Holocaust Politics

More than half a century after Nazi Germany's genocidal assault on the Jewish people, the Holocaust grips our attention as never before, raising hotly-debated questions: How is the Holocaust best remembered? What are its lessons? Who gets to answer those questions? Who owns the Holocaust? Those issues provoke disagreements that can be cutthroat or constructive. Taking its point of departure from the controversy that swirled around John Roth's aborted appointment as director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, a senior post at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, Holocaust Politics shows how contemporary attitudes and priorities compete to determine that all-important difference.

""To the often angry polemics on the place of the Holocaust in contemporary life, John Roth's splendid new book brings a calm voice of reason: highly principled yet respectful in tone, clear-eyed yet open to alternate visions, deeply seasoned yet remarkably well-informed and up-to-date.""
--Michael R. Marrus, Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies, University of Toronto

""Holocaust politics are a central but oft ignored facet of the Holocaust's legacy. A veteran of some political battles himself, Roth courageously addresses the implications of this topic. He has written a book that is both compassionate and profound.""
--Victoria J. Barnett, Director, Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

""Drawing on his authoritative knowledge and his own experiences with the best and worst of Holocaust politics, John Roth has written a singularly important book concerning the politics of preserving the memory of the Holocaust at a time when few survivors remain among us. This is an indispensable book for all those, both Jewish and Christian, who seek to understand the Holocaust's complex legacy.""
--Richard L. Rubenstein, President Emeritus, Distinguished Professor of Religion,
University of Bridgeport


John K. Roth is the Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and the founding director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights (now the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights) at Claremont McKenna College. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books, including The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies and The Failures of Ethics: Confronting the Holocaust, Genocide, and Other Mass Atrocities.