This is more than just a cautionary tale or a look at the history of mass murder. This is a heartbreakingly real account of how greed, hatred and the misunderstanding of minority culture can lead to absolute devastation, and a warning that it is not outside the realm of possibility that it could happen on a large scale again, in the future.

Much like the stereotypes of witches, lepers and others associated with minority groups throughout the history of the world, for every person who dares to be different, there is some power out there that will see it as their duty to put them in their place, using propaganda and mistruths to back up their claims and rally others behind them. The Jewish population have certainly been dealt their fair share of this throughout the centuries, from the great diasporas of earlier times to the more recent events within the last hundred years. This book is important and timely because it not only shows how these mass killings happen and explains the mechanics behind the mentality of those who persecute and those who are the victims of persecution, but it also highlights just how simple it can be to cause an entire group of people to come under fire when they have done nothing to deserve it.

The author did an incredible job of researching these events and organising the material into what we see before us when we read this book. I felt disgust, heartache and overwhelming sadness whilst reading this book, but I also learned a lot and it definitely made me stop and think about the world we live in and the history that has changed so many lives, both for those whose life ended sooner than it should have and for the survivors.

This is the kind of book that you want others to read. I believe it induces compassion through learning and teaches us an important but often forgotten lesson about what it means to be human. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about genocide.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

A horrible history, a true history, more historical proof that the Jewish people are hated, and that while they suffer great loss they seem indestructible as a nation. Read this and learn to fear hatred of any kind