Why?: Explaining the Holocaust

Written by Peter Hayes

Narrated by Don Hagen

Featured in the PBS documentary The US and the Holocaust by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein

A bold new exploration that answers the most commonly asked questions about the Holocaust.

Despite the outpouring of books, movies, museums, memorials, and courses devoted to the Holocaust, a coherent explanation of why such ghastly carnage erupted from the heart of civilized Europe in the twentieth century still seems elusive even seventy years later. Numerous theories have sprouted in an attempt to console ourselves and to point the blame in emotionally satisfying directions-yet none of them are fully convincing. As witnesses to the Holocaust near the ends of their lives, it becomes that much more important to unravel what happened and to educate a new generation about the horrors inflicted by the Nazi regime on Jews and non-Jews alike.

Why? dispels many misconceptions and answers some of the most basic-yet vexing-questions that remain: why the Jews and not another ethnic group? Why the Germans? Why such a swift and sweeping extermination? Why didn't more Jews fight back more often? Why didn't they receive more help? While responding to the questions he has been most frequently asked by students over the decades, world-renowned Holocaust historian and professor Peter Hayes brings a wealth of scholarly research and experience to bear on conventional, popular views of the history, challenging some of the most prominent recent interpretations. He argues that there is no single theory that "explains" the Holocaust; the convergence of multiple forces at a particular moment in time led to catastrophe.

In clear prose informed by an encyclopedic knowledge of Holocaust literature in English and German, Hayes weaves together stories and statistics to heart-stopping effect. Why? is an authoritative, groundbreaking exploration of the origins of one of the most tragic events in human history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ascent Audio
• Release date: Jul 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781469006833

Peter Hayes

Peter Hayes is Theodore Zev Weiss Holocaust Educational Foundation Professor of Holocaust Studies Emeritus at Northwestern University. His most recent book is Why?: Explaining the Holocaust.

Reviews for Why?

[Linda Vinecour · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I have no idea about the content of this book. I tried to listen to the audiobook and the quality is so poor I couldn’t even get through the first chapter. And I was really excited to see that it was available on audio book. So disappointed.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

While visiting the Holocaust museum in Israel last year, I often asked myself "Why?" And as I exited through the gift shop (some things never change) I saw this book and hoped it would answer my question.The book is extremely well written and explains how and why the Holocaust happened from examining key questions: Why the Jews? Why the Germans? Why murder? Why so fast and sweeping? Why didn't more victims fight back? Why such limited help from outside? I learned so much! One strength of the book is the final chapter which examines legacies and lessons that are relevant to our time in a very thoughtful and thought-provoking manner.Why? I understand much more than before I read this book, but in a fundamental way, that question remains partly unanswerable in my mind.

[neddludd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reading this book is like having gauze removed from your eyes. Even if you are familiar with the Holocaust, Hayes, by using a multidisciplinary approach, provides an acuity with is astounding. Importantly, many of his observations have applications to any culture in which authoritarianism threatens empathy and diversity. Thus, he dates the beginning of the Holocaust to a day in 1933 when Germany's leading industrialists caved in to Hitler's demand that they fire all Jewish employees. If they had refused, history might have taken a different course. Which is why he ends his work with a German proverb: "Beware the beginnings." Hayes writes beautifully, and having been trained as an economic historian, he often frames his arguments in a numerical fashion--which aids understanding. This is a magnificent work.