Reitlinger's Encyclopedic Record of Nazi
'Final Solution' Plans in Revised Edition
When "The Final Solution" by
Gerald Reitlinger first appeared
in 1953, his voluminous record of
the Nazi crimes and the tragedies
of the Holocaust immediately
emerged as the most important
volume recording the events that
transpired during the Hitler era
and the Second World War.
Now, in a revised edition, pub-
lished by Thomas Yoseloff, this
encyclopedic work not only retains
its original significance but gains
the accumulation of the new ma-
terial added, the revisions and the
- accumulation of data that give this .
work its vital importance in the
retention of facts about the era of
horrors:
Events that preceded the ter-
rors that marked the mass mur-
ders are outlined in the first
• portion of the book, entitled
"The Search for the Final Solu-
lion" and the period of the mas-
sacres is. recorded in a second.
portion of the close to 700-word
volume, in "The Final Solution
in Practice." By means of
charts, chronological tables,
maps and presentation of sum--
maries of. extermination data,
Reitlinger presents a com-
plete history of the attempt of
the Hitlerites to exterminate the
Jewish people. The book is aptly
subtitled "The Attempt to Ex-
terminate the Jews of Europe
19394945."
There is a complete picture of
events in the Reitlinger study and
the thorough review of events in
all areas that were affected by
Nazism, retains for this work spe-
cial status for all who seek infor-
mation about the Nazi era. For
the record, which is so important
for - a historical evaluation of the
tragedies, the revised edition adds
significance for the lay students
and more especially for the his-
torian.
Reitlinger takes into account the
forced emigration of Jews before
1939, and gives an account of the-
pogroms, of the violence that was
inspired by the Nazis' emergence
into power.
- His review of the developments
in Germany portray the roles of-
the Nazi chieftains, relate hOw the
"Final Solution" plans began to
materialize, define the inhuman
policies and describe the roles of
the Nazi commandants, including
Heydrich, Himmler, Eichmann,
Goebbels, Goering, et al.
Because of the current roles
of Communist - dominated coun-
tries, special interest attaches
to the position of the Jews in
Romania who were at first in
the same precarious position as
Hungarian Jewry but later were
rescued from the wholesale mas-
sacre. The mass murder of Hun-
gary's Jews is fully recounted.
Related to the Holocaust story
in the Reitlinger volume are ac-
counts of Jewish efforts to escape
to Palestine, and the Strwna trag-
edy is retold here.
Students of the Nazi era will find
Reitlinger's book a ready refer-
ence work, directing them to the
ugly figures of Nazism, to their ac-
tivities, to the course of events
that endangered the freedoms of
many nations.
Reitlinger gives an account of
the battle of the Warsaw Ghetto,
of the moves that were made by
the Hitlerites to liquidate the
ghettos they established in Poland
and in Russia and to speed up
the extermination plan. Not only
the Auschwitz story and the hor-
rors of the extermination camps
but also that of the Babi Yar
Ravine in Kiev and that whole-
sale. massacre is fully recorded.
Reitlinger concludes that "if. an
analysis of the nature of this de-
struction is attempted, it will be
found that more than a third of
the missing Jews of Europe died,
not from direct physical violence,
but from overwork, disease, hunger
and neglect . . . In the case of
Germany, Austria and Bohemia, it
may be as high as 40 per cent,
whereas in Russia it was probably
low, because of the summary na-
ture of the exterminations . . ."
All details of the mass murders
combine to condemn Germany and
Germans in this most thorough re-
view of the efforts to condemn
Jews to a "final solution."
employ of the Germans in the Jud-
enrat were able to go to night
clubs, to entertain themselves and
to be filmed for the record by the
Nazis "as evidence that the Jews
were well treated."
Nazi General Juerg en Stroop's
role is related here and there is
the story of the heroic resistance
and of the determination to sur-
vive.
Werstein's splendid account of
the tragic events and of the belch-
ing ovens that consumed hundreds
of thousands of Jews concludes
with the end of the war in May
1945 and with those moving words:
"The war was over!
"Within a few years the grass
grew high over the death camps;
the ovens turned rusty,' the
barbed - wire fences collapsed.
