In the Midst of Civilized Europe: The Pogroms of 1918–1921 and the Onset of the Holocaust

Book cover of In the Midst of Civilized Europe: The Pogroms of 1918–1921 and the Onset of the Holocaust by Jeffrey Veidlingerby Jeffrey Veidlinger
@Veidlinger

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD * SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE

“The mass killings of Jews from 1918 to 1921 are a bridge between local pogroms and the extermination of the Holocaust. No history of that Jewish catastrophe comes close to the virtuosity of research, clarity of prose, and power of analysis of this extraordinary book. As the horror of events yields to empathetic understanding, the reader is grateful to Veidlinger for reminding us what history can do.”
—Timothy Snyder, author of Bloodlands

Between 1918 and 1921, over a hundred thousand Jews were murdered in Ukraine by peasants, townsmen, and soldiers who blamed the Jews for the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. In hundreds of separate incidents, ordinary people robbed their Jewish neighbors with impunity, burned down their houses, ripped apart their Torah scrolls, sexually assaulted them, and killed them. Largely forgotten today, these pogroms—ethnic riots—dominated headlines and international affairs in their time. Aid workers warned that six million Jews were in danger of complete extermination. Twenty years later, these dire predictions would come true.

Drawing upon long-neglected archival materials, including thousands of newly discovered witness testimonies, trial records, and official orders, acclaimed historian Jeffrey Veidlinger shows for the first time how this wave of genocidal violence created the conditions for the Holocaust. Through stories of survivors, perpetrators, aid workers, and governmental officials, he explains how so many different groups of people came to the same conclusion: that killing Jews was an acceptable response to their various problems. In riveting prose, In the Midst of Civilized Europe repositions the pogroms as a defining moment of the twentieth century

Show more
Show less

Interview with the Author

Podcast Art for the New Book NetworkNew Books Network 
Jeffrey Veidlinger, “In the Midst of Civilized Europe: The Pogroms of 1918-1921 and the Onset of the Holocaust” (Metropolitan Books, 2021)
10/12/21            54 min

Buy on Amazon

Related books

Book cover of Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine by Anne ApplebaumRed Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine Book cover of Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate by M. E. SarotteNot One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine Book cover of Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917-1921 by Antony BeevorRussia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917-1921 Book cover of The Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Hidden Truth at the Heart of the Greatest Battle of World War II by Iain MacGregorThe Lighthouse of Stalingrad: The Hidden Truth at the Heart of the Greatest Battle of World War II 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*