The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed and the Re-examined Book

A handful of pseudoscholars deny that the Holocaust took place; some of them occupy seats of higher learning in the United States and elsewhere. True scholars who specialize in Holocaust studies--the undeniable facts of the extermination of Jews, Gypsies, and political opponents of Hitler's regime--were once just as scarce, note the editors of this academic volume; today, however, they enjoy the unusual position of standing in the limelight, for, as the noted scholar Raul Hilberg remarks, "never before has so much public attention been lavished on our subject, be it in North America or Western Europe." The editors and contributors to this anthology discuss the state of contemporary Holocaust studies, noting that the generation of survivors is rapidly passing while primary and secondary sources multiply, especially as archives in Eastern Europe are opened and analyzed. If these sources are not properly considered, Hilberg warns, "we will have only a flow of amateurish publications and political messages from all quarters." --Gregory McNamee