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450 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. ix (1980)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0450 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE Since the first confirmed reports were circulated 35 years ago, scholars, theologians, statesmen, and survivors, as well as many others, have asked, Why? Why did a heinous crime of the mass of the Holocaust take place in this, the most civilized century, and in Germany, the most advanced country in Europe? Others have queried, How? How was it possible for Nazis, in less than 12 years to isolate, dehumanize, expropriate, enslave, and murder six million Jews? Some have also asked, What? What did happen? Are ac- counts of inhumane acts perpetrated by the Nazis and their followers against men, women, and children true? And some have wondered, Why did not various world organizations and nations, appraised of the barbarous acts, attempt to stop them? Why did they deny the helpless a place of refuge? Since 1945, a worldwide community of scholars has attempted to answer these questions. Especially since 1975, the interest in the Holocaust and its results has stimulated increased research and questions. Scholars repre- senting a wide variety of professions and disciplines continue to examine the Holocaust and to seek to comprehend the historical forces which pro- voked it as well as to interpret its impact upon contemporary civilization. In an attempt to answer these questions, we have invited authors from Canada, West Germany, Israel, and the United States and from a cross section of disciplines. This company of scholars addresses itself to the perplexing and often painful questions associated with the Holocaust and deals with both the preceding questions and the new ones that have pre- sented themselves. Among the latter are: What did-or did not-the churches do? How has the German nation attempted to rehabilitate itself? What are the implications for public and professional morality? And how should the Holocaust be taught? This volume, divided by sections exploring the antecedents, the Holo- caust, the meanings, and the lessons, confronts these questions. All sec- tions receive fresh treatment. For now, after three decades, new views of the Holocaust and its impact, as well as new sources, supplement earlier scholarship. In the antecedents section, the authors seek to reveal the multiple and deep-rooted causes of antisemitism. It is their view that the political, eco- nomic, and social crises in the late nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century created the conditions. The selection of the Jews as the scapegoat for the ills of Europe was relatively easy because of the latent antisemitism that existed in every part of Christendom. The Holocaust section presents the what, why, and how of the event. The defense used by Ohlendorf, leader of the Einsatzgruppen -the first stage of the murder machine-at the Nuremberg trials provides insight into the way the Nazis regarded their mission. The use of Jews in the factories and on the experi- mentation tables is described. The failure of Great Britain and the United States, especially the British Foreign Office and the American State Depart- ment, to aid the Jews in Hitler's Europe is analyzed. Papers describing those organizations and individuals that aided Jews reveal new and im- portant data. German, Israeli, and American papers describe persons and organizations and their work. The section concerning the meanings reflects ix

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