Ideology and the Rationality of Domination

Following the brutal invasion and occupation of Poland, the Nazis put measures into place: remove the Jews, bring in German settlers, and racially classify the rest of the population in order to separate Poles from ethnic Germans. Gerhard Wolf reveals an astonishing reality in which the plan met with massive resistance from various Nazi occupation institutions, especially when it came to deeming a majority of Polish citizens as «racially unfit.» According to Wolf, the everchanging environment of the war meant this was a highly experimental process and emphasizes the formative aspects of Nazi policy-making and how key actors struggled to define racial criteria and determine whether they would have the desired effect. Students and scholars of the Polish occupation, the Holocaust, and Nazism will find new analysis of German imperialism, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in this important book.