Hitler's Willing Executioners Audiobook By Daniel Jonah Goldhagen cover art

Hitler's Willing Executioners

Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust

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Hitler's Willing Executioners

By: Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
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This groundbreaking international bestseller lays to rest many myths about the Holocaust: that Germans were ignorant of the mass destruction of Jews, that the killers were all SS men, and that those who slaughtered Jews did so reluctantly. Hitler's Willing Executioners provides conclusive evidence that the extermination of European Jewry engaged the energies and enthusiasm of tens of thousands of ordinary Germans. Goldhagen reconstructs the climate of "eliminationist anti-Semitism" that made Hitler's pursuit of his genocidal goals possible and the radical persecution of the Jews during the 1930s popular. Drawing on a wealth of unused archival materials, principally the testimony of the killers themselves, Goldhagen takes us into the killing fields where Germans voluntarily hunted Jews like animals, tortured them wantonly, and then posed cheerfully for snapshots with their victims. From mobile killing units, to the camps, to the death marches, Goldhagen shows how ordinary Germans, nurtured in a society where Jews were seen as unalterable evil and dangerous, willingly followed their beliefs to their logical conclusion.

"Hitler's Willing Executioner's is an original, indeed brilliant contribution to the...literature on the Holocaust." --New York Review of Books

"The most important book ever published about the Holocaust...Eloquently written, meticulously documented, impassioned...A model of moral and scholarly integrity." --Philadelphia Inquirer

Cover photograph: Thousands of Germans gather at a mass antisemitic rally on August 15, 1935, in Berlin. The two banners read: “The Jews Are Our Misfortune” and “Women and Girls, the Jews Are Your Ruin.” Photograph courtesy of NIOD, Amsterdam, Netherlands

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing photographs, maps, tables, and a schematization of dominant beliefs from the book. 20th Century Germany Holocaust Europe Modern World War II Judaism Military Wars & Conflicts
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The book is more timely then ever. While general knowledge of the Holocaust is common, the society wide delusions that gripped Germany are not. Goldhagen conclusively proves his case that Germans chose to engage in the genocidal slaughter because it was a rational choice based on what they believed, beliefs that were akin to the ravings of a madman.

Strong look at a neglected aspect of the Holocaust

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Not bad and I had a little background knowledge about this book prior to getting it but I’ve learned quite a bit more since reading it and about the book,not the holocaust. Evidently their have been books written about this book and when it was released,several other authors have mentioned it,but it created quite the $hitstorm not only in Germany but in German households around the world. And I can understand why. I 100% disagree with his opinion that the holocaust could only have been perpetrated by the Germans. The USSR had its own holocaust but drawn out over a longer period and in a slightly different way with the working the inmates to death and starvation but they also had mass shootings but they didn’t have actual facilities set up just for killing. What about the Pol Pot? He had to slow down because he was running out of ppl to kill but I don’t think he ever bring it up. And he doesn’t mention very much, and only in passing, the other nations citizens eager involvement in killing Jews and others deemed not fit to live. Which is a huge mistake in my opinion and also,a glaring omission,Hitler wasn’t German,and although Austria and Germany are “brother” nations (the Germans use masculinity when speaking of a nation or battleships etc,unlike most other countries that use femininity) they are two different countries. And he(the author) is a professor of an Ivy League school and definitely knows this. And the backstory with him and Chris Browning is very interesting. I like Chris’ book better but maybe because I read it first,idk but anyway, I think they had their falling out over the title. Daniel disagreed with Chris calling the Germans ordinary men and so they split and wrote their separate books. I wonder if they ever reconciled? Anyway, I say this book is worth your monthly credit. For seasoned holocaust readers it offers absolutely nothing new but is just another point of view on it.

Pretty good

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An exploration of a hundred years of virulent anti-semitism in Germany and how the Nazis were a natural next step. A bit of a slog at times, but well worth it. The library of books on Nazi Germany is huge, and this is a good contribution.

Explodes the myth that most Germans were anti-Nazi

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One doesn't really think about this kind of detail but Goldhagen thoroughly and dispassionately dissects a very difficult subject, getting to the heart of German's willingness to enthusiastically slaughter Jews with demonic zeal during the Show.

An excellent insight into a challenging topic

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He talks forever to make a point that could be made much more precise. Too wordy.

Too wordy

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