Wendy Lower – författare

The gripping story of the fall of Heinrich Himmler--the man who sought to perfect genocide and who ultimately became the most hunted war criminal in history—during the convulsive final days of the Third ReichHeinrich Himmler, head of the SS, Gestapo, and Waffen-SS, rose to all but supreme power as architect of the concentration camps and commander of the murderous deportations, the mass sterilizations, and the gas chambers. In Himmler’s Last Days, acclaimed historians Wendy Lower and Jonathan Petropoulos deliver an acutely revealing story of the psychic and physical unraveling of the ultimate mastermind of the Nazi terror apparatus.Himmler leaves the Führerbunker just days before Hitler’s April 1945 suicide, now aspiring to be his successor, and flees a Berlin under siege. The book tracks Himmler’s desperate movements, never before reconstructed, in cinematic detail, to a series of outposts and hiding spots in the north of Germany.Even as the camps are liberated—and the depth of Nazi genocidal evil is revealed through the testimony of living skeletons—Himmler schemes delusionally and in ill faith to parlay concentration camp prisoner releases into a deal with General Eisenhower for a partial German surrender.The capture by the British of a disguised Himmler, his interrogation, his suicide by hidden cyanide capsule, and his consignment to an unmarked grave are vividly illuminated through eyewitness accounts and photographs.A definitive telling that casts light on the universal fate of genocidaires--and puts to rest far-right conspiracy theories regarding Himmler’s supposed murder by the Allies.Finally, through his own desperate acts and words, Himmler is revealed as clearly as we have ever seen him. A stunning and reverberating account.Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s Reichsführer, rose to all but supreme power as ultimate mastermind of the murderous deportations, the mass sterilizations, and the gas chambers.In HIMMLER’S LAST DAYS, acclaimed historians Wendy Lower and Jonathan Petropoulos deliver a tightly focused, acutely revealing story of the physical and psychic unraveling of the man who sought to perfect genocide.Himmler leaves the Führerbunker just days before Hitler’s suicide and flees in disguise, now as the most hunted war criminal in history. The book tracks his movements, never before reconstructed, to a series of outposts and hiding spots in the north of Germany. Even as the camps are liberated—and the depth of Nazi genocidal evil is revealed through the testimony of living skeletons—Himmler schemes to work a deal with General Eisenhower for a self-serving partial surrender.The authors draw on new archival documentation--including photographs and contemporary accounts--to tell the story of Himmler’s capture by the British, his interrogation, and his suicide by hidden cyanide capsule. The book’s definitive account of Himmler’s final days puts to rest still-circulating conspiracy theories regarding his supposed murder at the hands of the Allies.A stunning and reverberating story.

A shocking and timely reminder of the role Nazi women played in the Holocaust, not only as plunderers and direct witnesses, but on the Eastern Front.History has it that the role of women in Nazi Germany was to be the perfect Hausfrau and a loyal cheerleader for the Führer. However, Lower’s research reveals an altogether more sinister truth. Lower shows us the ordinary women who became perpetrators of genocide. Drawing on decades of research, she uncovers a truth that has been in the shadows – that women too were brutal killers and that, in ignoring women’s culpability, we have ignored the reality of the Holocaust.‘Shocking’ Sunday Times‘Compelling’ Washington Post‘Pioneering’ Literary Review

On the eve of the Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941, Ukraine was home to the largest Jewish community in Europe. Between 1941 and 1944, some 1.4 million Jews were killed there, and one of the most important centers of Jewish life was destroyed. Yet, little is known about this chapter of Holocaust history. Drawing on archival sources from the former Soviet Union and bringing together researchers from Ukraine, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States, The Shoah in Ukraine sheds light on the critical themes of perpetration, collaboration, Jewish-Ukrainian relations, testimony, rescue, and Holocaust remembrance in Ukraine.Contributors are Andrej Angrick, Omer Bartov, Karel C. Berkhoff, Ray Brandon, Martin Dean, Dennis Deletant, Frank Golczewski, Alexander Kruglov, Wendy Lower, Dieter Pohl, and Timothy Snyder.

