Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews 1933-1949

DavidCesarani’sFinalSolutionisamagisterialworkofhistorythatchroniclesthefateofEurope’sJews.Basedondecadesofscholarship,documentationnewlyavailablefromtheopeningofSovietarchives,declassificationofWesternintelligenceservicerecords,aswellasdiariesandreportswritteninthecamps,Cesaraniprovidesasweepingreappraisalthatchallengesacceptedexplanationsfortheanti-JewishpoliticsofNaziGermanyandtheinevitabilityofthe“finalsolution.”ThepersecutionoftheJews,asCesaraniseesit,wasnotalwaystheNazis’centralpreoccupation,norwasitinevitable.Heshowshow,inGerman-occupiedcountries,itunfoldederratically,oftenduetolocalinitiatives.ForCesarani,warwascriticaltotheJewishfate.MilitaryfailuredeniedtheGermansopportunitiestoexpelJewsintoadistantterritoryandcreatedacrisisofresourcesthatledtothestarvationoftheghettosandintensifiedanti-Jewishmeasures.Lookingatthehistoricalrecord,hedisputestheiconicroleofrailwaysanddeportationtrains.Fromprisonerdiaries,heexposestheextentofsexualviolenceandabuseofJewishwomenandfollowsthejourneyofsomeJewishprisonerstodisplacedpersonscamps.DavidCesarani’sFinalSolutionisthenewstandardchronicleofthefateofaheroicpeoplecaughtinthehellthatwasHitler’sGermany.