Designed for secondary school and college student research, this work is a readable history and ready-reference guide to the Holocaust based on the most recent scholarship. It provides the reader with an overview of Nazi Germany's attempt to exterminate world Jewry. Fischel, a leading authority on the Holocaust, combines narrative description, analytical essays, a timeline of events, lengthy biographical profiles, and the text of key primary documents relating to the Nazi plan for the Final Solution to help students gain a comprehensive understanding of the causative factors and major events and personalities that shaped the Nazi genocide. A glossary of key terms, selected tables, and an annotated bibliography of recommended further reading will aid student research.

Topical essays designed for the student and general reader provide an accessible historical overview and analysis of Hitler and the Jews, the racial state, genocide, the Final Solution, and resistance to the Nazis. Fischel explains the factors that led to the Holocaust, the implementation of the decision to exterminate the Jews, the response of the free world and the Papacy, the role of righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews, and the resistance of the Jews to their fate under the Nazis. Biographical sketches provide valuable information on the key personalities among both the Nazis and Allies, and the text of key primary documents brings the Nazis blatant plan for genocide to stark reality. In providing valuable information, analysis, and ready-reference features, this work is a one-stop resource on the Holocaust for students, teachers, library media specialists, and interested readers.