The Third Reich met its end in the spring of 1945 in an unparalleled wave of suicides. Goeschel analyses the Third Reich's self-destructiveness and the suicides of ordinary people and Nazis in Germany from 1918 until 1945, including the mass suicides of German Jews during the Holocaust.

"In the courtroom and the classroom, in popular media, public policy, and scholarly pursuits, the Holocaust-its origins, its nature, and its implications-remains very much a matter of interest, debate, and controversy. Arriving at a time when a new generation must come to terms with the legacy of the Holocaust or forever lose the benefit of its historical, social, and moral lessons, this volume offers a richly varied, deeply informed perspective on the practice, interpretation, and direction of Holocaust research now and in the future. In their essays the authors-an international group including eminent senior scholars as well those who represent the future of the field-set the agenda for Holocaust studies in the coming years, even as they give readers the means for understanding today's news and views of the Holocaust, whether in court cases involving victims and perpetrators; international, national, and corporate developments; or fictional, documentary, and historical accounts. Several of the essays-such as one on nonarmed "amidah" or resistance and others on the role of gender in the behavior of perpetrators and victims-provide innovative and potentially significant interpretive frameworks for the field of Holocaust studies. Others; for instance, the rounding up of Jews in Italy, Nazi food policy in Eastern Europe, and Nazi anti-Jewish scholarship, emphasize the importance of new sources for reconstructing the historical record. Still others, including essays on the 1964 Frankfurt trial of Auschwitz guards and on the response of the Catholic Church to the question of German guilt, bring a new depth and sophistication to highly charged, sharply politicized topics. Together these essays will inform the future of the Holocaust in scholarly research and in popular understanding."--De l'éditeur.

Discusses the rise of Nazi Germany and the launching of World War II, and the Holocaust as Germany's major war crime. Shows that virtually all top Nazi leaders, as well as many army officers and industrial magnates, were convinced antisemites. Gives a history of the Holocaust in Europe, based largely on the protocols of the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials. Contends that Germany as a whole bears responsibility for the annihilation of Jews and other peoples during the war. Great Britain shares responsibility for the genocide because she not only acquiesced in Germany's rearmament in the 1930s and pursued a policy of appeasement, but also closed the doors of Palestine to Jewish refugees and, being in full knowledge of the Nazi extermination of Jews, did nothing to stop it. After the war Britain allowed many Nazi criminals to evade justice.

He shows how these 1997 cases relate to two other famous cases-Karen Ann Quinlan and Nancy Beth Cruzan-and carries the controversy up to the recent trials of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Urofsky considers the many facets of this knotty argument. He differentiates between discontinuation of medical treatment, assisted suicide, and active euthanasia, and he sensitively examines the issue's social and religious contexts to enable readers to see both sides of the dispute. He also shows that in its ruling the Supreme Court did not slam the door on the subject but left it ajar by allowing states to legislate on the matter as Oregon has already done. By treating assisted suicide simply as a legal question, observes Urofsky, we miss the real importance of the issue.

Proponents of assisted suicide argue that terminally ill patients who are suffering extreme pain should be allowed to request help in ending their lives. Others insist that therole of physicians, family members, and friends is to make the terminally ill as comfortable as possible while they die -- not to help them end their lives. Chapters include: Is Assisted Suicide Ethical? Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized? Is Assisted Suicide a Constitutional Right? How Would Assisted Suicide Affect Individual's Rights? Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Casebook based on presentations made at a series of case conferences prepared for the 21st annual meeting of the American Association of Suicidology in Washington D.C., in April 1988. The two sections discuss suicide prevention in the community, and prevention in clinical practice. Case studies are presented, then commented upon by mental health professionals, followed by questions and responses. Acidic paper. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Examines basic problems of German history as reflected by the temper and times which permitted the rise and fall of Hitler and the Third Reich.

Here is a wealth of factual and interpretative information about Germany, and German society, economy and culture, between 1918 and 1945. Tim Kirk's primary concern is with the Hitler years, but he sets them in their wider context throughout: wherever appropriate, the sections span the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism as well as the Third Reich itself, to illuminate the many continuities in Germany - as well as the obvious changes - on either side of the political dividing line. Purely as a compilation this is a formidable achievement. Its usefulness is greatly enhanced by Tim Kirk's admirably level-headed commentary, whether it is guiding the reader through the everyday domesticities of ordinary people before the war or the mounting horrors of the Third Reich at bay. The result (which includes information not otherwise available in English) is an invaluable study aid, within the confines of a single volume of manageable size, to a subject that, half a century on, has lost nothing of its baleful fascination.