Dan McMillan

A one of a kind book, that is truly important and leaves a mark.

The book is incredibly well researched and written. The topic can lead to either very dry or difficult to read texts, but this one flows with simple beauty and truth.

Each chapter takes the reader through a different topic to explain the Holocaust, ranging from a historical overview of German politics, Hitler's history, social background of the time, economic climate, the pulse of other European countries and anti-Semitism in various forms.

I am grateful to the author for writing this book. It stands alone, no other book I've read can touch it.
… (mais)

A one of a kind book, that is truly important and leaves a mark.

The book is incredibly well researched and written. The topic can lead to either very dry or difficult to read texts, but this one flows with simple beauty and truth.

Each chapter takes the reader through a different topic to explain the Holocaust, ranging from a historical overview of German politics, Hitler's history, social background of the time, economic climate, the pulse of other European countries and anti-Semitism in various forms.

I am grateful to the author for writing this book. It stands alone, no other book I've read can touch it.
… (mais)

A one of a kind book, that is truly important and leaves a mark.

The book is incredibly well researched and written. The topic can lead to either very dry or difficult to read texts, but this one flows with simple beauty and truth.

Each chapter takes the reader through a different topic to explain the Holocaust, ranging from a historical overview of German politics, Hitler's history, social background of the time, economic climate, the pulse of other European countries and anti-Semitism in various forms.

I am grateful to the author for writing this book. It stands alone, no other book I've read can touch it.
… (mais)

I read history. I know some people don't.

But even if you read history this one would be a tough one to work through.

How Could This Happen is a book about the Holocaust, taking a serious and scholarly look at German history and culture back to World War I and before and trying to answer the question:

Why did the Germans make eliminating the Jews of Europe their top priority? Why did they expend valuable resources during a war to the death with the world to imprison, rob from, and kill the Jews?

I don't agree that this question has never been asked before, but I do believe that this book defines the question and shapes the answers better than any book I have read before.

Easy to forget that Germany as a nation state was a relatively new idea in 1939 and that anti-Semitism was one of the binding energies that brought the state together.

Several corrupt and/or incompetent German governments found blaming the Jews easier than solving problems that may, in fact, have been insoluble.

Dr. McMillan is a German scholar and a legal scholar and brings both perspectives to this remarkable study. The chapter on Hitler as demi-god is worth the price of admission - and Hitler is the sine qua non of the Holocaust and the war.

(Of course Elie Wiesel and others maintain the question is unanswerable and that even trying to answer it does disservice and dishonor to the dead. I strongly do not agree with that.)

Recommended.… (mais)