De Gruyter Series in Holocaust Studies and Antisemitism – serie

In the past decades, commemorative volumes with contributions from esteemed scholars have been published at each decade anniversary of the Hungarian Holocaust (the ghettoization and deportation of 1944). While these volumes have become milestones in Hungarian research, they rarely contained the research results of young academics who, in the past decades, have caught up with the trends in Western Holocaust research. Therefore, in this publication we not only aim to commemorate the Holocaust in Hungary but also to present new approaches and perspectives, such as the gendered aspect, microhistory, memory research, trauma studies, and so forth. This volume, for the first time, provides a synthesis of current Holocaust research in Hungary for international academics working in the fields of Holocaust studies, genocide studies, and Hungarian studies.

Holocaust monuments in Central Europe, especially in today’s Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Germany, have received surprisingly little academic attention. Yet these sites of memory offer deep insight into the individual, collective and cultural memory of the tragedy of the Holocaust. The first Holocaust monuments were created shortly after the end of the Second World War. At first, they were monuments and memorials commemorating Jewish victims, but later, stone reminders of the Roma victims of the Holocaust were added. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, a second wave of Holocaust monuments and memorials took place in Central Europe, continuing to this day. The aim of this publication is to present both the historical and artistic circumstances of the creation of these Holocaust monuments and memorials, as well as their subsequent reception. In a broader social and cultural context, the emphasis is placed on the formation of Jewish and Roma identity in Central Europe.

The Holocaust in Hungary was characterized by the collaboration between the Hungarian government and the German occupiers. It resulted in the systematic murder of a significant portion of Hungary's Jewish population, primarily during a short period between May and July 1944. This destruction represents one of the most perplexing chapters in Holocaust history. The book argues that it was primarily orchestrated by one man, Adolf Eichmann, influenced by four key factors: Nazi ideology, Hungarian antisemitism and collaboration, the compliance of the Jewish Council, and the passive role of influential figures like Franklin D. Roosevelt. The book further argues that Rudolf Kasztner and the Jewish Council acted mainly out of fear. Their compliance significantly shaped Eichmann's decisions and enabled him to rely on Hungarian help to gather victims. Bystanders, too, not only failed to save Jews—despite options available—but also influenced Eichmann's actions. Incorporating a novel analytical framework for analyzing risk factors and triggers for genocide, and highlighting bystander responsibilities, Moshe Barides proposes new terminology to help prevent future atrocities.

Across Europe, Jewish administrative bodies were established by the Germans during World War II. These so-called ‘Jewish Councils’ were forced to implement the anti-Jewish Nazi policy in cities, camps, and ghettos. Bargaining for Survival in a Nazi Camp presents the first comprehensive account of the Jewish Council of Camp Westerbork, which was the largest Nazi camp in the Netherlands. The ‘Contact Committee,’ as the Council came to be known, played an important role in organizing (often counterfeit) documents for Jewish camp inmates to prevent their deportation to the death camps in the East. This book examines the activities, strategies, and moral dilemmas of the committee’s four members in the face of the deadly onslaught. Sonja Weinberg shows that these functionaries were by no means simply instruments in the hands of the German occupiers. Rather, they attempted to make full use of the means at their disposal to help as many Jews as possible. Doing so inevitably meant cooperating with the perpetrators. This precarious position was shared by most Jewish Council members across Europe and created much controversy both during and after the war. Yet the functionaries’ actions contradict the still widely accepted view of the alleged passivity of the Jews in the Holocaust – that they went ‘like sheep to the slaughter’ – with its implication that they bore some responsibility for their own deadly fate.