ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Browning, Christopher R. "Daniel Goldhagens Willing Executioners." Review Essay (2002).
This journal is a review of Daniel Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. This journal partially agrees with the book and at the same time does not. Browning and Goldhagen agree on the fact that there was an extensive amount of voluntary participation from the Germans. They disagree on the reasoning why there was such immense participation. Goldhagen believes that the single reason for participation is anti-Semitism. He concludes in his book that every German had an underlying factor of hatred for the Jews and the Holocaust was an excuse for them to “unleash” it. Browning uses this journal to propose other reasons.
This journal was written by Christopher R. Browning, an American Historian of the Holocaust. He has his bachelors degree and his doctorate. This source seems very reliable. Browning has done may other review essays as well as wrote and co-wrote many other scholarly books. The research is objective because shows the loopholes in Goldhagen’s book. This essay presents the other side of Goldhagen’s argument.
This source directly fits my research. It shows a different viewpoint to the reasoning of the Germans participation. It points out where Hitler’s Willing Executioners might have some bias information.
Fackenheim, Emil L., and David Patterson. "Why the Holocaust Is Unique." Judaism 50.4 (2001).
This journal is a primary source. It is a diary of Emil Fackenheim’s life when WWII first started, all the way trough. He was a Jewish boy living in Germany at the start of WWII. His accounts were then further analyzed by David Patterson by research and relating them to other sources. It alsoreflects on the fate of German Jews during the Holocaust. This journal overviews of books written about Adolf Hitler and criticizes against the theory of Daniel Goldhagen on Jews-German relations.
This source is a reliable source because it is the accounts of Fackenheim, who was actually there. The information is slightly bias because Fackenheim was a victim of the Holocaust.
This source is useful for quotes from Fackenheim about how his German friends quickly turned into murderers. It is also useful when David Patterson uses the accounts t prove other arguments in the journal.
Glass, James M. Life Unworthy of Life.United States of America: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 1997.
James M. Glass uses group psychology to explain why ordinary Germans were voluntarily participating in the mass extermination of Jews. Group psychology explains how individually sane people can participate and tolerate actions that are insane when they are in these groups.
James Glass is a professor of government and politics. He is the author of several books on the interplay of psychology. The facts are well documented. I even found some of the sources used to be very relevant and useful to my research. This source seems reliable because James Glass is a well known writer on this topic.
I found this book very useful because it’s a very different perspective on the reason for the participation of the Germans in the Jew’s murder. I could use this book for an argument to prove my essay.
Goldhagen, Daniel J. Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust.New York: Random House, Inc., 1996.
Daniel Goldhagen wrote this book to bust common myths about the Holocaust: that Germans did not know about the mass destruction of Jews, that the kills were only SS men, and that those who slaughter did so reluctantly. He believes that the Holocaust was an excuse for the Germans to act upon their Anti-Semitist feelings.
Daniel Goldhagen is Associate Professor of Government and Social Studies at HarvardUniversity. This book has had many reviews written on it. I have the many points made against this book. This book is very scholarly. Sometimes the language is hard to understand. You need a lot of background information on the war to fully understand some of the points made. The information is biased sometimes because the testimonies were interpreted differently by Goldhagen than many other historians.
This book is useful to my research. I could use this book as one of my arguments in my essay. One of the reasons that the Germans were participating in the destruction of Jews is because they already had Anti-Semitist feeling before the war. This book is also useful because many review essays were wrote about it which bring up other interesting points.
Klee, Ernst, Willi Dressen, and Volker Riess. Those Were the Days.Great Britain: Hamish Hamilton, 1991.
This book deals with the reasoning behind the participation of ordinary Germans in the mass murder of Jews. It brings up the issue of the Grenzpolizeikommissariat. They were perfectly happy to take part in shootings and had fun doing it because of brainwashing. Ernst Klee brings up the point that people are greedy and wanted money and gold. There were always goods up for grabs in the killing of Jews.
Ernst Klee is contributor to Die Zeit and has written articles and academic papers on the extermination camps. Willi Dressen worked at the centre for the National Administration of Justice for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes. Volker Riess is a historian. The language in this book is sometimes hard to understand. This book does not have any new points other than the ones that have already been discussed in many other books.
This book is useful to me for the interviews, diaries, letters, reports, and eyes-witness accounts. This book is not useful to me in any other ways because it does not bring up many other points than I have already found in other books. Some of the author’s credentials are slightly irrelevant to the book they wrote.
Van Liempt, Ad. Hitler's Bounty Hunters: The Betrayal of the Jews.New York: Oxford International Publishers Ltd., 2005.
This book answers the question why Nazis were so successful in deporting Jews, and why families such a as Anne Franks were turned in. Van Liempt’s book focuses on the practices of Dutch bounty hunters of the Jews, and reveals that ordinary men were prepared to turn over their Jewish neighbors in exchange for cash.
This book is popular and scholarly. Ad Van Liempt did not note his credentials he had to write this book. It seemed like a reliable source because all of the sources used were footnoted properly. The information is objective. It’s from a third person perspective on the lives of Dutch bounty hunters of Jews. The source is very current because it was first published in 2002 and then translated into English in 2005.
This book slightly too narrowed of a topic for my research. It is useful for certain points brought up in this book. I am hesitant of how reliable this source because Van Liempt credentials were not noted and I could not find any on the Internet.
Moses, A. D. "Structure and Agency in the Holocaust: Daniel J. Goldhagen and His Critics." History & Theory 37.2 (1998).
This journal identifies and discussesthe underlying issues that contributed to the Holocaust, with reference to Daniel J. Goldhagen’s Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust.
This journal is scholarly. The language is very advanced. This source is very reliable. All of the sources are properly documented. I could not find any credentials for A. D. Moses. The information is objective because Moses is writing about his findings after reading Goldhagen’s work.
This journal, in some points, is to advanced for me. The journal does not have much new evidence than previous sources I have found. I have also found the same information in other sources more clearly written.
Rosen, James. "Willing Executioners." The American Spectator (2005): 70-73.
This journal is a review essay for Edward B. Westermann’s Hitler’s Police Battalions: Enforcing Racial War in the East. This review essay agrees greatly with Westermann’s book.
This is a reliable source because all the sources are properly documented. James Rosen is a Fox News Washington Correspondent. This source is objective. It is published in a respected Journal, The American Spectator. Its reviews were good as well.
This journal could be useful to my researchbut it is a little specific to police and my research is more focused towards the ordinary men of Germany. This journal is still relevant to my research because it deals with the contributing facts that turn good police into corrupt.