A photograph—a rare “action shot” documenting a family’s murder during World War II—drives a riveting process of discovery for a gifted Holocaust scholar.In 2009, the acclaimed author of Hitler’s Furies was shown a photograph just brought to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The documentation of the Holocaust is vast, but there are virtually no images of a Jewish family at the actual moment of murder, in this case by German officials and Ukrainian collaborators. A Ukrainian shooter’s rifle is inches from a woman’s head, obscured in a cloud of smoke. She is bending forward, holding the hand of a barefooted little boy. And—only one of the shocking revelations of Wendy Lower’s brilliant ten-year investigation of this image—the shins of another child, slipping from the woman’s lap. Wendy Lower’s forensic and archival detective work—in Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia, Israel, and the United States—recovers astonishing layers of detail concerning the open-air massacres in Ukraine. The identities of mother and children, of the killers—and, remarkably, of the Slovakian photographer who openly took the image, as a secret act of resistance—are dramatically uncovered. Finally, in the hands of this brilliant exceptional scholar, a single image unlocks a new understanding of the place of the family unit in the ideology of Nazi genocide.

This “intriguing and chilling” WWII history follows thirteen ordinary German women who worked—and killed—on the Eastern Front (Chicago Tribune).A National Book Award FinalistDrawing on twenty years of archival research and fieldwork, Wendy Lower introduces thirteen women who took jobs in Nazi-occupied Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus. She presents startling evidence that these women were more than “desk murderers” or comforters of murderous German men. They went on “shopping sprees” and romantic outings to the Jewish ghettos; they were present at killing-field picnics, not only providing refreshment but also shooting Jews. And Lower uncovers the stories of SS wives with children of their own whose brutality is as chilling as any in history.Lower’s work offers a rare window into the lives of German women, opening up a previously unexplored aspect of the Holocaust. Hitler’s Furies makes “an unsettling but significant contribution to our understanding of how nationalism, and specifically conceptions of loyalty, are normalized, reinforced, and regulated” (Los Angeles Review of Books).

The Diary of Samuel Golfard and the Holocaust in Galicia examines the contents and context of a rare diary written by a Jewish man from Nazi-occupied Poland. Serving as both a record and an artifact of Samuel Golfard’s life, the diary details his attempt to make sense of and resist the event that ultimately destroyed him. Wendy Lower integrates photographs, newspaper articles, documents, and testimonies to create a more complete picture of Golfard’s experiences and writings. She also traces the diary’s own journey after Golfard’s death, from 1943 Poland to the present day.

The Diary of Samuel Golfard and the Holocaust in Galicia examines the contents and context of a rare diary written by a Jewish man from Nazi-occupied Poland. Serving as both a record and an artifact of Samuel Golfard’s life, the diary details his attempt to make sense of and resist the event that ultimately destroyed him. Wendy Lower integrates photographs, newspaper articles, documents, and testimonies to create a more complete picture of Golfard’s experiences and writings. She also traces the diary’s own journey after Golfard’s death, from 1943 Poland to the present day.

The Diary of Samuel Golfard and the Holocaust in Galicia examines the contents and context of a rare diary written by a Jewish man from Nazi-occupied Poland. Serving as both a record and an artifact of Samuel Golfard’s life, the diary details his attempt to make sense of and resist the event that ultimately destroyed him. Wendy Lower integrates photographs, newspaper articles, documents, and testimonies to create a more complete picture of Golfard’s experiences and writings. She also traces the diary’s own journey after Golfard’s death, from 1943 Poland to the present day.

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 war-time records, diaries, memoirs, and personal interviews, Wendy Lower provides the most complete assessment available of German colonization and the Holocaust in Ukraine. She shifts scholarly attention from Germany itself to the eastern outposts of the Reich, where the regime truly revealed its core beliefs, aims, and practices.

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 Göring’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.

Lessons and Legacies XII explores new directions in research and teaching in the field of Holocaust studies. The essays in this volume present the most cutting-edge methods and topics shaping Holocaust studies today, from a variety of disciplines: forensics, environmental history, cultural studies, religious studies, labor history, film studies, history of medicine, sociology, pedagogy, and public history. This rich compendium reveals how far Holocaust studies have reached into cultural studies, perpetrator history, and comparative genocide history. Scholars, laypersons, teachers, and the myriad organizations devoted to Holocaust memorialization and education will find these essays useful and illuminating.

Lessons and Legacies XII explores new directions in research and teaching in the field of Holocaust studies. The essays in this volume present the most cutting-edge methods and topics shaping Holocaust studies today, from a variety of disciplines: forensics, environmental history, cultural studies, religious studies, labor history, film studies, history of medicine, sociology, pedagogy, and public history. This rich compendium reveals how far Holocaust studies have reached into cultural studies, perpetrator history, and comparative genocide history. Scholars, laypersons, teachers, and the myriad organizations devoted to Holocaust memorialization and education will find these essays useful and illuminating.

