On 16 July 1941; Adolf Hitler convened top Nazi leaders at his headquarters in East Prussia to dictate how they would rule the newly occupied eastern territories. Ukraine; the "jewel" in the Nazi empire; would become a German colony administered by Heinrich Himmler's SS and police; Hermann Goring's economic plunderers; and a host of other satraps. Focusing on the Zhytomyr region and weaving together official German wartime records; diaries; memoirs; and personal interviews; Wendy Lower provides the most complete assessment available of German colonization and the Holocaust in Ukraine.Midlevel "managers;" Lower demonstrates; played major roles in mass murder; and locals willingly participated in violence and theft. Lower puts names and faces to local perpetrators; bystanders; beneficiaries; as well as resisters. She argues that Nazi actions in the region evolved from imperial arrogance and ambition; hatred of Jews; Slavs; and Communists; careerism and pragmatism; greed and fear. In her analysis of the murderous implementation of Nazi "race" and population policy in Zhytomyr; Lower shifts scholarly attention from Germany itself to the eastern outposts of the Reich; where the regime truly revealed its core beliefs; aims; and practices.
#793292 in Books The University of North Carolina Press 2004-10-25 2004-10-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.20 x .74 x 6.10l; .95 #File Name: 0807855723296 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Shaping the Narrative - Popular Culture and the Civil WarBy John G. CollingeThis is a useful collection of essays on shaping in popular culture the memory of the meaning the Civil War.In some ways this book is more topical than when published in 2004. That is particularly true of James McPherson's essay "Long-Legged Yankee Lies: The Southern Textbook Crusade" which has continuing echoes in battles over Texas schoolbook selection and LeeAnn Whites' "You Can't Change History by Moving a Rock: Gender; Race; and the Cultural Politics off Confederate Memorialization." That essay focuses on statuary and displaying the rebel flag in Boone County; Missouri and the University of Missouri where charges of racism continue to roil the campus.There are several other strong essays. "Ulysses S. Grant; Historian" by Joan Waugh points to her later monograph on Grant's image and is an early example of the ongoing positive revision of his reputation. Alice Fahs "Remembering the Civil War in Children's Literature in the 1880s and 1890s" although somewhat mis-titled contrasts the Union centric children's novels of the 1860s to the more ambivalent national reconciliation approach that dominated late 19th century children's books. "Shaping Public Memory of the Civil War: Robert E. Lee; Jubal A. Early; and Douglas Southall Freeman" by Gary Gallagher is a fair-minded reappraisal of the preeminent proponent of the heroic Southern narrative school of Civil War military history.David Blight's "Decoration Days: The Origins of Memorial Day in North and South" is an adaptation of Chapter 3 "Decoration Days" in his pathbreaking book "Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory" (2001). Blight's excellent essays on Bruce Catton and and Robert Penn Warren in his later book "American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era" (2011) develop themes Jon Wiener sketched in "Civil War; Cold War; Civil Rights: The Civil War Centennial in Context; 1960-1965.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Excellent CollectionBy Robert WheelerExcellent collection of essays discussing the Civil War in American memory - at times; much different from actuality. Joan Waugh's essay on Grant as historian is worth the price alone.9 of 10 people found the following review helpful. UnevenBy Eric W.This work starts out strong; with two very solid essays. The following material -- most of the first half of the book is nearly equally as good. McPherson; Whites; Gallagher and Waugh wrote the strongest essays. Blight's essay was a slower; cumbersome read. Brown's essay seemed a bit out of place; and I didn't care for it.But overall; an excellent book. Its strength lies in the variety of material presented; as essayists contribute perpsectives on different issues. Other readers may like or dislike various parts; but I think many will appreciate the overall package.
