Before the Holocaust

5* review: "...It is a book all students of the Nazi regime should read..." * Paul Donnelley, Daily Express *
Relentlessly concise and nigh monumental within its outstanding sphere of research...nothing less than an astonishing achievement. * David Marx, David Marx Book Reviews *
an important book... a major contribution to readers' understanding of the beginnings of the Third Reich. * R. Spickermann, Choice Reviews *
...An indispensable preliminary to Holocaust studies. * Stanley G. Payne, University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of A History of Fascism 1914-1945 *
Based on extensive archival research, Beck's outstanding book accomplishes something extraordinary, namely, to say something genuinely new about the origins and the emergence of the Shoah. * Thomas Weber, Chair in History and International Affairs & Director, Centre for Global Security and Governance, University of Aberdeen *
Hermann Beck's Before the Holocaust is a powerful book. Using extensive new research, the study throws a glaring light on the extent and murderous brutality of antisemitic persecution from the very outset of Hitler's accession to power. For any student of Nazi Germany, Beck's study is a must. * Saul Friedländer, Emeritus Professor of History, UCLA; author of Nazi Germany and the Jews: vol I: The Years of Persecution 1933-1939 *
Hermann Beck has painstakingly uncovered a whole range of antisemitic violence that began during the first weeks of Hitler's dictatorship. He discovered these events by working through over a dozen national and regional archives in Germany, as well as numerous collections of published documentary material and newspapers. The appalling terror he reveals often occurred in full public view in cities and towns across the country - horrendous attacks that have been overlooked, ignored, or neglected by generations of historians. In what is sure to become the standard work on the topic, Beck shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Nazi-led violence rained down on the Jews during the Nazi takeover. Without question, this early and vicious brutality signaled the beginning of the inhumane process that would culminate in the Holocaust. * Robert Gellately, Earl Ray Beck Professor of History, Florida State University; author of Hitler's True Believers: How Ordinary People Became *
Before the Holocaust is a smart, important, deftly constructed book that pushes a rethinking of 1933, the Nazi consolidation of power, and the role of groups such as the DNVP, the churches, and the judiciary in allowing for the stigmatization and brutal assault of Jews in Germany. * German Studies Review *
This book would be a great resource for future historians as well as graduate students in other humanities and social sciences because it provides a good model for how to present an effective argument. * Amy Carney, War in History 31 *
This new study by Hermann Beck represents a superbly researched and invaluable contribution to the historiography of Holocaust studies.. Before the Holocaust is an impressive work of scholarship, grounded in extensive research conducted in twenty archives... greatly enriching our understanding of the Nazi regime's persecution of Germany's Jews. * Holocaust & Genocide Studies *
...exemplifies outstanding scholarship, combining meticulous research with sharp analytical depth.... Before the Holocaust is a wide-ranging and thoroughly researched work that makes a significant contribution to the study of early Nazi antisemitism and the societal conditions that facilitated the Holocaust. This volume serves as a foundational text for understanding antisemitic violence during the initial months of Nazi rule, especially the role of so-called "ordinary people" already in the very early stages of persecution, and it will undoubtedly inspire further research and discussion in the field. * 2024 Yad Vashem Book Prize Committee *
In what is sure to become the standard work on the topic, Beck shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Nazi-led violence rained down on the Jews during the Nazi takeover * Robert Gellately, Earl Ray Beck Professor of History, Florida State University. His most recent book is Hitler's True Believers: How Ordinary People Became Nazis (Oxford, 2020) *
Brilliant and comprehensively researched book. * Mary Fulbrook, Journal of Modern History *