The war was something that had -
happened in the past, a dark
dream not to be remembered.
"But the winds that blew
across the deserted camps—
Buchenwald and Auschwitz, Ma-
idanek and Treblinka—carried
a whisper which seemed to rise
from the mass grave long since
overgrown.
" 'Do not forget us,' the faint
voices whispered. `Do not forget
us, do not let it happen again.
Do not forget us!' "
It is by giving such a good ac-
count of the horrors and then of
the human factors and by pro-
claiming the concluding appeal that
Werstein's work emerges among
the excellent ones dealing with the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Newest Historical
Record of Warsaw
If your enemy be hungry, give
Ghetto's Uprising
him bread to eat; if he be thirsty
A continuing series of studies give him water to drink.—Proverbs
of the events that marked the Nazi 25.
period and especially the events
in Poland is presented in a new
review of "The Uprising of the
Warsaw Ghetto, November 1940-
May 1918" by Irving Werstein,
published by W. W. Norton & Co.
(55 5th, NY).
This well compiled record of
OFIITED BRANDS • .DETROIT. El S A • 12 PROOF
events in Poland during the Nazi
Holocaust was written for teen-
agers, but it is of immense value
to readers of all ages, because of
the author's coverage of events not
merely in the 'Warsaw Ghetto but
also those which preceded the Ger-
man invasion of Poland; and be-
cause it probes so well into the
story of Polish Jewry, the activi-
tie's_ of its leaders, the role of the
Nazi-created police force, the .capi-
talization on misery by irresponsi-
ble Jews and the vengeance that
was exacted.
The major Jewish figures who
led in the revolts are introduced
here. The author gives an ac-
. count of the manner in which
Jews yielded to false assurances
that they would be protected and
.eventually resettled, and the ad-
monitions of men like Artur
_ Ziegelboim who urged that _there
should net be yielding to the Nazi
power and that Jews should re-
volt. Ziegelboim later, as an act
of protest, committed suicide in
England.
There is the story of the great•
hero of. the resistence, Dr. Janus
Korczak, who went to his death
with' the children from the 'youth
care center he . ,was. superVising.
And there are details about Jews
who were leaders of the Judenrat,
those who tried to serve their peo-
ple well and those who. betrayed
them and were assassinated.
There is proof here also of the
manner in which Poles who suf-
fered with Jews under Nazism
nevertheless displayed their anti-
Semitism, betrayed the Jews, par-
ticipated in t h e extermination
program. ..„
There - is recorded here the
tragedy Of Jews who could not
escape. the Nazi brutalities be-
cause they had become converts
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-JULY. AND. AUGUST..
Friday, July 19, 1968-9
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel Files Bond Issue With Securities, Exchange
WASHINGTON (JTA) = Israel
has filed $200,000,000 of 20-year
51/2 per cent dollar coupon bonds
with the Securities and Exchange
Commission here. The bonds to
mature serially from 1988 to 1991,
will be sold through the Develop-
ment Corp. for Israel, in New
York City.
The corporation said it does not
expect conditions in the current
bond market to influence plans for
sale of the issue. The bonds will be
permitted to be bought only by
banks, labor unions and other in-
stitutional investors.
The new issue is a continua-
tion of the First Development In-
vestment issue of $100,000,000
in 20-year 4 3/4 per cent •bonds
which sold out after they were
put on the market in March
1966. The Second Development
Investment issue is expected to
sell out in about four years, the
Development Corp. said.
Proceeds from the sale will be
funneled to the development of
aviation, agriculture, telecommuni-
cations and a variety of other in-
dustries, according to the Israel
government.
Jewish Council Joins
Maryland Project Equality
BALTIMORE (JTA)—Tke Balti-
more Jewish Council has joined
with six Protestant and Catholic
organizations here to form Mary-
land Project Equality, the 13th
such state program to promote
equal job opportunities among - bus-
iness concerns serving churches
and synagogues.
Rabbi Israel M. Goldman, presi-
dent of the Baltimore Jewish Coun-
cil, joined with Catholic and Pro-
testant leaders in announcing the
program. Leon Sachs was named
as coordinator for Jewish participa-
tion in the program.
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