Henry Friedlander
Encyclopedia
Henry Friedlander is a Jewish historian of the Holocaust
noted for his arguments in favor of broadening the scope of casualties of the Holocaust.
Born in Berlin
, Germany
to a Jewish family, Friedlander came to the United States
in 1947 and obtained his BA in History at Temple University
in 1953 and his MA and PhD at the University of Pennsylvania
in 1954 and 1968. Starting in 1975 until his retirement in 2001, Friedlander served as a professor in the department of Judaic studies at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
.
Friedlander has argued that three groups should be considered victims of the Holocaust, namely Jews
, Roma, and the mentally and physically disabled, noting that the latter were Nazism's first victims. Moreover, Friedlander has argued that the origins of the Holocaust can be traced to the coming together of two lines of Nazi policies, the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazi regime and its “racial cleansing” policies that led to the Action T4
program. In Friedlander’s opinion, the decisive origins of the Holocaust came from the T4 Program. Friedlander has pointed out that the poison gas used to commit mass murder and the crematoria used to dispose of the bodies of those killed by poison gas were originally deployed in the T4 Program in 1939, and that only later in 1941 were the experts from the T4 Program imported by the SS to help design and later run the death camps for the Jews of Europe. Though Friedlander does not deny the importance of Nazi anti-Semitic ideology, in his view the T4 Program was the crucial seed that gave birth to the Holocaust. Friedlander’s arguments concerning the inclusion of both the mentally and physically disabled and Roma as victims of the Holocaust have often been embodied in the form of intense debates with those such as the Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer
who argued that only Jews should be considered victims of the Holocaust.
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
noted for his arguments in favor of broadening the scope of casualties of the Holocaust.
Born in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to a Jewish family, Friedlander came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1947 and obtained his BA in History at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
in 1953 and his MA and PhD at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1954 and 1968. Starting in 1975 until his retirement in 2001, Friedlander served as a professor in the department of Judaic studies at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
.
Friedlander has argued that three groups should be considered victims of the Holocaust, namely Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, Roma, and the mentally and physically disabled, noting that the latter were Nazism's first victims. Moreover, Friedlander has argued that the origins of the Holocaust can be traced to the coming together of two lines of Nazi policies, the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazi regime and its “racial cleansing” policies that led to the Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
program. In Friedlander’s opinion, the decisive origins of the Holocaust came from the T4 Program. Friedlander has pointed out that the poison gas used to commit mass murder and the crematoria used to dispose of the bodies of those killed by poison gas were originally deployed in the T4 Program in 1939, and that only later in 1941 were the experts from the T4 Program imported by the SS to help design and later run the death camps for the Jews of Europe. Though Friedlander does not deny the importance of Nazi anti-Semitic ideology, in his view the T4 Program was the crucial seed that gave birth to the Holocaust. Friedlander’s arguments concerning the inclusion of both the mentally and physically disabled and Roma as victims of the Holocaust have often been embodied in the form of intense debates with those such as the Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer
Yehuda Bauer
Yehuda Bauer is a historian and scholar of the Holocaust. He is a Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.-Biography:...
who argued that only Jews should be considered victims of the Holocaust.
Work
- Détente In Historical Perspective : The First CUNY Conference on History and Politics, New York : Cyrco Press, 1975 ISBN 0-915326-01-9.
- co-edited with Sybil Milton The Holocaust : Ideology, Bureaucracy, and Genocide : the San Jose Papers, Millwood, N.Y. : Kraus International Publications, 1980 ISBN 0-527-63807-2.
- co-edited with Sybil Milton Archives of the Holocaust : An International Collection Of Selected Documents, New York : Garland, 1989 ISBN 0-8240-5483-0.
- The German Revolution of 1918, New York : Garland Pub., 1992 ISBN 0-8153-0739-X.
- The Origins of Nazi Genocide : From Euthanasia To The Final Solution, Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 1995 ISBN 0-8078-2208-6.
- Foreword to People in Auschwitz by Hermann Langbein, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8078-2816-5.