poetry and film containing the same level of critical commentary and reflecting the broad understanding of scholarship evident in Bartov's work. The development of these related anthologies would provide excellent guidance to teachers seeking to enrich their understanding of this most critical topic through use of multiple perspectives drawn from the humanities and social sciences.	3
William R. Fernekes

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