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Black Earth
Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning | Timothy Snyder
10 posts | 13 read | 27 to read
A brilliant, haunting, and profoundly original portrait of the defining tragedy of our time. In this epic history of extermination and survival, Timothy Snyder presents a new explanation of the great atrocity of the twentieth century, and reveals the risks that we face in the twenty-first. Based on new sources from eastern Europe and forgotten testimonies from Jewish survivors, Black Earth recounts the mass murder of the Jews as an event that is still close to us, more comprehensible than we would like to think, and thus all the more terrifying. The Holocaust began in a dark but accessible place, in Hitler's mind, with the thought that the elimination of Jews would restore balance to the planet and allow Germans to win the resources they desperately needed. Such a worldview could be realized only if Germany destroyed other states, so Hitler's aim was a colonial war in Europe itself. In the zones of statelessness, almost all Jews died. A few people, the righteous few, aided them, without support from institutions. Much of the new research in this book is devoted to understanding these extraordinary individuals. The almost insurmountable difficulties they faced only confirm the dangers of state destruction and ecological panic. These men and women should be emulated, but in similar circumstances few of us would do so. By overlooking the lessons of the Holocaust, Snyder concludes, we have misunderstood modernity and endangered the future. The early twenty-first century is coming to resemble the early twentieth, as growing preoccupations with food and water accompany ideological challenges to global order. Our world is closer to Hitler's than we like to admit, and saving it requires us to see the Holocaust as it was -- and ourselves as we are. Groundbreaking, authoritative, and utterly absorbing, Black Earth reveals a Holocaust that is not only history but warning. From the Hardcover edition.
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Leftcoastzen
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A few titles I thought of for Holocaust Remembrance Day . Tagged book prominent on my TBR .🕯

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HannaPolkadots
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Pickpick

I'm a history teacher. I've studied a lot of history. I thought I knew a lot about this topic. But wow. This book taught me so much more. Thorough, well-written and drawing parallels to our society today, it was brilliant (And a bit scary). If I was super rich I would buy one for every student at my school. (And every other high school in the universe.)

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bookworm34
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Pickpick

It is a great book that focuses primarily on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. Provides a history so profound and is written so differently from what I am used to. It also speaks about how Communist played a major role in aiding the Germans in helping them achieve their final solution.

AceOnRoam Welcome to Litsy 📚 7y
DebbieGrillo Welcome! 7y
21 likes1 stack add2 comments
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DzdnDstrctd
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Books_Wine_Repeat
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Pickpick

A comprehensive look at the Holocaust, the beginnings and startling similarities to today's political and global climate. I learned a lot of history about all the countries involved/complacent in the massacre of so many people. I also learned of the countries that came to the aid of many Jews, providing travel visas etc, i.e. China, Japan, Sweden and Spain to name a few. This needs to be required reading.

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BookishFeminist
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I went stress shopping! I got books! Barnes &
Noble had really good selections for their 3 for 2 sale, and I've been meaning to get The Prince of Tides for ages now. I'm planning for it to be my 1986 pick, the first book in my #birthdaychallenge. 📚📚

ApoptyGina69 I'm reading Arcadia right now and really liking it. Loved 8y
lauralovesbooks1 I picked up 3 off that promotion earlier this week. :) 8y
Dragon Great choice for 1986. 👍🏼 8y
See All 11 Comments
LeslieO The Prince of Tides is one of my all time favorites. One of the few I have re-read. 8y
LeslieO Wait. What is this birthday challenge? 8y
freyaheart Oh this sounds like a great challenge. I'll have to find some good 1987 books!! 8y
Suet624 The Prince of Tides. Oh boy. Great book. 8y
TheLudicReader Conroy is awesome. 8y
redphoto3 Arcadia is AMAZING!!! 8y
Cortg I read The Prince of Tides a couple summers ago...really good! 8y
Laalaleighh Arcadia is so so good. 8y
145 likes11 comments
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GoneFishing

In a new Russian colonialism that began in 2013, Russian leaders and propagandists imagined neighboring Ukrainians out of existence or presented them as sub-Russians. In characterizations that recall what Hitler said about Ukrainians (and Russians), Russian leaders described Ukraine as an artificial entity with no history, culture, and language, backed by some global agglomeration of Jews, gays, Europeans, and Americans.

LubicaP This book is very relevant to what's going on in European politics today. Snyder's arguments against the undermining/ destruction of state structures are powerful 8y
20 likes1 comment
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kristinshafel
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Pickpick

Hours 17–20: Finished listening to "Black Earth" for #readathon. A horrifying, clear-eyed look back at how Hitler came to power and the resulting Holocaust, and how we're not so removed today from this mindset and these actions. Really powerful.

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Lissa00
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This is actually a surprisingly dry overview of the Holocaust but there are occasional jarring insights.

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LisaAnnGallagher
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Hmm.