Introducing the Holocaust: A Graphic Guide

Introducing Graphic Guides

by Haim Bresheeth, Stuart Hood, Litza Jansz

'Excellent ... an astounding amount of material.'

Times Educational Supplement

Popular culture often portrays the Holocaust as a

horrific drama played out between Nazi executioners and ghetto Jewish victims -

in short, a single aberration of history.

Introducing

the Holocaust is a powerful graphic guide that dissolves this

stereotype, explaining the causes and its relevance today. It places the

Holocaust where it belongs - at the centre of modern European and world

history.

Haim Bresheeth and Stuart Hood - along with Litza

Jansz's outstanding illustrations - bring a unique and unforgettable perspective

to how we think about this most dark of shadows on human history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Holocaust

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Castles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, the author ends this book with a political tone about a situation he probably has no idea about, trying to describe the complex politics and warfare of the Middle East in banal ways.

[Lina Cankas]

Gerai žinoti pagrindus, kaip prasidėjo ir kaip baigėsi. Straightforward. Yra įvairių minčių ir tai leidžia lyginti dabartinę situaciją, kurioje esame. Tarkim, kaip auka gali pavirsti į budelį. Arba kodėl žmonės negali patys apsiginti.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good at informing the reader about the topic. In combination with the well executed illustrations the book gives a great overview on this specific topic. It enlightens in a way that everyone understands and it also expands one's horizon through the last couple of pages, because it has a perspective on the modern problems between Israel and Palestine. I would like to add though, that sometimes the writing is quite subjective, and I don't think that belongs in an informative book about a subject.

[Lass_Carrotop_Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic representation of overall holocaust implicated by Nazis during world war 2. Though this book is good for beginners starting to learn about the past it does not give you the deep insight of what happened in the past.
Beginning of jews ghetto with rise of Nazism with several quotations from people made in the book gives you an overall view of the topic with little insight of aftermath.
Hence recommended for people who do not get well with piles of literature and want to learn about the topic fresh from the start.

[A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my money, the Holocaust is the defining event of the 20th Century. This is a great lucid overview of the events and prevailing atmosphere which in their shaky and uncoordinated way built up to the grand evil therein. Hitler doesn’t show up often—Heydrich and Eichmann do. I would have loved for a meditation on Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem near the end, but you can’t have everything. And by the way, the illustrations here are especially vivid, original, and story-advancing.

[Lucy Tregidon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of Icon Books' 'Introducing' series that I've read and it won't be the last. The easiest way to explain it would be that it's like Horrible Histories but for adults. So much information is given in such few words and the illustrations make it much easier to process the information.

[VJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned things I did not know. Will likely purchase for my library.

Would recommend this book to people both familiar and unfamiliar with Holocaust studies. I never knew there were trains that went straight to the crematoria. The Aftermath is particularly important because it speaks of how traumatized Israelis have become executioners.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic edition made this topic somewhat less terrible to read and learn about. Even though I do know a good amount about the Holocaust, there are always more terrible truths to be uncovered whenever I read something new on the subject.
The Introducing Series is really great and always goes in depth with the information being presented.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

It might have been good.

It is shallow. An introductory book written by people whose knowledge is based on some other introductory book.

Jews were not artists so much because of the Enlightenment, but because they were still limited by the anti-semitic tradition in their career path choice.

Or

At the same time, Jews became increasingly associated with liberalism, radicalism, socialism and communism.

Jews were associated by the Christians. It simply meant they were more present in the political and associative sphere.

Or

The Jews were Semites and not Aryans.

This is the argument of an anti-semite trying hard to masquerade as something else. The Slavs, Southern Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Portuguese. All these people were accepted as European and were still not Aryan. Yet there was NO Ultimate Solution sought against them. Only against the Roma and Sinti which are still not accepted as European after all these centuries of intermixing.

Or

Eugenics was invented by the British scientist Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911). It derived from Darwin’s theory of the “survival of the fittest”,

Eugenics originated in a book by Galton. It was not invented. It was just a continuation of the older thought about purity and "them" vs "us".

Also, Darwin did not have the "theory of the survival of the fittest". Darwin produced the Theory of Evolution. Survival of the fittest is the way the evolution goes. Maybe if the author would have been better read, he would have heard of Social Darwinism, which has nothing to do with Darwin, but with Galton. Also, he might have found that the US was the first to enact large scale Eugenics, before the Germans.

Also to reinforce the idea of the author or editor being anti-semitic, there is the epilogue in which the Palestinian conflict is brought it. It is true. It is a valid point. But it has NO connection with the Holocaust history, the same way most anti-semites are always happy to remark "He might be Johnson, but he was born Moscovici!".

[Miem’s]

I read the ‘compact’ (?) version of book with only 171 pages. One lingering question even after I finished the book was, why Jewish? Why them in the first place. Well… This completely embodied ‘From the one being occupied to being the one who conducting the occupation’.

