The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945, Volume I

"This book is the first in a projected multivolume reference work on the thousands of concentration camps and ghettos administered by Nazi Germany both prior to and during WW II. All told, millions of prisoners from all over Nazi-occupied Europe were placed in these camps. After being incarcerated for various reasons involving race, politics, and Germany's need for labor, millions were murdered. Although Jews were the special targets, other groups included were Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), homosexuals, resistance fighters, common criminals, communists, prisoners of war, and more. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum undertook this project to provide a reliable, up-to-date reference based on the massive amount of archival material that has become available since the expiration of the 50-year archival restrictions in many countries and the successful effort to open the Bad Arolsen archives in Germany. Toward this end, the project directors enlisted the leading experts on the Holocaust and on Nazi Germany to write the articles included in this work. The result is a readable encyclopedia with very up-to-date bibliographical sources. This important reference work belongs on every library bookshelf. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers."

~J. Fischel, Professor Emeritus, Messiah College, CHOICE

"Well researched . . . accessible . . . this valuable resource covers an aspect of the Holocaust rarely addressed and never in such detail. A valuable addition to libraries focusing on the Holocaust.August 15, 2009"

~Library Journal

"A readable encyclopedia with very up-to-date bibliographical sources. This important reference work belongs on every library bookshelf.November 2009"

~Choice

"[This] volume would well serve those who research the Holocaust or work with survivor memoirs and testimonies.April 2, 2010"

~The American Jewish World

"This work will be of particular use to specialists in the fields of German and Austrian history, European labor history, and the history of World War II.Fall 2010"

~Jewish Book World

"The USHMM Encyclopedia is a highly significant and overdue synthesis of existing documentary studies and specialized knowledge on the history and profile of Nazi concentration camps."

~German Studies Review

"All in all, the USHMM encyclopedia is a most welcome contribution to the history and memory of the Nazi concentration camps. For scholars, this first volume is a valuable reference work whose great strength lies first and foremost in the transfer of knowledge, bringing the hitherto mostly German discourse to the wider international audience."

~Studies in Contemporary Jewry

"[A] staggering achievement. . . . at around 2,000 pages it's an even more impressive compendium of scholarly research and editorial enterprise than Volume I . . . Without the efforts of this consortium of international contributors, most of these places . . . might have disappeared from historical memory and slipped into oblivion."

~The Jewish Daily Forward

"Using a variety of scholarly and archival materials, the editors provide a very detailed analysis and history of the events that took place in the towns, villages, and cities of German-occupied Eastern Europe. . . . A rich source of information, this will make an excellent addition to reference collections."

~Library Journal

"This user-friendly reference work belongs on every library bookshelf."

~CHOICE: Social & Behavioral Sciences

"An essential addition to any public or academic library with significant collections of Holocaust literature or Jewish genealogy."

~Jewish Libraries Newsletter

"The massive two-volume set . . . focuses specifically on the ghettos of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe. It stands without doubt as the definitive reference guide on this topic in the world today. This is not hyperbole, but simply a recognition of the meticulous collaborative research that went into assembling such a massive collection of information. . . . Every serious scholar of the Holocaust in the East and every academic library should have this encyclopedia on hand."

~Holocaust and Genocide Studies

"The most efficacious way of fighting the scourge of Holocaust denial is with the facts. No argument posed by deniers can withstand the overwhelming weight of the truth. This encyclopedia will provide a host of detail about crucial aspects of the Holocaust that cannot be found elsewhere."

~Deborah E. Lipstadt, author of History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving

"An indispensable source that no one individual could compile in a lifetime of research. . . . An especially useful reference work for anyone working with survivor memoirs and testimonies."

~Christopher R. Browning, author of Ordinary Men: Reserve Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland

"Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2009 Winner, 2009 National Jewish Book Awards, Holocaust Winner, 2010 Judaica Reference Award"

"An outstanding work of scholarship that marks a major achievement in studies of the Shoah. Martin Dean and his expert contributors draw on archival records, survivor testimonies, and publications in countless languages to produce vivid accounts of hundreds of the Holocaust sites now known as 'ghettos.' The results both confirm and unsettle conventional wisdom. . . . The details are unforgettable: a ghetto that consisted of only two houses; an orphanage known as a 'children's cage'; Jews who went on foot from their homes to the killing center of Treblinka."

~Doris L. Bergen, author of War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust

"A meticulously researched account of Nazi ghettos in Eastern Europe. The editors have mined all possible resources in many languages and presented their findings in succinct, lucid language. The production of the volume is exemplary. It will serve as the standard reference work on the subject."

~Zvi Gitelman, University of Michigan

"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