Volume 1: This introductory volume provides key material on the modern history of Jews in Europe and Germany. It explores that character of Hitler and the rise of National Socialism, the social bases of Nazi support, and the political machinations that resulted in the demise of the Weimar democracy. Also presented here is the most significant work on the creation of the 'racial state' and the impact of Nazi-biological policies on Jews as well as the entire German people. It concludes with studies of Jewish responses to Nazi persecution inside and outside Germany, the reaction of the churches and response of the democracies. Volume 2: This volume traces German history from the persecution of the Jews to mass murder. It begins with an examination of Nazi policy towards the Jews, and includes a special section covering Aryanization. It also provides essays focused on vital turning points such as Anschluss, Kristallnacht, and the outbreak of the war. Also presented will be Jewish responses to the escalating discrimination and violence and the refugee crisis.
The volume will end with studies of the 'euthanasia campaign' which was the first Nazi venture into highly organised, bureaucratised and 'scientific' mass murder. Volume 3: Covering 1941-1943, this presents varied points of view on the decision making process that eventuated in the 'Final Solution.' This is followed by essays on its implementation, looking at the leadership corps of the SS, the 'ordinary men,' and the newly revealed complicity of the Wehrmacht. In addition, it will provide key studies of collaboration by local auxiliaries and the widening circle of complicity. The volume will also include essays of Jewish responses to deportations, the controversial issue of Jewish leadership and forms of popular Jewish resistance. In a final section, it will also provide the latest research on the extent of Allied knowledge, the fruits of new work on the response of Neutral countries and international organisations, and explore the heated question of the behaviour of the Vatican. Volume 4: This volume covers the period from 1944-45.
It includes studies of fluctuating Nazi policies towards the Jews in the last year of the war, research on the death marches, and accounts of 'liberation' of the camps. It also examines the response of the family and women to the genocide. Volume 5: The penultimate volume examines the responses of the world to the persecution and mass murder of the Jews, both those from inside Nazi-dominated Europe and those of the Allied powers. Neutral and non-belligerent countries also responded to the genocide, and the last section of this volume examines their policies towards refugees and resistance. Volume 6: This volume looks at the end of the 'Final Solution' and its aftermath. It covers the liquidation of the death camps, the death marches, retribution in Nuremburg and the treatment of the survivors. The final section deals with one of the largest and fastest growing fields of Holocaust studies - memory, commemoration, and representation. The volume will end with crucial essays attempting to understand the Holocaust by theological, sociological and political thinkers.