Volume III examines the most well-known century of genocide, the twentieth century. Opening with a discussion on the definitions of genocide and 'ethnic cleansing' and their relationships to modernity, it continues with a survey of the genocide studies field, racism and antisemitism. The four parts cover the impacts of Racism, Total War, Imperial Collapse, and Revolution; the crises of World War Two; the Cold War; and Globalization. Twenty-eight scholars with expertise in specific regions document thirty genocides from 1918 to 2021, in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The cases range from the Armenian Genocide to Maoist China, from the Holocaust to Stalin's Ukraine, from Indonesia to Guatemala, Biafra, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda, and finally the contemporary fate of the Rohingyas in Myanmar and the ISIS slaughter of Yazidis in Iraq. The volume ends with a chapter on the strategies for genocide prevention moving forward.

Volume III examines the most well-known century of genocide, the twentieth century. Opening with a discussion on the definitions of genocide and 'ethnic cleansing' and their relationships to modernity, it continues with a survey of the genocide studies field, racism and antisemitism. The four parts cover the impacts of Racism, Total War, Imperial Collapse, and Revolution; the crises of World War Two; the Cold War; and Globalization. Twenty-eight scholars with expertise in specific regions document thirty genocides from 1918 to 2021, in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The cases range from the Armenian Genocide to Maoist China, from the Holocaust to Stalin's Ukraine, from Indonesia to Guatemala, Biafra, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda, and finally the contemporary fate of the Rohingyas in Myanmar and the ISIS slaughter of Yazidis in Iraq. The volume ends with a chapter on the strategies for genocide prevention moving forward.

Volume III examines the most well-known century of genocide, the twentieth century. Opening with a discussion on the definitions of genocide and ''ethnic cleansing'' and their relationships to modernity, it continues with a survey of the genocide studies field, racism and antisemitism. The four parts cover the impacts of Racism, Total War, Imperial Collapse, and Revolution; the crises of World War Two; the Cold War; and Globalization. Twenty-eight scholars with expertise in specific regions document thirty genocides from 1918 to 2021, in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The cases range from the Armenian Genocide to Maoist China, from the Holocaust to Stalin''s Ukraine, from Indonesia to Guatemala, Biafra, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda, and finally the contemporary fate of the Rohingyas in Myanmar and the ISIS slaughter of Yazidis in Iraq. The volume ends with a chapter on the strategies for genocide prevention moving forward.

Volume III examines the most well-known century of genocide, the twentieth century. Opening with a discussion on the definitions of genocide and ''ethnic cleansing'' and their relationships to modernity, it continues with a survey of the genocide studies field, racism and antisemitism. The four parts cover the impacts of Racism, Total War, Imperial Collapse, and Revolution; the crises of World War Two; the Cold War; and Globalization. Twenty-eight scholars with expertise in specific regions document thirty genocides from 1918 to 2021, in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The cases range from the Armenian Genocide to Maoist China, from the Holocaust to Stalin''s Ukraine, from Indonesia to Guatemala, Biafra, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda, and finally the contemporary fate of the Rohingyas in Myanmar and the ISIS slaughter of Yazidis in Iraq. The volume ends with a chapter on the strategies for genocide prevention moving forward.

A shocking and timely reminder of the role Nazi women played in the Holocaust, not only as plunderers and direct witnesses, but on the Eastern Front.History has it that the role of women in Nazi Germany was to be the perfect Hausfrau and a loyal cheerleader for the Führer. However, Lower’s research reveals an altogether more sinister truth. Lower shows us the ordinary women who became perpetrators of genocide. Drawing on decades of research, she uncovers a truth that has been in the shadows – that women too were brutal killers and that, in ignoring women’s culpability, we have ignored the reality of the Holocaust.‘Shocking’ Sunday Times‘Compelling’ Washington Post‘Pioneering’ Literary Review

A strikingly original book about a terrible photograph – an exceptionally rare image documenting the horrific final moment of the murder of a family in Ukraine. A Times Book of the Year'A very rare kind of picture... To the murdered others, this book is an act of restitution' David Aaronovitch, The Times'Detective work of the highest and most gripping order' Philippe Sands'Lower's pursuit of the truth is both captivating and meticuous' TLS'Extraordinary and spell-binding' Daily Mail'One photograph. That's what it took to start Wendy Lower on an incredible journey of discovery' Deborah LipstadtThe terrible mass shootings in Poland and the Ukraine are often neglected in studies of the Holocaust, because the perpetrators were meticulously careful to avoid leaving any evidence of their actions. Wendy Lower stumbled across one such piece of evidence – a photograph documenting the shooting of a mother and her children and the men who killed them – and has crafted a forensically brilliant and moving study that brings the larger horror of the genocide into focus.Shortlisted for the Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown.