“The Third Reich had gone, but the terror of the Final Solution was still lurking in Europe. The hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees who had survived had to be found somewhere to go. The West was unwilling to pay the price of resettling them, and therefore agreed to a colonial solution in Palestine.”
______

More excerpt from the book:

The Inversion of Roles - Victim has become Executioner.

“Since 1948, the Jews in Israel (and indirectly through them, Jews elsewhere) have found themselves in an unusual situation, that of being the dispossessor, the stronger party, miltarily and politically. While in Europe they suffered the total annihilation of the dispossessed, in Palestine they were the Europeans faced with a Third World "native" population…”

#ceasefire #freePalestine

[Bruce Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction. Outlines the evolution of Germany's Final Solution to the Jewish question. Offers a rationale for the Germans to keep some Jews alive rather than kill all Jews as they arrived at the camps: since nearly all available able-bodied German men were needed to fight the war, the Jews were needed to work. Also highlights the anti-semitism prevalent in many European countries, Britain, and the US at the time - many countries would not accept Jewish immigrants trying to flee the Nazis. Criticizes the West's inaction after learning about Nazi death camps. Shows that the Nuremberg trials did not prosecute enough of the war criminals with many being protected by western countries. Finally critizes the fledgling state of Israel for not doing enough for the Holocaust survivors and acting much like the Nazis in oppressing native Palestinians.

[maryam :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative read filled with key facts and information. It was a helpful insight not only to the parts so many people know but parts that aren’t talked about often enough such as the allies response and the argument that they could’ve done more to halt this breach of human rights. The ending attempting to tie the holocaust to more recent events in modern history started to lose me slightly but other than that, it was particularly enlightening to read about the three camps of auschwitz and what horrors took place in each part. A good read for any beginners looking to expand their knowledge on this important event.

[Laverdad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite its obviously heavy and at times distressing material, this book was a thoroughly enjoyable, and relatively quick, read. The illustrations simultaneously add to ones understanding of the text, while in some way at times, seemingly, lessening its potentially traumatic impact. While obviously not an exhaustive discussion on the topic, it is certainly a very good brief introduction to what continues to be a controversial topic. It has stimulated my appetite to learn more detail and varying perspectives on the holocaust.

[david marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has lots of graphic drawings (almost every page) which makes it short on word count. Having said that, the images are well presented to represent the seriousness of the subject matter. And after all a picture can paint a thousand words. It was an interesting read even so. Lots of facts and information relating to the Holocaust, the times building up to, the atrocities, and the aftermath.

[Keely · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book whas exactly what is says, an introduction. I've read other books that I felt did this better. For me the graphic novel aspect didn't really work. My judgement may be biased though as I've studied this topic a lot and I have a degree in history so I am used to reading more detailed and complicated texts.
This book would be good for some people, but personally I didn't really like it.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, very very informative but there's a disconnect with the subject matter and the illustrations. They almost seemed kind of inappropriately silly at times. It was pretty distracting. Also, it wasn't copyedited well, so the typos and confusing sentences were a chore to navigate. But still a good primer. But don't stop here.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick read that provides a good overview of the Holocaust. The last couple sections include a lot of opinions which seem a bit misplaced in an otherwise informational book. Good for an overview but not a source from which to do true research.

[Nikolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to understand about the holocaust in a bit more detail and this book was very informative, concise and clear. As well as the holocaust itself, it gives background on European anti-semetism, the parts played by other countries and post-war holocaust-deniers.

[Dr. Tathagat Varma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-balanced perspective of one of the most unfortunate and tragic crimes against humanity.

[Ron Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Very informative on a subject that should never be forgotten. In particular the fact that most nations were partially at fault

[Pug · Rating 2 out of 5]

For an illustrated novel about the Holocaust, this book was incredibly boring. It was also poorly written and thus, hard to follow.

[alodiaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last few pages of this book makes it a truly great read.

[Paññādhammika Bhikkhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too graphic at times, good that it wasn't biased. Genocide at any level is bad, not just for the jews, and historical genocide shouldn't be used as an excuse for current genocide.

[Introvert Insane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched documentaries about the Holocaust and feel despair that this happened. Now, I feel absolutely nothing. #freepalestine

[Aaron McCormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard Reading

Standard reading if you know about the war & holocaust - interesting piece at the end bringing the holocaust into modern Israeli psyche & its actions in Palestine

[Damien A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Amazing read. Probably my favorite in this series of books. The level of detail often made me cry, stop and think that more of this information should be taught in schools

[Evie Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually rate Non-Fic but the drawings and info in this book was very informative 👌

[Will Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant introductory book.

[Jorge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Amazing excellent book ,I recommend to every one ,to read this wonderful book.i loved it .very impressive book and understanding

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sterk en heel informatief.