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jordanpatt's review
5.0
The author methodically works through the gradual increase of the persecution of the Jewish people in Europe during the years mentioned in the title. While the book obviously focuses on the Third Reich and its role in the attempted destruction of the Jewish people in Europe, the author also discusses the role the other nations of Europe had in the persecution. Saul uses a combination of official records (Nazi officials were proficient record keepers), diaries, and correspondence to supplement the narrative - providing a horrifying reality to this dark time.
The inhumanity of Nazi officials and Einsatzgruppen is apparent throughout the book, but the humanity of those isolated and spread throughout Europe left a bigger impression on me. People who did not know where their next meal would come from, children who had to watch their parents be deported on a train to certain death, and all the other atrocities.
While a difficult, and long, book, it was incredibly engaging.
The inhumanity of Nazi officials and Einsatzgruppen is apparent throughout the book, but the humanity of those isolated and spread throughout Europe left a bigger impression on me. People who did not know where their next meal would come from, children who had to watch their parents be deported on a train to certain death, and all the other atrocities.
While a difficult, and long, book, it was incredibly engaging.
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