The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies - Brossura

Lewy, Guenter

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0195142403 ISBN 13: 9780195142402

Casa editrice: Oxford University Press USA, 2000

Riassunto

Roaming the countryside in caravans, earning their living as musicians, peddlars and fortune-tellers, the Gypsies and their elusive way of life represented an affront to Nazi ideas of social order, hard work, and racial purity. They were branded as "asocials", harassed, and eventually herded into concentration camps where many thousands were killed. But until now the story of their persecution has been overlooked or distorted.

In "The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies", Guenter Lewy draws upon thousands of documents - many never before used - from German and Austrian archives to provide the most comprehensive and accurate study available of the fate of the Gypsies under the Nazi regime. Lewy traces the escalating vilification of the Gypsies as the Nazis insigated a widespread crackdown on the "work-shy" and "itinerants". But he shows that Nazi policy towards Gypsies was confused and changeable. At first, local officials persecuted Gypsies, and those who behaved in Gypsy-like fashion, for allegedly anti-social tendencies. Later, with the rise of race obsession, Gypsies were seen as a threat to racial purity, though Himmler himself wavered, trying to save those he considered "pure Gypsies" descended from Aryan roots in India. Indeed, Lewy contradicts much existing scolarship in showing that, however much the Gypsies were persecuted, there was no general programme of extermination analogous to the "final solution" for the Jews.

Exploring in heart-rending detail the fates of individual Gypsies and their families, "The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies" makes an important addition to our understanding both of the history of this mysterious people and of all facets of Nazi terror.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Guenter Lewy is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the author of many books, including "The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany" and "Religion and Revolution" (OUP 1974)

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Oxford University Press USA
• Data di pubblicazione: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0195142403
• ISBN 13: 9780195142402
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 320