Because of the unique topic, many different sources and their meanings and interpretations are necessary. The Dictionary clearly describes the meanings and clarifies many new ideas. Only persons with many years experience working with varied people who were a part of this ghastly period in history as well as experienced in reading, writing, and lecturing in the field could possibly have completed a work as outstanding as this. In 2,000 entries, it profiles major personalities, covers concentration and death camps, cities and countries, and significant events. Also included are important terms translated from German, French, Polish, Yiddish, and twelve other languages.
Biographical entries give a brief history, the person's significance, and their historical context.
Geographical entries pinpoint exact locations using other cities or countries as landmarks, and give the number of Jewish inhabitants before Nazi occupation, and the percentage of Jews killed. Historical background is provided for such events as Kristallnacht and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and entries on concentration and death camps give details on the nationalities interned, the camp's specific location, and its history. This reference is impressive in its scope and includes major perpetrators, bystanders, collaborators, victims, rescuers such as Righteous Gentiles, Jewish ghetto fighters, and partisans. It also explores the role of women and the complicity of physicians and industrialists during the Holocaust more fully than any other reference. This dictionary provides the information needed by students whose understanding of the Holocaust is limited by the absence of a single accessible research text.