Rating: 
Summary: Great Thesis but UnReadable Book
Review: The main point in Hitler's Willing Executioners is a good one. Personally, I tend to believe, I can see why others don't but the bottom line is that it is a thesis that though simple is a strong possibility. The idea that the German people themselves were anti-semtic and the role this played in the Holocaust and the ability for Hitler to do what he did is something I agree with. However, this book is unreadable. The vocabulary, the word choices...its impossible to read. I suggest reading Explaing Hitler and the Chapter on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: brilliant, important, original
Review: The readers who think this is all old hat are mistaken. It may seem like old hat because when someone comes up with new insights that have the absolute clearness of truth, they immediately seem obvious. goldhagen is original, and he has terribly imporant things to say. Yes, in a boring, repetitious way -- but its worth wading through. Skim the repetitious parts. His book was actually loved in Germany by regular people (not necessarily by academics, who have their own turf to defend) because he demolishes the myth that Germans were monsters: they were deluded normal people, raised on a steady diet of hateful fantastical lies about Jews, that made them eager to wipe Jews out -- just like so many Arabs today. Read this book and think about how Mein Kampf is on the best seller list year after year in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and among Palestinians. Teaching hate to children sows the seeds of mass destruction. Goldhagen says he wasn't trying to cover every aspect of Nazi Germany or the Holocaust -- of course, millions of Poles and Russians and others were cruelly slaughtered as well. What he is countering is the idiotic notions that unlike every other slaughter in history (in Serbia or Ruanda or Turks against Armenians) that in Nazi Germany alone, the people were really good, loving souls who behaved like beasts because they were scared not to. Look at the smiling photos in the book of relaxed, satisfied ordinary German soldiers in the middle of wiping out children, women, men. the photos say it all. They wanted to kill. The why is because they were taught to hate. The why of that is explained in chapter one -- it's not really that difficult to understand, if you're willing to admit to Christian antisemitism, and that Germany had its own peculiar history of not uniting till the 19 century, and using race to do so. It was not a really modern western country. All fascinating, sobering and very relevent for this world where children are still taught to see others as less than human.
Rating:
Summary: Why it could - and did happen
Review: This is a great book (more than 460 pages)on the What; When, Where of German atrocities during the time of Hitler, but the author fails to explain Why it could - and did happen. The author use the word "anti-Semitism" (in various forms)as some sort of explanation, but there is no logic to that word if you consider the following definitions as given in various encyclopedias, including the one in Compton'Home Library : "Sem-ite (semit; chiefly Brit semit) n. [[ModL Semita < LL(Ec) Sem, Shem < Gr (Ec) Sem < Heb shem , a son of Noah (Gen.7:13)]] 1 a person regarded as descended from Shem 2 a member of any of the peoples speaking a Semitic language, including the Hebrews, Arabs, Assyrians, Phoenicians, etc. 3 JEW: a loose usage Semite, A member of an ethnic group speaking a Semitic language. As early as 2500 BC the Semites began to migrate from the Arabian Peninsula. Semitic peoples include the ancient Akkadians, Assyrians, Aramaeans, Israelites, and Phoenicians, and the modern Arabs and Jews. anti-Semitism, Historically persistent prejudice (or open hostility) toward Jews. This prejudice at first stemmed from religious differences between Jews and Christians, but from the late 19th cent. it was largely based on supposed racial differences. Anti-Semitism in this form became the basis for A. Hitler's systematic extermination (1939-45) of six million Jews during WW II. Arab hatred of the Israelis has brought hatred of the Jews into the post-WW II, modern era." It is hardly correct that "this prejudice at first stemmed from religious differences between Jews and Christians," because the plight of the Jews are of a much earlier date. But if we accept the fact that Arabs are indeed Semites, why doesn't atrocities, under the label "anti-Semitism," apply to them? Could the answer to that question be that "anti-Semitism" (as experienced by the Jews) is not related to political and/or demographical circumstances, but to the spiritual realm in which mankind is also a part? If the latter is the case, perhaps a closer look at the contents of the Bible will clarify the issue and be more rewarding than reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A book worth reading and pondering
Review: This extraordinary book has touched off a storm of controversy among well known Shoah scholars and ordinary people alike. Dr. Goldhagen's thesis that many Germans participated in the killing of the Jewish people in Europe because they wanted to, raises the problem of "mass psychology" and moral behavior. His numerous examples of the gratuitous violence and humiliations inflicted by the perpetrators on Jewish men,women and children make a convincing case for his thesis. Perhaps one can disageee on the details but his overall argument should be given serious consideration for anyone who wants to try to understand what went wrong at the heart of Western civilization at the heart of the 20th century. Many will continue to argue the merits of this book. But Dr. Goldhagen has provided Christians a chance to seriously evaluate the Church's complicity in what happened and why it happened in Germany. It also directs to us to ask, could this ever happen again? The answer to this question will have alot to do with whether or not we see each person as sacred or merely a blip on the radar screen of life.
