Synopsis
Norman Finkelstein, the son of Jewish concentration camp survivors, has written an extremely controversial indictment of the way Jewish conservative leaders exploited the history of the holocaust to advance their political and financial goals. THE HOLOCAUST INDUSTRY suggests that the Holocaust had become a means by which certain factions create an aura of piety and victimization that is used to, ironically, push forward a militaristic and potentially fascistic agenda.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2001-10-01 |
| Size | | Height: | 7.8 in | | Width: | 5.8 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 9.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
This iconoclastic study was one of the most widely debated books of 2000. Norman Finkelstein indicts with both vigor and honesty those who exploit the tragedy of the Holocaust for their own personal political and financial gain. The paperback edition includes updated material discussing the book's initial reception.
Finkelstein interrogates the conventional accounts of the place the Holocaust has come to occupy in American culture. It was not until the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, when Israel's evident strength brought it into line with US foreign policy, that memory of the Holocaust began to acquire the exceptional prominence it enjoys today. Leaders of America's Jewish community were delighted that Israel was now deemed a major strategic asset and, Finkelstein contends, exploited the Holocaust to enhance this new-found status. Their subsequent interpretations of the tragedy are often at variance with actual historical events and are employed to deflect any criticism of Israel and its supporters.
Recalling Holocaust fraudsters such as Jerzy Kosinski and Binyamin Wilkomirski, as well as the demagogic constructions of writers like Daniel Goldhagen, Finkelstein contends that the main danger posed to the memory of Nazism's victims comes not from the rubbish of Holocaust deniers but from prominent, self-proclaimed guardians of Holocaust memory. Scrupulously researched and closely argued, The Holocaust Industry is alI the more disturbing and powerful because the issues it deals with are so rarely discussed.
This iconoclastic study was one of the most widely debated books of 2000. Norman Finkelstein indicts with both vigor and honesty those who exploit the tragedy of the Holocaust for their own personal political and financial gain. The paperback edition includes updated material discussing the book’s initial reception.
Finkelstein interrogates the conventional accounts of the place the Holocaust has come to occupy in American culture. It was not until the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, when Israel’s evident strength brought it into line with US foreign policy, that memory of the Holocaust began to acquire the exceptional prominence it enjoys today. Leaders of America's Jewish community were delighted that Israel was now deemed a major strategic asset and, Finkelstein contends, exploited the Holocaust to enhance this new-found status. Their subsequent interpretations of the tragedy are often at variance with actual historical events and are employed to deflect any criticism of Israel and its supporters.
Recalling Holocaust fraudsters such as Jerzy Kosinski and Binyamin Wilkomirski, as well as the demagogic constructions of writers like Daniel Goldhagen, Finkelstein contends that the main danger posed to the memory of Nazism's victims comes not from the rubbish of Holocaust deniers but from prominent, self-proclaimed guardians of Holocaust memory. Scrupulously researched and closely argued, The Holocaust Industry is alI the more disturbing and powerful because the issues it deals with are so rarely discussed.
Industry Reviews
"Finkelstein does not hesitate to use blunt language rather than euphemism; and although he usually applies words in a precise manner, and times he gets carried away in his analysis....His book is controversial not entirely because of his mistakes or his piercing rhetoric, but because he speaks truth to power."
Nation - Neve Gordon (11/13/2000)
"Finkelstein's main problem is that although he does raise some salient points, especially in the first two chapters, he is so carried away by his vitriol and vehemence that he undermines his credibility."
Literary Review - Adam Lebor (09/01/2000)
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