Product Description

"The World Must Know by Michael Berenbaum is a skillfully organized and clearly told account of the German Holocaust that consumed, with unparalleled malevolence, six million Jews and millions of innocent others -- Protestants, Catholics, Poles, Russians, Gypsies, the handicapped, and so many others, adults and children. This important book, a vital guide through the unique corridors of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., merits the widest of audiences." -- Chaim Potok, author of The Chosen and The Promise

The World Must Know documents the compelling human stories of the Holocaust as told in the renowned permanent exhibition of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Drawing on the museum's extensive collection of artifacts, archives, and eyewitness testimonies, and augmented with more than two hundred period photographs, this book serves as an enduring reminder of the moral obligations of societies and individuals.

This revised edition is enhanced with new insights and updates based on archival information that had been inaccessible to researchers until after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Communist regimes of Eastern and Central Europe. It includes new photographs, redrawn charts, a new section on the Holocaust in Greece, an updated bibliography, and a new foreword by the museum director.

Published on behalf of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #257735 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 260 pages

From Library Journal
To mark the occasion of the April 1993 opening of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., Berenbaum, museum project director, has written a lucid, sweeping, but not superficial historical overview of the Holocaust. Replacing a typical museum catalog, which ordinarily lauds its museum's artifacts, this book uses them to tell the awful story to which the institution is dedicated. Utilizing the museum's photographs, oral histories, and other documents, Berenbaum synthesizes an enormous quantity of material, organizing it coherently to show the gradual evolution of the war against the Jews from the perspectives of the victims, perpetrators, and bystanders, while dealing with the fundamental themes of the Jewish experience. Visually evocative and unsettling, the book, supplemented with a useful bibliography, is an excellent choice for those who are not well acquainted with the subject or who need a concise synopsis; it will inspire readers to visit the museum and will enhance the experience of those who do.
- Benny Kraut, Univ. of Cincinnati
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"An excellent choice for those who are not well acquainted with the subject or who need a concise synopsis; it will inspire readers to visit the museum and will enhance the experience of those who do." -- Library Journal

"Clear and well organized... This beautifully produced book is worth considering for purchase in all libraries." -- Paula Rohrlick, Kliatt

"A comprehensive coverage from before the war till the arrival of survivors in America... The book is excellent." -- Jewish Chronicle

"An outstanding memorial propelling its images beyond museum walls." -- California Bookwatch

"The photographs scattered throughout The World Must Know are sharp and clear and usually chilling... a book worthy of any good library." -- Sheldon Kirshner, Canadian Jewish News

"An excellent introduction to the Holocaust... It belongs in all public, academic, school, and synagogue libraries." -- Barbara M. Bibel, Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter

About the Author

Michael Berenbaum has served as president of Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, as deputy director of the President's Commission on the Holocaust, and as project director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is the author of A Promise to Remember: The Holocaust in the Words and Voices of Its Survivors (Bulfinch, 2003).

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Book, A Horrible Book
I was pleasantly surprised - while beeing shocked and horrified - that this book was NOT just a "coffee table book" of pictures from the US Holocaust Museum and Memorial - not that one would want a coffee-table book on that topic anyway. That it was published by/with the museum may give the impression it's "just" a bunch of pictures - a printed tour through the museum. That is definitely not the case.

The book tells more through the well-written text than it does through the pictures. The book would be excellent with no pictures at all - it's that well-written & edited. The pictures alone would give an "eh, so what?" reaction. Together, they are a riveting and frightening story of this terrible period in our history.

I thought I knew something about the Holocaust - and I suppose I did know as much as some people know - possibly more than most. This book opened my eyes even further.

Though I know antisemitism is unfortunately, still alive and well today - even in the United States - I had no idea how powerful it was in the years leading to World War II. This played a terrible role in the systematic destruction of the Jewish people - not only by the Nazis - but also through the cold-hearted or apathetic at best response by the rest of the world. Though most of us can show clean hands when it comes to the hands-on role of actual killing, an awful lot of us still tolerate - or even worse, practice the very kind of antisemitism that fueled the premeditated killing of so many.

This book could easily be an entire course on the Holocaust - from the earliest beginnings and history of anti-jewish action in the world, through the actual event, and up until today.

If I could afford it, I'd buy copies of this book for a couple of holocaust rejectors. If the evidence it presents does not cause them to renounce their denial of this event, then perhaps a coupl of well-placed whacks to the head will do. Either way, this book is weighty enough to accomplish the task.

Kidding aside, this is a great book - on a terrible subject.

An outstanding memorial propelling its images beyond museum walls
Why the need for a second edition of a classic Jewish studies survey of images from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC? Because with each decade that passes it becomes more important to preserve the images and realities of World War II events for future generations - and because THE WORLD MUST KNOW is an outstandingly well organized gathering of hard-hitting images from the German Holocaust. The Museum is a living memorial to the events and those who died - and THE WORLD MUST KNOW: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST AS TOLD IN THE U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM is an outstanding memorial propelling its images beyond museum walls.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

This Book Changed My Life
I did not learn much about the Holocaust in high school, so I took it upon myself to learn. At 20 years of age, I read this book cover to cover. I cried, I had nightmares, and yet I did NEED to know. This book has EVERYTHING! I recommend it, not only as a teaching tool, but as a vivid and evoking journey into the past and its disgusting and unforgettable truths. THE WORLD MUST KNOW...the title says it all.