Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust: Language, Rhetoric and the Traditions of Hatred

Author: Beth A. Griech-Polelle

The book examines varieties of antisemitism that have existed throughout history, from religious antisemitism in the ancient Roman Empire to the racial and political antisemitism in Germany and Austria in the late 19th century. Beth A. Griech-Polelle analyzes the tropes, imagery, legends, myths, and stereotypes about Jews that have surfaced at these various points in time. Griech-Polelle  also considers how this language helped engender an innate distrust, dislike, and even hatred of the Jews in 20th-century Europe. She explores the shattering impact of World War I, the rise of Weimar Germany, Hitler's rhetoric, and the first phase of Nazi antisemitism before illustrating how ghettos, SS Einsatzgruppen killing squads, death camps, and death marches were used to drive this antisemitic feeling toward genocide.

Paperback

297 pages