Rating:
Summary: True, but narrow in vision
Review: Mr Goldhagens book has been acclaimed for its revelatory analysis of the holocaust, yet this book does not really tell us much that is new about the anti-semitic genocide that took place in europe during WW2. Rather what this book does is break necessary taboos regarding the accountability of an entire nation or ethnic group. The reason the conclusions reached by this book have never attracted so much attention (for they are hardly new) is because their potential for misuse is staggering. The attention of this book is focused squarely on the German responsibilty for the holocaust; little attention is given to the antisemitic violence of the rest of central and eastern Europe. Where for instance was the recognition and analysis of the particulary savage Ustace Croat genocide against the Jews (and the Serbs and the gypsies), or indeed the Latvian, Romanian, Belorussian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Ukrainian and even French and western European compliance in the holocaust. The History of the modern world has shown that violent anti-semitism or any racial prejudice extreme in nature allowed to precede unchecked leads inevitably to eliminationist policies be it in Turkey, the Soviet Union, the United States of America or Australia (all instances of eliminationist genocide against native or minority peoples). What of the Russian pogroms or the anti-semitic genocide planned by the Young Turks (which they had already instigated against more than a million Armenians) around the period of WW1? By singling out the German people in the 20th century this book falls prey to the trap of identifying and demonising an entire nation and ethnic group allowing for the justification of allied atrocities like the Dresden firestorm. This suspicion was confirmed by NATO's use of Mr Goldhagen and his book to demonise the Serbian people during the Kosovo conflict. The Goldhagen conclusion that crimes committed by a democratically elected regime are the fault of an entire ethnic group and nation have been used to justify and shroud the acceleration of the conflict and the bombing of civilians in a mist of bogus moral crusade. I recognise that Mr Goldhagen has a right to his private opinion, but as a historian he has a responsiblity to strive for a level of academic detachment. To attack the opinion of the Nazis from a subjective viewpoint is to disagree with it, not to discredit it. Only through objectivity can totalitarian atrocities be judged. Any other course places justice in the hands of the victims at which point perspective is lost and vengeance prevails. If the historian has made any error or has ignored evidence pertaining to his conclusion he is then responsible for the consequences of vengeance that is misplaced. While his theories and analysis are largely applicable to the holocaust in Germany he should be aware of the danger of making generalised conclusions (for how can one correctly determine the responsiblity of an entire group or nation without taking into account the circumstances and situation of every component individual). The assertion that the German treatment of the Jews was "so horrific that it can hardly be compared with that of other peoples" relies almost entirely on the genocide committed inside the massive concentration camp network and that of the einsatzgruppen and anti-partizan units and effectively ignores the death of the three and a half million captured Russian soldiers marched to death, starved and forced to eat each other, packed into freight wagons, sealed and left in sidings and many other horrific forms of mass murder perpetrated against slav prisoners that were not part of the mechanised concentration and extermination camps designed to deal specifically with the genocide of the Jewish people. To be so incensed as to accuse the entire German nation of genocide, but then to decide other crimes were less horrific and in doing so excuse their perpetrators, establishes a hierarchy of criminals in inverse proportion to the Nazi hierarchy of victims, a reflection not a refutation of racist doctrine. Hatred against one group is not excusable because another group is hated more. If it is Goldhagen's point that the nature of persecution was more horrific in Germany then the alleged relatively lower incidence of persecution elsewhere cannot exclude the need for its mention. The cold war and the need to demonise the Soviet Union has meant the apparent minimalisation of slav suffering as well as of the knowledge that the Russians took a hideous revenge against the Germans and other eastern European peoples as they drove the Germans back and, like the yugoslav partisans against the Ustace Croats, practiced mass murder against their neighbors. Mr Goldhagen does not go far enough in saying that gypsies were "treated similarly" to the Jews, he is right to say that the Nazi's considered the Jews the lowest form of humanity but he does not say outright, as he should that the gypsies were victims of "eliminationist" genocide. The annihilation of the Jews was indeed the purpose of the extermination camps but the annihilation of the gypsies was also an example of total genocide. Thank you for reading
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time and Money
Review: This is the worst book I have ever read. For one thing, it is very boring and poorly written. As far as the content is concerned, Goldhagen claims to be presenting new information, but he just regurgitates established facts and then twists them around to make them fit his interpretation, instead of making his interpretation fit the facts. I was also surprised to see that he used very few primary sources, which is a big no no when writing a scholarly work. In fact, scholars regard this book as so bad that a couple of them have gotten together and written a book about it. It is called _Goldhagen's Thesis_. Goldhagen has very little respect now in the historical community. There are plenty of well-written and informative books on the subject of the German people during the Nazi era (oral histories abound). Please read one of these credible books instead.
