The groundbreaking masterpiece by the great Jewish writer and thinker H.G. Adler on the persecution and murder of European Jews. Out of print for years, this monumental classic of Holocaust research is finally accessible again—newly designed and featuring a contemporary foreword.
After his liberation from Auschwitz in 1945, H.G. Adler dedicated his life to comprehensively documenting how the German bureaucracy facilitated persecution and mass murder during the National Socialist era. What Raul Hilberg achieved for the field of history, Adler accomplished from a sociological perspective.
First published in 1974, this seminal work demonstrates how millions of people were systematically stripped of their rights and murdered under the guise of legal legitimacy, heavily flanked by sophisticated administrative measures. Drawing on an immense volume of original documents, including Gestapo files, Adler meticulously illustrates his core thesis: in totalitarian systems, individuals are no longer governed or ruled—they are merely "administered."
A foundational text of 20th-century sociology and historical analysis, Adler’s pioneering work profoundly inspired major thinkers, including Hannah Arendt, Hermann Broch, and Theodor W. Adorno.
