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  • Experts

The Holocaust

Most Recommended Books

If This Is a Man by Primo Levi

“It’s hard to believe that the human frame can survive under such circumstances, let alone survive to write something like this.”

Kate McLoughlin, Literary Scholar

Read more

Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning

“The takeaway from reading this horror-filled book is that depredations on the scale of those that Browning describes can be perpetrated anywhere and by anyone.”

Lawrence Kaplan, Journalist

Read more

Even though it's been three quarters of a century since the concentration camps were liberated and the full horrors of the Holocaust revealed to the world at the end of the Second World War, there is no let-up in the volume of books trying to understand what caused it, what it meant and how to stop it happening again. We have interviews that touch on the Holocaust from every angle.

Steven Katz, professor in Jewish Holocaust Studies at Boston University chooses his best books on the Holocaust, choosing memoirs from the victims as well as studies that have explored the motivations and methods of the perpetrators. He also talks about how the systematic study of the Holocaust as an historical event did not really take off until well after the end of the second world war. Hester Vaizey, lecturer in modern European history at Cambridge, considers modern German history. Four of her five books touch on the Holocaust. Abraham Foxman, head of the Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City, discusses anti-semitism, arguing that the Holocaust can only be understood by understanding the historical roots of anti-semitism. Carmen Callil, founder of the Virago Press, touches on French (and Catholic) complicity in the horrors of the Holocaust in her interview on 'The Other France'.

Kate McLoughlin in her interview on war writing, Simon Mawer in his on forgiveness and Aleksander Hemon in his on man’s inhumanity to man all choose Primo Levi’s If This Is a Man.

In other interviews the wider aftershocks of the Holocaust are assessed. Historian Norman Naimark considers how the Holocaust has influenced legal and ethical thinking about broader issues of genocide. Michael Goldfarb discusses its impact on the politics and culture of Israel and Laurence Kaplan talks  about how it continues to influence debates around US intervention overseas. Zainab Salbi relates how she was inspired to set up Women for Women International while studying the Holocaust and reading about the atrocities being committed in Bosnia in the 1990s.

    The best books on Concentration Camps, recommended by Andrea Pitzer

  • Read
    The best books on Concentration Camps - Time Stood Still: My Internment in England, 1914-1918 by Paul Cohen-Portheim

    1

    Time Stood Still: My Internment in England, 1914-1918
    by Paul Cohen-Portheim

  • Read
    The best books on Concentration Camps - KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann

    2

    KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps
    by Nikolaus Wachsmann

  • Read
    The best books on Concentration Camps - Under Two Dictators: Prisoner of Stalin and Hitler by Margarete Buber-Neumann

    3

    Under Two Dictators: Prisoner of Stalin and Hitler
    by Margarete Buber-Neumann

  • Read
    The best books on Concentration Camps - I Survived Auschwitz by Krystyna Zywulska

    4

    I Survived Auschwitz
    by Krystyna Zywulska

  • Read
    The best books on Concentration Camps - Bitter Winds by Harry Wu

    5

    Bitter Winds
    by Harry Wu

The best books on Concentration Camps, recommended by Andrea Pitzer

Most of us associate concentration camps with Nazi Germany, but they are not, in fact, relics of the past or confined to one particular episode of history. Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, talks us through memoirs and books that illuminate a tool that has been widely used, since the late 19th century, for the mass detention of civilians without trial.

    The best books on Auschwitz, recommended by Mary Fulbrook

  • Read
    The best books on Auschwitz - Auschwitz and After by Charlotte Delbo

    1

    Auschwitz and After
    by Charlotte Delbo

  • Read
    The best books on Auschwitz - Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

    2

    Man's Search for Meaning
    by Viktor Frankl

  • Read
    The best books on Auschwitz - The Search: The Birkenau Boys by Gerhard Durlacher

    3

    The Search: The Birkenau Boys
    by Gerhard Durlacher

  • Read
    The best books on Auschwitz - The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial, 1963-1965: Genocide, History and the Limits of the Law by Devin O Pendas

    4

    The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial, 1963-1965: Genocide, History and the Limits of the Law
    by Devin O Pendas

  • Read
    The best books on Auschwitz - Underground in Berlin: A Young Woman's Extraordinary Tale of Survival in the Heart of Nazi Germany by Marie Jalowicz-Simon

    5

    Underground in Berlin: A Young Woman's Extraordinary Tale of Survival in the Heart of Nazi Germany
    by Marie Jalowicz-Simon

The best books on Auschwitz, recommended by Mary Fulbrook

Why were so few of the Nazis involved in running Auschwitz brought to justice? Why did some Germans during the Holocaust risk death to hide Jewish people from Nazi persecution, while others were passive bystanders? Historian Mary Fulbrook—author of Reckonings, which won the 2019 Wolfson History Prize—recommends essential reading for understanding Auschwitz and its aftermath.

