June 5, 2012
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM RELEASES SECOND VOLUME OF LANDMARK ENCYCLOPEDIA DOCUMENTING SCOPE OF NAZI CAMP AND GHETTO SYSTEM
Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945 Volume II: Ghettos in German-Occupied Eastern Europe
Geoffrey P. Megargee, General Editor
Martin Dean, Volume Editor
Introduction by Christopher R. Browning
WASHINGTON, DC — The second volume of the Museum’s award-winning Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945 provides a comprehensive account of how the Nazis conducted the Holocaust throughout the scattered towns and villages of Poland and the former Soviet Union. More than 1,150 sites are covered, including both open and closed ghettos. Introductory essays describe the patterns of ghettoization in 19 German administrative regions. The entries cover key events in the history of ghettos, living and working conditions, activities of the Jewish councils, Jewish responses to persecution, demographic changes, and details of the liquidation of the ghettos.
The personal testimonies in this meticulously researched volume help convey the character of each ghetto, while source citations provide a guide to additional research. Documentation of hundreds of smaller sites—previously unknown or overlooked in the historiography of the Holocaust—make this an indispensable reference work on the destroyed Jewish communities of Eastern Europe.
This magnificent collective effort, uniting the research and expertise of leading scholars from around the world, provides a fundamental new reference for the history of the Holocaust. Anyone who wishes to understand the variety of Jewish experience in the ghettos and the scale of the destruction of a whole European world must consult this encyclopedia.
—Timothy Snyder, author of Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin
The project brings together, in English, information that until now has been scattered through millions of pages of published and archival material in many different languages. It represents a significant international effort, with contributions from hundreds of scholars from several European countries, Israel, and the United States, as well as the participation of many different archives, research centers, and memorial sites.
Geoffrey P. Megargee, the encyclopedia’s general editor, and Martin Dean, editor of the second volume, are applied research scholars at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies. The encyclopedia is published by Indiana University Press, in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Volume Details
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945 Volume II: Ghettos in German-Occupied Eastern Europe
2,096 pages, 192 b/w illus., 20 maps, 8.5x11
Publication date: May 1, 2012
For review copies and interview requests, contact Mandy Clarke, Publicist, Indiana University Press, at mlclarke@indiana.edu or 812.855.4522.
To purchase, visit ushmm.org/research/center/encyclopedia/.
About the Museum
A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanent place on the National Mall, and its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information, visit ushmm.org.
