Rating: 
Summary: A GOOD BOOK
Review: When it comes to the holocaust, my views are probably more critical that Finkelstein's, who generally follows the mainstream hlocaust history, hence the 4 starts.
But, what this book presents is the double-standard and hypocrisy of the Organized Jewish communities, especially in the U.S.
I have nothing against people seeking fair restitution for what was wrongly taken from them, but by deliberately exploiting countries for outrageous sums is just plain old thievery. And to top it off, the actual holocaust victims won't really get anything out of these deals. Once again, a group of charlatans has come together to cash in on other peoples' misfortunes, just like the present U.S. government is cashing in on Iraq's misery. This is becoming an American tradition.
Heck, my great grandparents in Europe lost their land and all their wealth to the Soviets, got sent to Siberia in cattle cars for 7 years of hell. They died within a few weeks and only my grandmother lived to come back to her country. Do you think that she has gotten any compensation? NO, and she most likely never will.
Remebering the past and learning from it does not mean living in it. Many nationalities suffered horribly throughout history and the Jews are no exception. Neither is the holocaust more unique than other mass murders. All religious piety aside, we are all human, and none of us is more innocent than the other.
Rating: 
Summary: Controversial book
Review: Finkelstein is quite a convincing writer and offers a new and interesting point of view that isn't traditionally followed by other Jewish scholars. I found his points on reparations from Swiss banks and the dealing of reparations as quite revealing. Unfortunately the book is quite short, and at times can be a bit boring. Aside from that, the book was generally interesting. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Exploitation
Review: Too many claims in this book are false. For example, the claim that American Jewish "elites" "discovered" the Holocaust in conjunction with the 1967 war, rather than the 1948 war, plotting to amass power, is absurd, and coming from a son of survivors an obvious politically motivated calumny. In 1948 most survivors were in limbo, often in German DP camps, kept out of Palestine by the British, and out of the US by immigration restrictions. In other words, in no position to either memorialize their lost relatives, nor lend much support to Israel. Much of their funding at the time came from the Jewish organizations which Finkelstein vilifies so much. By 1967 those very same survivors who in 1948 had been penned in DP camps, stateless and unwanted, had to a large extent immigrated to the US or Israel. While the Eichmann trials in 1961 were of great significance in reviving a buried past, the victory in 1967 helped them regain their sense of dignity. Memorializing the many, many relatives that they had lost was a purely human impulse by those survivors that had resumed productive lives in the US, not a cynical machination by some abstract, malevolent Jewish cadre, as Finkelstein would have us believe. There is no need for wild conspiracy theories. Establishing memorials to individuals and groups who perished during conflicts is a prerogative that all nations are entitled to. Why Finkelstein judges it to be inappropriate only for European Jews escapes me. While sarcastically dismissing the notion that the loss of several million Jews should be "sacralized" given continuous wars and bloodshed, Finkelstein seems to be equally averse to seeing the massive, amply documented Holocaust thefts from Jews - the real "Holocaust Industry" - treated as the property crime that it is. The alarm raised by Jewish organizations about improper uses of stolen Jewish money may have been rather scattershot, but perfect justice is unfortunately unattainable. This is by no means the most egregious case of bureaucratic overkill or inefficiency, if that is what it is. However, there is no question that Switzerland and many other nations - and industries - unduly benefited from the Nazi trade in Jewish lives and property, far beyond what can be quantified in abandoned Jewish bank accounts. As to the involvement of Jewish organisations,it is important to keep in mind - and Finkelstein doesn't - that other nationals had their national governments to do the negotiating, which often got territorial concessions in addition to substantial slave labor compensation funds, such as for example Poland - a more expensive project since so many more survived! In quibbling over the number and definition of survivors, Finkelstein as a fan of the Palestinian cause might study the definition of Palestinian - anyone who lived there for 2 years pre 1948 is forever refugee, including spouse and descendants. I also recommend he look into the funding going to the Palestinian Authority, and the origins of the millions in Arafat's and other terror leaders' private accounts. Precise counts of Jewish survivors are virtually impossible to come by with all the wartime refugees and post-war flux of Jews attempting to resettle in Eastern Europe, most soon fleeing the new wave