The Racial State: Germany 1933-1945 / Edition 1

by Michael Burleigh, Wolfgang Wippermann

Overview

Between 1933 and 1945 the Nazi regime in Germany tried to restructure a "class" society along racial lines. This book deals with the ideas and institutions that underpinned this mission, and shows how Nazi policy affected various groups of people, both victims and beneficiaries. The book begins with a serious discussion of the origins of Nazi racial ideology, and then demonstrates the way in which this was translated into official policy. It deals with the systematic persecution not only of the Jews, but also with the fate of lesser-known groups such as Sinti and Roma, the mentally handicapped, the "asocial," and homosexuals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521398022
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/07/1991
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	404
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Foreword; Acknowledgements; Introduction: why another book on the Third Reich?; Part I. The Setting: 1. How modern, German, and totalitarian was the Third Reich? Some major historiographical controversies; 2. Barbarous utopias: racial idealogies in Germany; 3. Barbarism institutionalised: racism as state policy; Part II. The 'Purification' Of The Body Of The Nation: 4. The persecution of the Jews; 5. The persecution of Sinti and Roma, and other ethnic minorities; 6. The persecution of the 'hereditarily ill', the 'asocial', and homosexuals; Part III. The Formation Of The 'National Community': 7. Youth in the Third Reich; 8. Women in the Third Reich; 9. Men in the Third Reich; Conclusion: National Socialist racial and social policy; Notes; Bibliographical essay; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...this does sterling service as an undergraduate textbook (I speak from experience), raising a number of important issues for discussion." German Studies Review

"I greatly welcome the appearance of this book. Not only does it offer a valuable comprehensive survey of the many facets of Nazi race policy: its authors make an important contribution to central questions of interpretation—Nazism's uniqueness or comparability with other systems of rule, the reactionary or modern character of Hitler's regime, and the relationship of the killing of the Jews to the barbarous persecution of other racially-determined victims." Ian Kershaw, University of Sheffield

"Profusely illustrated, this first-rate study traces the development of German racial ideology from the theoreticians of the 18th century to the Nazis' attempted creation of an Aryan utopia. The power of the book derives from its scrupulous analysis of the Nazis' experiments with sterilization and euthanasia, the treatment of the mentally ill and the physically handicapped, the suppression of homosexuality, the reduction of women to 'reproduction machines' and the persecution of the Jews." Publishers Weekly

"In looking at the racial underpinnings of virtually every move made by the Nazi state, this book tries to refute the idea that the Third Reich represented just another form of national modernization....[The authors] argue convincingly that Nazism was on its way to creating a society demarcated by race, not economic class." Library Journal

"The evidence garnered from both the primary sources as well as the recent and standard secondary materials is staggering...the volume serves as a sobering reminder that overwhelming historical evidence is the best defense against recurring bouts of historical amnesia." The Historian

"Extensive footnoted references will delight those conducting in-depth research on the subject, while the review of German experience from 1933-1945 provides scholarly insights into the making, as well as the experience, of a racially segregated nation." Bookwatch

"...an excellent book for teachers...There are excellent chapters on the development of the racial ideology that pervaded the Third Reich, and on the destruction of the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, asocial and handicapped." Dimensions

"...the strength of this work is its comprehensive treatment of the nexus between racial ideologies and the state apparatus under the auspices of Adolph Hitler. In addition to highlighting the peculiar human tragedy of Nazi Germany, Burleigh and Wipperman's study leaves enough room for comparative assessment, as well as for consideration of the recurring popularity of Fascism which plagues France, Italy, and recently unified Germany today." Social Science Quarterly

"No book does more to trace and explain the Nazi's ghastly attempts to construct a racial regime than Messrs. Burleigh and Wipperman's superb study." The Forward

"...a lucid, throughly-researched volume which plumbs the origins and practices of Nazism." The Canadian Jewish News

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