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Summary: Some Good Info, Poorly Written
Review: This book has some good info on the police battalions, the work camps, and the death marches, but I have several problems with this book. First Goldhagen is a horrible writer. His style is boring and he seems to toss in big words just to prove he knows them. Second, although this book is supposed to be a new view on the Holocaust and ordinary Germans it really isn't. Most of the information in the book that is supposedly new can be found in many other books. Third, the main point of the book is spelled out in the first couple of pages, but Goldhagen keeps repeating it over and over and over again throughout the book. It really becomes annoying. Finally, all of these things combined makes this a pretty forgettable book. All in all the book has some decent moments, but is poorly written, parts are boring, and the information that is supposed to be new really isn't. There are much better books about ordinary Germans and the Holocaust out there than this one.
Rating:
Summary: A book that does not try to spare the Germans' feelings
Review: This book does a good job. Why? Because it is one of the first books that does not fail to report about the German people's (in general-of course there were some exceptions) role in the holocaust to spare their feeling. Let's face it. Had the cold war not popped up so fast after the end of the holocaust the search for where the guild lay would have been far more exhaustive and decisive. The Germans were lucky that the cold war made the West's friendship with Germany necessary-which in turn gave the world a reason to try to put this all past us. The West's desire to be allied with the freedom-loving people of West Berlin and Germany as a whole was not consistent with thinking about them as a nation of sadistic murderers (or at least accomplices). This book may at times go to far, and yes, the Germans did kill a lot of other people. They were incidental acts, rather than a final solution-save for the treatment of the Gypsies of Europe of which the Germans were probably equally brutal. The facts, and yes-even if this book overemphasized some aspects (although I thought it did a great job bringing to light the police battalions- of which much had not been said before)- there were enough facts that even if only one tenth were true-the points made would have still been proven. Why do I say that. Well, in addition to studying the holocaust and anti-semitic thought, I have been to Flossenberg. Before this book I had never heard anything about it, but it was talked about extensively n the death march section. This camp was in the middle of a town (in Germany-not conquered Poland)! Yes-and it was a relatively small camp- there were others that were much larger- harder to hide. There was not attempt to hide this camp. So the Germans who lived next to it and went to church across the street from it were either fully knowing individuals or complete morons or blind- although even blind Germans could smell the burning flesh from the crematorium or hear the gunshots. This book may have been a little repetitive, but basic points are clear. Most (not all) Germans knew-of the goals, and most didn't care and would have just as well seen it happen. This book just explains about the haphazardly way Germans that would have passively ignored the final solution found themselves in a position where they were part of it. So sorry this book hurt the German people's feelings. But it is important to face the past-and how the German people thought. I give them more credit than to believe they were all so well brainwashed that they never gave any of it another thought. And the fear argument is quite well dispelled in this book. Although some righteous gentiles (non-Jews that helped Jews during the holocaust)are a credit to the Germans of the period- the overwhelming majority were not. I thank those righteous gentiles- and the Danes who had guts from the start. This is an important book. If you read it and feel that the author is making it sound like it was worse for the Jews than it actually was. Perhaps you should consider your own feelings towards the Jews. And if it makes you feel better to point out that other people perished with the Jews-then keep pointing that out; but consider why you are doing so. Is it to say the Germans were monsters to everyone, or is it to say that they weren't just bad to Jews- as if that is soe consolation to those that died. Sorry this review was almost as long as the book itself.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful and balanced
Review: Goldhagen rejects arguments which place the blame for the Holocaust on the "German psyche," and therefore on Germans who were not even alive at the time. He argues, instead, that while the German youth of today are not responsible for the vile behavior of their elders, Germany itself must come to terms with the mass participation in the slaughter by the Germans of the time. His arguments are humane and sensible, and his evidence, particularly in his demolition of the book "Ordinary Men," is very persuasive. Everyone interested in understanding the Holocaust should read this book. (While this is an excellent book for students, parents buying "Hitler's Willing Executioners" should be aware that this book contains far more graphic arguments and photographs than most scholarly history titles. I would not purchase this book for a teenager without making a commitment to thoroughly discus these images with him or her! )
Rating: 
Summary: Selectively Presents Facts
Review: While there is no doubt that the vast majority of Germans actively supported Nazi policies, there are other facts listed in the book which are clearly of a distorted nature. For instance, Goldhagen cites an example of where Germans were opposed to executing a Pole "because (unlike Jews), Poles are human". This is clearly atypical. Most Germans showed very little sympathy of any kind for Poles.
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