Six Must-Read Books On The Holocaust By Historians

Here are six books by historians that will help you learn more about the Holocaust.

There are no links if you click on any of these books. To purchase, consider alternatives to Amazon and Audible. Also, consider ordering from bookstores owned by people of color.

#1: The Holocaust: An Unfinished History by Dan Stone

This book provides a comprehensive and accurate account of the Holocaust, challenging some myths and misconceptions about this event.

It covers topics overlooked in previous histories, such as sub-camps, and emphasizes the importance of ideology in the Holocaust.

The author argues that the term Holocaust should be reserved only for Jews and not all victim groups.

#2: Empire Of Destruction A History of Nazi Mass Killing by Alex J. Kay

This book talks about the mass killings of all kinds of people, Jews, sentient Roma, the disabled, Soviet POWs, the intentional starvation of Soviet civilians in cities, anti-partisan mass killings, and the mass killings of Polish civilians. He talks about how all this is related.

#3: The Extermination Of The European Jews by Christian Gerlach

Gerlach talks about multiple victim groups. Even though the book’s title is The Extermination of the European Jews, it is an academic book, so some people might find it a bit dry, but some might appreciate that the footnotes are at the bottom, so you don’t always have to flip to the back of the book. He has a lot of interesting points, thesis, arguments, and conclusions.

#4: Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning

If you are interested in how normal people can become perpetrators of genocide, then you have to read this book, which has become a classic and is not terribly long.

It’s a micro-history of the Reserve Police Battalion in the Order Police that is charged with rounding up Jews in Poland for deportations and perpetrating mass executions.

He presents sociological and situational arguments to show how ordinary men who are mostly not Nazis can become murderers.

A book cover image of the book Ordinary Men in an article about six books on the holocaust.

#5: Black Earth The Holocaust As History And Warning by Timothy Snyder

He begins by talking about Hitler’s worldview and presents an argument about state destruction, which is trying to explain why in one country, most Jews were killed. And in another country, most Jews survived.

It means that if you are stateless, you are much more likely to perish. His Book book also includes a warning for us about how it will relate to present-day affairs. His writing is always very gripping and bold and very thought-provoking.

#6: KL: A History Of The Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann

It has been praised as the new definitive history of the concentration camps. He blends macro and micro perspectives and discusses the change from 1933 to 1945.

There you go. Six books by historians from different countries with different takes and approaches.

Speed Reading Hack:

  1. It is considered reading if you purchase and listen to a book.
  2. I listen to a book up to two times the speed to get through it as long as I can understand it.
  3. If it’s a super incredible book, or I want to listen to passages repeatedly for understanding and clarity, I slow it down.