Documentary Volume on Anti-jewish Acts Published in Germany

A 546-page collection of documents on “The Third Reich and its Servants,” compiled by Jewish historians Leon Poliakov and Josef Wulf and published by Arani publishers, bids fair to cause as much commotion in certain circles of German public life as a predecessor volume by the same authors, “The Third Reich and the Jews.”

Illustrated with 81 photostats and pictures, the book contains a minimum of interpretative text and lets documents–most of them from Nazi sources–speak for themselves. These show mainly the part played by government officials, judges, prosecutors and army officers in formulating or carrying out the anti-Jewish policies and measures of Nazism. But some reflect the striving for decency and the humane behavior of individual Germans who refused to go along with oppression and annihilation.

The Arani publishing house is a courageous German firm close to the Social Democratic Party. Mr. Poliakov is a Russian-born historian who has lived in Paris since 1920. He directs the “Centre du Documentation Juive Contemporaine,” the French Jewish institute that has specialized in research on Nazi anti-Semitic persecutions. Mr. Wulf was a member of the Central Jewish Historical Commission in Warsaw after the war and now lives in Berlin, where he is engaged in historical research on Nazi policy toward the Jews.

“The Third Reich and the Jews.” the earlier volume by the same two historians appeared just a year ago and is now in its second German printing, largely because it was warmly recommended by such personalities as Bundestag Speaker Dr. Eugen Gerstenmaier and because an interpellation in the Bundestag, based on evidence contained in the book, led to the suspension of Dr. Otto Braeutigam, chief of the East European desk in the Bonn Foreign Office. English and French editions of “The Third Reich and the Jews” are in preparation. A Dutch edition of 5,000 was sold in the first month after its appearance and a second printing is in the works.