    The best books on The Holocaust, recommended by Steven Katz

  • Read
    The best books on The Holocaust - The Destruction of the European Jews by Raul Hilberg

    1

    The Destruction of the European Jews
    by Raul Hilberg

  • Read
    The best books on The Holocaust - Night by Elie Wiesel

    2

    Night
    by Elie Wiesel

  • Read
    The best books on The Holocaust - Judenrat by Isaiah Trunk

    3

    Judenrat
    by Isaiah Trunk

  • Read
    The best books on The Holocaust - Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning

    4

    Ordinary Men
    by Christopher Browning

  • Read
    The best books on The Holocaust - Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto by Emanuel Ringelblum

    5

    Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto
    by Emanuel Ringelblum

The best books on The Holocaust, recommended by Steven Katz

In the years immediately after World War II, the Holocaust was little studied. That all changed with the publication of Raul Hilberg’s book, The Destruction of the European Jews. Steven Katz, professor of Jewish Holocaust Studies at Boston University and former Director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, introduces the best Holocaust books.    

    The best books on Modern German History, recommended by Hester Vaizey

  • Read
    The best books on Modern German History - Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning

    1

    Ordinary Men
    by Christopher Browning

  • Read
    The best books on Modern German History - Jews, Germans, and Allies: Close Encounters in Occupied Germany by Atina Grossmann

    2

    Jews, Germans, and Allies: Close Encounters in Occupied Germany
    by Atina Grossmann

  • Read
    The best books on Modern German History - A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz by Goran Rosenberg

    3

    A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz
    by Goran Rosenberg

  • Read
    The best books on Modern German History - Dissonant Lives: Generations and Violence Through the German Dictatorships by Mary Fulbrook

    4

    Dissonant Lives: Generations and Violence Through the German Dictatorships
    by Mary Fulbrook

  • Read
    The best books on Modern German History - Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder

    5

    Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall
    by Anna Funder

The best books on Modern German History, recommended by Hester Vaizey

In the 20th century, Germany suffered defeat in two world wars and withstood two kinds of dictatorship. Yet today it is Europe’s strongest economy. Hester Vaizey, fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and author of Born in the GDR, selects five brilliant books on a tumultuous century.

    The best books on Anti-Semitism, recommended by Abraham Foxman

  • Read
    The best books on Anti-Semitism - Constantine by James Carroll

    1

    Constantine
    by James Carroll

  • Read
    The best books on Anti-Semitism - The War Against the Jews by Lucy S Dawidowicz

    2

    The War Against the Jews
    by Lucy S Dawidowicz

  • Read
    The best books on Anti-Semitism - The Siege by Conor Cruise O’Brien

    3

    The Siege
    by Conor Cruise O’Brien

  • Read
    The best books on Anti-Semitism - Trials of the Diaspora by Anthony Julius

    4

    Trials of the Diaspora
    by Anthony Julius

  • Read
    The best books on Anti-Semitism - A Lethal Obsession by Robert S Wistrich

    5

    A Lethal Obsession
    by Robert S Wistrich

The best books on Anti-Semitism, recommended by Abraham Foxman

Why has anti-Semitism been such a problem down the ages, and why does it persist today? The emeritus director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, recommends the best books to better understand anti-Semitism.

    The Best War Writing, recommended by Kate McLoughlin

  • Read
    The Best War Writing - Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer

    1

    Charlotte Sometimes
    by Penelope Farmer

  • Read
    The Best War Writing - The Iliad by Homer

    2

    The Iliad
    by Homer

  • Read
    The Best War Writing - War and Peace (Book) by Leo Tolstoy

    3

    War and Peace (Book)
    by Leo Tolstoy

  • Read
    The Best War Writing - Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

    4

    Catch 22
    by Joseph Heller

  • Read
    The Best War Writing - If This Is a Man by Primo Levi

    5

    If This Is a Man
    by Primo Levi

The Best War Writing, recommended by Kate McLoughlin

War writing extends to all sorts of genres, including blogs and Twitter. Oxford University’s Professor Kate McLoughlin, author of Authoring War: The Literary Representation of War from the Iliad to Iraq recommends some of her favourite books of war writing.

    The best books on Forgiveness, recommended by Simon Mawer

  • Read
    The best books on Forgiveness - The Blind Side of the Heart by Julia Franck

    1

    The Blind Side of the Heart
    by Julia Franck

  • Read
    The best books on Forgiveness - The Game of Opposites by Norman Lebrecht

    2

    The Game of Opposites
    by Norman Lebrecht

  • Read
    The best books on Forgiveness - The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani

    3

    The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
    by Giorgio Bassani

  • Read
    The best books on Forgiveness - If This Is a Man by Primo Levi

    4

    If This Is a Man
    by Primo Levi

  • Read
    The best books on Forgiveness - Love and War in the Apennines by Eric Newby

    5

    Love and War in the Apennines
    by Eric Newby

The best books on Forgiveness, recommended by Simon Mawer

Novelist Simon Mawer picks his favourite books on forgiveness.

    Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man

  • Read
    Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man - If This Is a Man by Primo Levi

    1

    If This Is a Man
    by Primo Levi

  • Read
    Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man - This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski

    2

    This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
    by Tadeusz Borowski

  • Read
    Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man - Red Cavalry and Other Stories by Isaac Babel

    3

    Red Cavalry and Other Stories
    by Isaac Babel

  • Read
    Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man - Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

    4

    Blood Meridian
    by Cormac McCarthy

  • Read
    Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man - The Known World by Edward P Jones

    5

    The Known World
    by Edward P Jones

Aleksandar Hemon on Man’s Inhumanity to Man

When reading books, we often empathize with a main character and find redemption in our emotional response to their fate. But it’s more important to think, says Bosnian novelist Aleksandar Hemon. Here, he picks the best books on ‘man’s inhumanity to man.’

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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