of Eastern European anti-Semitism expressed in murders of concentration camp survivors and looting of their property there (by the "hapless Poles", among others). Of all those Jews slated to be eliminated, those who survived are survivors of that attempt, some more fortunate than others, and are entitled to restitution of their property stolen in this act of malice and calculated greed. I understand that there has been a raging controversy about the application of recovered funds. Whether to distribute according to need or ownership is a much discussed and vexing question, and this book adds nothing new other than hateful invective. Finkelstein obviously thinks Jewish communities in Europe ought to dissolve; others might disagree. It is to be noted that in a way the Jewish organizations have been "paying it forward", as mentioned above, funding Jewish communities during the war and survivors during its aftermath. With his tin ear for literature as for so many other things, Finkelstein's clumsy attempt to implicate Eli Wiesel and Wilkomirski in this supposed plot - hoax! - is absurd. I suppose he would include "Austerlitz" by W.G. Sebald (a German non-Jew writing about a Jewish child survivor) as well - an excellent work of insight and empathy, qualities sorely lacking in Finkelstein. In conclusion, with the intellectual as well as ethical obtuseness this book demonstrates behind its self-righteous tone of moral outrage, it is an unfortunate attempt to use the Holocaust and its aftermath to malign its survivors, the ultimate hoax. But then, this stuff obviously plays well.
Rating: 
Summary: Truth revealed
Review: By way of introduction, it needs to be stressed that Finkelstein by no means attempts to downplay or dismiss the importance of the holocaust. That Jews were subjected to unfathomable suffering in World War II is an irrefutable fact. Nonetheless, Finkelstein claims that Jewish suffering is being exploited by powerful Israeli lobbyists in the US. There is unequivocal evidence that Jewish "elites" exert enormous influence on the US government. According to Finkelstein, there are not many intellectuals who dare criticize Jews. Needless to say, any criticism directed at Jews automatically makes you an anti-semitist. When criticized, Jews frequently refer to Holocaust as a means to dismiss and reject constructive criticism. A few people dare criticize Jews as they might be accused of anti-semitism. In point of fact, Finkelstein claims that by using this insidious argument, powerful Jewish lobbyists in the US avoid being criticized and condemned. Some reviewers reject the idea of powerful Jewish "elites" in the US but Finkelstein provides strong evidence in support of his claim. The fact that the US government protects Israel in light of international criticism of Israel's belligerent war waging supports Finkelstein's theory. Needless to say, exploiting holocaust in this manner is an extremely malicious and calculated move. It is also an enormous disgrace for all the victims of the holocaust. Thus, Finkelstein's principal argument is that no one has the right to commit atrocities against innocent people and then attempt to justify these deeds by referring to one's past. Similar argument holds for murderers. The fact that many murderers were subjected to tremendous suffering in their childhood does not justify nor excuse their abominable actions. I strongly recommend this book to everyone who seeks a balanced and unbiased insight into the holocaust industry.
Rating:
Summary: quite convincing
Review: I picked this book after reading an overall favorable review of it on the Economist. The arguments contained in the book do not seem particular controversial. The author briefly challenges the common view that the Holocaust is a unique, metaphysically "evil" event caused by a unique, metahistorical hated of Gentiles toward Jews. He then moves on to show how this view is propagated through less than ethical means. The last leg of Finkelstein's thesis is about the motives behind this promotion, i.e., justifying the policy and legitimacy of Israel, and the predominant position of "jewish elites". Of the three sections of the argument, I am most comfortable with the first two. The first one is, in my opinion, uncontroversial for any lover of history and any rational person who hates to explain away human behavior using the concepts of good and evil. Interestingly, this was exactly the point of a book appeared in Italy 5 years ago, "Lettera ad un amico ebreo" by S. Romano, which, with all its minor flaws, caused an outcry in the italian jewish community. The second section -- the use of scare tactics to extort monies to Germany and Switzerland -- is thoroughly documented, and is quite depressing. I tried to find reviews of this book that would disprove the facts mentioned in the book, but all negative reviews were not based on confutation. Rather, they were mostly patronizing and directed at the animus of the author. I find the evidence in Finkelstein's book convincing. His indignation stems from the lack of respect of the "holocaust industry" toward the historical event and those who were touched by it. The last section of the book is the least convincing. Jewish american elites? Protecting Israel? It could as well be, but a) is far from being proved (the concept of jewish elite being a rethorical one), b) is understandable. You might not approve of it, but every ethnic/religious minority strives to help its country of origin. Even discounting the explanation of motives, "the Holocaust industry" is worth reading. It may help readers distinguish the holocaust propaganda and the resulting despicable effects (the easy tear in "Schindler's list", the invocation of a "holocaust" in any tragedy), for the historical event, its causes, and the truly effective ways to avoid it in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Reclaiming the holocaust
