Michael Berkowitz
The Crime of My Very Existence
Nazism and the Myth of Jewish Criminality
An S. Mark Taper Foundation Book in Jewish Studies
$60.00, £41.95 hardcover
9780520251120
Available Now
$27.95, £19.95 paperback
9780520251144
Available Now
352 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 15 b/w photographs
September 2007, Available worldwide
Also in: Jewish Studies; German Studies
September 2007, Available worldwide
Also in: Jewish Studies; German Studies
The Crime of My Very Existence investigates a rarely considered yet critical dimension of anti-Semitism that was instrumental in the conception and perpetration of the Holocaust: the association of Jews with criminality. Drawing from a rich body of documentary evidence, including memoirs and little-studied photographs, Michael Berkowitz traces the myths and realities pertinent to the discourse on "Jewish criminality" from the eighteenth century through the Weimar Republic, into the complex Nazi assault on the Jews, and extending into postwar Europe.
"Making excellent use of rich archival resources, Berkowitz has constructed a tightly argued study. . . . A worthwhile, suggestive investigation that belongs in every library."—Choice
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Above Suspicion? Facts, Myths, and Lies about Jews and Crime
2. The Construction of "Jewish Criminality" in Nazi Germany
3. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of the Ghettos
4. Inverting the Innocent and the Criminal in Concentration Camps
5. Re-presenting Zionism as the Apex of Global Conspiracy
6. Lingering Stereotypes and Jewish Displaced Persons
7. Jewish DPs Confronting the Law: Prescriptions, Self-Perceptions, and Pride of Self-Control
Epilogue: The Estonia Enigma
Notes
Index
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Above Suspicion? Facts, Myths, and Lies about Jews and Crime
2. The Construction of "Jewish Criminality" in Nazi Germany
3. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of the Ghettos
4. Inverting the Innocent and the Criminal in Concentration Camps
5. Re-presenting Zionism as the Apex of Global Conspiracy
6. Lingering Stereotypes and Jewish Displaced Persons
7. Jewish DPs Confronting the Law: Prescriptions, Self-Perceptions, and Pride of Self-Control
Epilogue: The Estonia Enigma
Notes
Index
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