A strikingly original book about a terrible photograph – an exceptionally rare image documenting the horrific final moment of the murder of a family in Ukraine. A Times Book of the Year''A very rare kind of picture... To the murdered others, this book is an act of restitution'' David Aaronovitch, The Times''Detective work of the highest and most gripping order'' Philippe Sands''Lower''s pursuit of the truth is both captivating and meticuous'' TLS''Extraordinary and spell-binding'' Daily Mail''One photograph. That''s what it took to start Wendy Lower on an incredible journey of discovery'' Deborah LipstadtThe terrible mass shootings in Poland and the Ukraine are often neglected in studies of the Holocaust, because the perpetrators were meticulously careful to avoid leaving any evidence of their actions. Wendy Lower stumbled across one such piece of evidence – a photograph documenting the shooting of a mother and her children and the men who killed them – and has crafted a forensically brilliant and moving study that brings the larger horror of the genocide into focus.Shortlisted for the Historical Writers'' Association Non-Fiction Crown.

Palkittu holokaustitutkija selvittää Ukrainan juutalaisten kohtalon natsimiehityksen aikana ja laajentaa kuvaa kansanmurhan luonteesta.Valokuvassa on nainen lapsineen rotkon reunalla. Takana seisoo mies kivääri kädessään. Naisen pää peittyy savuun. Ase on juuri laukaistu.Vuonna 2009 holokaustitutkija Wendy Lower sai käsiinsä valokuvan juutalaisperheen murhasta Saksan valtaamassa Ukrainassa. Hirmuteko ei ollut poikkeuksellinen - natsimiehityksen aikana yli miljoona Ukrainan juutalaista murhattiin kirkkaassa päivänvalossa.Valokuva ei jättänyt Loweria rauhaan, ja kymmenen vuoden salapoliisityön aikana hän selvitti, keitä kuvassa ammutut olivat, kuka heidät ampui ja mitä Ukrainassa tapahtui. Juutalaisten kansanmurhasta tiedetään hyvin keskitysleirit, mutta varsinkin Itä-Euroopassa tavallisia juutalaisperheitä tuhottiin myös ampumalla paikan päällä, paikallisten avustuksella. Rotkon kuvaama juutalaisperheen kohtalo on avain joukkomurhaan - ja samalla se tarkentaa kuvaa holokaustin luonteesta. Wendy Lower (s. 1965) on historian professori ja työskentelee tutkijana sekä Yhdysvalloissa että Euroopassa. Hänen edellinen teoksensa Hitlerin raivottaret (2014) kertoi saksalaisnaisista, jotka lähtivät itään natsien miehittämille alueille ja toimivat miesten rinnalla Hitlerin tuhokoneistossa. Kahteenkymmeneenkolmeen maahan myyty teos nousi Suomessakin myyntilistojen kärkeen.

Palkittu holokaustitutkija selvittää Ukrainan juutalaisten kohtalon natsimiehityksen aikana ja laajentaa kuvaa kansanmurhan luonteesta.Valokuvassa on nainen lapsineen rotkon reunalla. Takana seisoo mies kivääri kädessään. Naisen pää peittyy savuun. Ase on juuri laukaistu.Vuonna 2009 holokaustitutkija Wendy Lower sai käsiinsä valokuvan juutalaisperheen murhasta Saksan valtaamassa Ukrainassa. Hirmuteko ei ollut poikkeuksellinen - natsimiehityksen aikana yli miljoona Ukrainan juutalaista murhattiin kirkkaassa päivänvalossa.Valokuva ei jättänyt Loweria rauhaan, ja kymmenen vuoden salapoliisityön aikana hän selvitti, keitä kuvassa ammutut olivat, kuka heidät ampui ja mitä Ukrainassa tapahtui. Juutalaisten kansanmurhasta tiedetään hyvin keskitysleirit, mutta varsinkin Itä-Euroopassa tavallisia juutalaisperheitä tuhottiin myös ampumalla paikan päällä, paikallisten avustuksella. Rotkon kuvaama juutalaisperheen kohtalo on avain joukkomurhaan - ja samalla se tarkentaa kuvaa holokaustin luonteesta. Wendy Lower (s. 1965) on historian professori ja työskentelee tutkijana sekä Yhdysvalloissa että Euroopassa. Hänen edellinen teoksensa Hitlerin raivottaret (2014) kertoi saksalaisnaisista, jotka lähtivät itään natsien miehittämille alueille ja toimivat miesten rinnalla Hitlerin tuhokoneistossa. Kahteenkymmeneenkolmeen maahan myyty teos nousi Suomessakin myyntilistojen kärkeen.