Review: Norman G. Finkelstein's family, like millions of other Jewish families, was a direct victim of the holocaust. Finkelstein's work did not come across to me as the work of someone who is denying the holocaust; it came across as the work of someone reclaiming the holocaust for the Jewish people. Finkelstein, through very methodical research and persuasive logic shows how the memory of the holocaust was turned into generating money to support causes of Israel after 1967. He argues that American Jews were largely indifferent to Israel before 1967 and suggests that the trade in the memory of the holocaust was used to offset the newly found strength of Israel, a way to counter balance the image of the Jews as oppressors, or as an occupying army. Finkelstein paints a picture of the memory of the holocaust used to extract huge sums of money from various parties; he went into great detail covering the settlement between Swiss Banks and Jewish organizations on behalf of the holocaust survivors. The picture painted by Finkelstein is indeed ugly fully of conspiracy, black mail and abuse of the public. Overall The Holocaust Industry offers a very grim view of mainstream Jewish American organizations; it paints an ugly picture of propaganda and manipulation of facts, numbers and emotions. Whenever I read books that offer a conspiratorial view of events I feel the need to read an alternate view, so far I have not found a balanced rebuttal to Finkelstein ...
Rating:
Summary: It should have been more balanced
Review: Rating a book like that is quite difficult: on one side the subject is quite interesting and represents an uncomfortable truth, on the other one, I must admit that it looks like a good intention not well accomplished. It seems that the author, anxious to be recognized as the first scholar to discover a controversial, but undeniable, truth, wrote it in a hurry, lacking deepness to overcome in speed other possible competitors. That leads sometimes to make some positions extreme and ingenuous: for example, even if some Jewish organizations have forced reparations off from Swiss banks, without a real behalf and can be highly suspected to use that funds to finance their activities more than to support survivors, I can hardly agree with the picture of Swiss banks themselves as innocent institutions who ignored the Holocaust events and made no profits with Nazis during WWII and who are now victims of blackmailing. In the same way, you must not forget that many Nazi high functionaries had important commitments in Western Germany after the war. So Finkelstein's book can be a step in the right direction, but it should have been more very balanced. But to be honest, as a comparison, prefer his method, that I consider right even ill-applied, to other more dogmatic approaches. In spite of superficiality of his book, Finkelstein has surely chosen the right moment, besides the right direction. The subject of Holocaust, after many years of latency, have been recently reawakened by some well-spread controversies (Lipstadt-Irving, Goldhagen) and by some very good studies (Browning). So any other scholar who is going to study the consequences of Holocaust in modern society will not be able to afford to ignore Finkelstein's book. In that sense, the book has also been a very successful promotional task. But a point must me stated quite cleat: it is NOT an issue about WHAT Holocaust was IN THE PAST, but HOW Holocaust is NOW used. So, it shares nothing with revisionism and negationism, and it deals much more with actuality than with history.
Rating:
Summary: An example of the 'Chomsky left' cowardy
Review: In this book the Author deals with the power of the jewish lobbies that have succesfully turned a historical people's tragedy into a big business. They achieved this by exploiting the sense of guilt of the Gentiles, accused either to be involved or the cause altogether of this horror. The A. also describes clearly the mechanisms of such industry, such as the blackmailing of the Swiss Government and Banks, as well as the exhaltations of the prophets of the Holocaust: Elie Wiesel among all.
Now, all this was previously well known. You may be surprised by these 'revelations' only if you have been taught for all of your life that such things as 'jewish lobbies' and 'jewish elites' are fallacious inventions of malignant anti-semites. I guess that the many 5-stars reviewers belong to this category.
