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Revision as of 05:33, 15 April 2007 by Giovanni33 (talk | contribs) (restoring reference)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The War Against the Jews is a 1975 book authored by Lucy Dawidowicz. The book researches the Holocaust of the European Jewry during World War II.
The author contends that Hitler pursued his policies to eliminate Jewish populations throughout Europe even to the detriment of pragmatic wartime actions such as moving troops and securing supply lines. As an example, Dawidowicz notes that Hitler delayed railcars providing supplies to front line troops in the Soviet Union so that Jews could be deported by rail from the USSR to death camps.
Dawidowicz also draws a line of "anti-Semitic descent" from Martin Luther to Hitler, writing that both men were obsessed by the "demonologized universe" inhabited by Jews. She contents that similarities between Luther's anti-Jewish writings, especially On the Jews and Their Lies, and modern anti-Semitism are no coincidence, because they derived from a common history of Judenhass (Jew-hatred), which she traces back to the biblical Haman's advice to Ahasuerus. She argues that though modern Anti-Semitism has its roots in German nationalism, the foundation of Christian anti-Semitism was laid by the Catholic Church and "upon which Luther built."
The book also provides detailed listings by country of the number of Jews killed in World War II. Dawidowicz researched birth and death records in many cities of prewar Europe to come up with a death toll of 5,933,900 Jews. Some historians consider this number an underestimate since many records were lost during the war, and since many births and deaths were not recorded in small towns and villages.
Her listings are as follows:
| Country or territory |
Estimated Pre-War Jewish population |
Estimated Jewish population annihilated |
Percent killed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 3,300,000 | 3,000,000 | 90 |
| Baltic countries | 253,000 | 228,000 | 90 |
| Germany & Austria | 240,000 | 210,000 | 90 |
| Bohemia & Moravia | 90,000 | 80,000 | 89 |
| Slovakia | 90,000 | 75,000 | 83 |
| Greece | 70,000 | 54,000 | 77 |
| The Netherlands | 140,000 | 105,000 | 75 |
| Hungary | 650,000 | 450,000 | 70 |
| Belorussian SSR | 375,000 | 245,000 | 65 |
| Ukrainian SSR | 1,500,000 | 900,000 | 60 |
| Belgium | 65,000 | 40,000 | 60 |
| Yugoslavia | 43,000 | 26,000 | 60 |
| Romania | 600,000 | 300,000 | 50 |
| Norway | 1,800 | 900 | 50 |
| France | 350,000 | 90,000 | 26 |
| Bulgaria | 64,000 | 14,000 | 22 |
| Italy | 40,000 | 8,000 | 20 |
| Luxembourg | 5,000 | 1,000 | 20 |
| Russian SFSR | 975,000 | 107,000 | 11 |
| Denmark | 8,000 | ? | ? |
| Finland | 2,000 | ? | ? |
| Total | 8,861,800 | 5,933,900 | 67 |
Notes
- Bantam edition 1986, p.23. ISBN 055334532X
See also
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