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Holocaust and Genocide Studies 17.3 (2003) 517-520



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Beginnings, Mass Murder, and Aftermath of the Holocaust: Where History and Psychology Intersect, Norman Solkoff (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2001), 376 pp., $65.00.

The systematic annihilation of six million Jews is history's most dreadful instance of genocide at the direction of a legally constituted government. For the field of psychology, that horror raises difficult questions about the very nature of humans and the evil of which they are capable. During the Nazi era, logic and mercy counted for little; reason and decency were under assault. Why and how was that possible?

Norman Solkoff's Beginnings, Mass Murder, and Aftermath of the Holocaust is an admirable effort to bring together two disciplines that, in concert, offer answers to many troubling questions about human behavior. Combining a cognitive-behavioral approach (which focuses on learning processes and thought mechanisms) with a sociopolitical perspective (which recognizes the influence of social, cultural, and political contexts), the book attempts to examine and explain a broad range of psychological phenomena, including themotives of the perpetrators, the personal histories of Hitler and other leading Nazis, the struggles and coping mechanisms of the victims, the control strategies of the Nazis, the behavior of the Jewish councils, the efforts of the all- too-few [End Page 517] rescuers, the lack of effort by the all-too-many bystanders, and the postwar adjustment of the survivors.

Many elements of this book deserve praise. Solkoff understands that extraordinary horror does not require extraordinary explanations, that even extreme human behavior is subject to psychological analysis, and that the apparent irrationality of Nazi atrocities may, in fact, be compellingly rational. Previous interdisciplinary attempts have been flawed by psychologists' lack of training in historical studies, but Solkoff's thinking derives from decades of teaching the Holocaust as a psychologist together with the eminent historian William S. Allen. In reaction to the dominant Freudian emphasis of earlier psychohistorical attempts, the present approach replaces dogmatic theory with critical appraisals of the psychological research. For example, Solkoff's careful examination of the tremendous variability found in survivors' postwar adjustment—from debilitating psychological scarring to remarkable social and financial success—offers a valuable corrective to the inaccurate and demeaning depictions of a "survivor's syndrome" that has often characterized psychoanalytic theory. Solkoff also recognizes the dismal failure of psychoanalytic therapy in victims' postwar treatment, largely because of its misguided emphasis on childhood trauma and its ignorance of the psychological reality of post-traumatic stress disorder, and in particular the especially terrible stress that followed the Holocaust.

Although the book generally succeeds in providing an integrated, interdisciplinary treatment of the Holocaust, that undertaking is not always seamless. Chapters on the psychological adjustment of survivors flow coherently largely because there is little need to integrate the psychological issues with historical considerations. However, other sections, such as those devoted to basic questions about the nature of prejudice or aggression, often read as if written for a psychology textbook, or as digressions far removed from the historical events. Those chapters dealing with resistance or the Jewish councils offer few psychological insights beyond those provided elsewhere. Unfortunately not enough is seen of the complex and invigorating merging of the disciplines promised in the foreword.

Several chapters are devoted to explaining mass murder. The author attempts to present a well-balanced overview, emphasizing the long history of antisemitism, together with considerations such as Germany's culture of obedience and conformity, Hitler's leadership qualities, the strategic uses of violence against "enemies" of the state, and the relative apathy of the outside world. Solkoff is correct in asserting that antisemitism alone was not responsible for the Holocaust; many other social, cultural, historical, and psychological factors were necessary. But by attempting to put antisemitism in perspective, he may have underestimated its seminal importance and failed to appreciate how many of those other sociopolitical factors were directly influenced by it.

The text clearly acknowledges that an all-encompassing, almost obsessive element of Nazi ideology, and an attitude that prevailed...

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