Now, my problem with this book is the conclusion of it, along with the overall ideology behind it and the overall meaning the A. seems to give to his own research.
It is indeed never clear what the goal of the A. is.
For example, he is never clear about one, crucial, point: does he consider the claims of the Holocaust industry illegitimate, unjust,or does he just think that since the americans allowed and backed the jewish lobby to raide the Swiss banks, then they should in turn support in the same way the black community, i.e. slave reparations? The A. never makes this point clear. In other words: what is the REAL goal of this book? To denounce the jewish elite for acting as it does, or simply to create a case, in order to say: "...well, unjustice for unjustice....now it's the turn of the Black community: if there were unfair compensations for the jewish elites, even more there would be for the blacks." If this is the real goal of the book, as I suspect, Mr. Finkelstein's work doesn't go in the right direction, but in the wrongest possible: an unjustice may never serve as a justification to another unjustice.
The doubt is a legitimate one: "The holocaust industry justly accused...of using money belonging to Holocaust victims" (p.172), "the Holocaust industry justly accused the Swiss of purchasing Nazi gold looted from the central tresauries of Europe" (p.173), "the Holocaust industry also justly alleged that the Swiss purchased nazi gold looted from holocaust victims" (p.174). Justly? Was, after all, the holocaust industry doing something 'right' and 'just' when blackmailing the Swiss banks and the Swiss goverment?
Now, here comes my point: each of these and similar arguments are followed by comments about how the US government acted, in a similar situation, much worse than the Swiss. So the overall message of the A. seems: 'Yes, yes, the Swiss were thugs. But the US is a bigger thug'.
Does this refrain remember anything to you?
If not, let me explain that this is the typical leitmotiv of the so-called Chomsky Left (to which Mr. Finkelstein proudly belongs) as Stephen Gowans pointed out: insert instead of 'Swiss government' whatever Institution which clashed with Washington, and you will have the magic formula of the New Chomsky Left, that is: the US is the only, real, thug.
Furthermore, what the A. seems to forget here is that the US government (i.e. the Clinton administration) was at that time controlled almost completeley by those jewish lobbies he excoriates, and of course those lobbies didn't have much interest in opening another front, about the black compensations, that instead the A. seems to yearn for. Now, if instead of the jewish lobbies the US government had been hijacked by some black lobby, now probably professor Finkelstein, the harald of the New Chosky Left would probably write a book titled "The Negro Reparation Industry", excoriating the US governemnt because, while giving support to the Black community for the slavery reparation (maybe blackmailing - why not? - some African governement), they would refuse the same treatment to the 'poor Holocaust survivors'.
This is not about serious research, but only about ideology and propaganda, whose final goal is to undermine American society. God save the US from the Chomsky Left (and from the jewish elites)
Rating:
Summary: A FANTASTIC BOOK BY A BRAVE AUTHOR
Review: Prof. Finkelstein, a son of Holocaust survivors, is obviously not a favorite of the mainstream Jewish organizations, for he exposes in this short book all their secret machinations and their disproportionate influence in, for example, forcing a settlement of issue of the Swiss bank accounts held by Holocaust victims. Most of that money didn't go to the survivors, but to powerful American Jewish interests and lawyers like indicted former U.S. Senator Al d'Amato. A measure of how uncomfortable this book makes people feel is that it never got a review or article in the "New York Times," whereas the Times has trumpeted prominently books by Daniel Goldhagen (who holds forth that all Germans were culpable for the Holocaust, and an adversary of Finkelstein). What Finkelstein shows is how the "Holocaust" has become its own industry, rather than a search for truth and justice. You'd think a topic this heavy would make this book hard to read. On the contrary, it's brief, concise, utterly coherent and easy to follow, and even funny, as Finkelstein has a fine sense of humor. A must read for all that follow current events.
Rating:
Summary: The truth finally exposed
Review: This book is of great help in understanding much of today's politics. Many answers can be found about the exploitation of the Holocaust, and, more important, many answers can be found between the lines about the current US foreign policy. I believe Finkelstein is a hero, one of the few jews, who had the courage to expose the sad truth about a corrupt leadership.
Simply great.
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