The Routledge Atlas of the Holocaust

Book excerpt: The harrowing history of the Nazi attempt to annihilate the Jews of Europe during the Second World War is illustrated in this series of 320 highly detailed maps. The horror of the times is further revealed by shocking photographs. The maps do not concentrate solely on the fate of the Jews; they also set their chronological story in the broader context of the war itself and include: * historical background: from the effects of anti-Jewish violence between 1880 and 1914 to the geography of the existing Jewish communities before the advent of the Nazis * the beginning of the violence - from the first destruction of the synagogues to Jewish migrations and deportations and the establishment of concentration camps like Auschwitz * the spread of the horrors - the fate of the Jews across all Europe including Germany, Poland, Greece, France, the Balkans, Italy, the Baltic States and Austria and the incidence of massacres and betrayals * the relief from the atrocities: from the advance of the Allies to the liberation of the camps, the discovery of the horrors and the fate of the survivors.