The Decline and Fall of German Jewry in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume XXVII

The Decline and fall of German Jewry, Avraham Margaliot and Yehoyakim Cochavi, eds., History of the Holocaust—Germany, two Volumes

This two-volume book deals with the tragic failure of the Jewish-German symbiosis – a symbiosis sought by a community that desired to belong to German society and developed singular patterns of social behavior. All the articles in these volumes deal with “politics as viewed from above,” and with higher culture and provide a good example of the premise among many historians, sociologists, and administrators regarding the gap between the leaders and members of organizations. Several conclusions emerge from these articles, including the “desire” of the Jews to cooperate with the Nazi regime up to the last moment in 1939; and the decline of the Jewish community in Germany that had begun even before the Nazis came to power. The research is not new, and the inclusion of up-to-date articles by young researchers could have been a worthy complement to these volumes. Despite its shortcomings, the book is valuable for the general reader for its thoroughness and breadth.