The Story of the Holocaust (Hardcover, 1st American ed)

This book traces the terrible story of the Nazi Holocaust, from the political and social background in which it developed to the mass deportations, the concentration camps, and the attempt to carry out the Final Solution. Readers learn that, although the Jews lived throughout Europe since Roman times, they were never fully accepted by Christians around them. In the Middle Ages the Church developed a false teaching that the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ. Anti-Semitism became deeply ingrained, even after the Church formed more moderate views during the 19th century. The author shows how the political and economic climate in Europe in the early 20th century eventually led to Hitler's rise to power, as well as defining events such as Kristallnacht, and the Warsaw Uprising. In a chapter titled "Could it Happen Again?" other 20th-century genocides (Cambodia 1979, Rwanda 1994, and Bosnia 1992) are discussed. The book's main message is displayed on the front cover: "Those who do not learn the lessons of history will be forced to relive them".