Holocaust, Genocide, and the Law

A great deal of contemporary law has a direct connection to the Holocaust. That connection, however, is seldom acknowledged in legal texts and has never been the subject of a full-length scholarly work. This book examines the background of the Holocaust and genocide through the prism of the law; the criminal and civil prosecution of the Nazis and their collaborators for Holocaust-era crimes; and contemporary attempts to criminally prosecute perpetrators for the crime of genocide. It provides the history of the Holocaust as a legal event, and sets out how genocide has become known as the "crime of crimes" under both international law and in popular discourse. It goes on to discuss specific post-Holocaust legal topics, and examines the Holocaust as a catalyst for post-Holocaust international justice. Together, this collection of subjects establishes a new legal discipline, which the author Michael Bazyler labels "Post-Holocaust Law."


"While the book dispenses with some scholarly conventions, it also marks the first time that an expert in any field has attempted such an enormous project. For this Bazyler deserves our applause. ... Newcomers and non-specialists will benefit from Bazyler's summaries, and his book offers an excellent resource for engaging students in the issues." -- Hilary Earl, Holocaust and Genocide Studies

"This book should be read by every lawyer or social scientist working on issues of genocide, genocide-prevention, or international criminal law. Those who are interested in the role that law itself has played in fomenting genocide should also read this very comprehensive and approachable text." -- William R. Pruitt, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books

"Michael Bazyler has written a comprehensive and compelling study of the legal historiography of the Holocaust, the paradigm of radical evil, and of genocide, the 'crime of crimes.' This book makes a singular contribution to the pursuit of international justice, and to the prevention and combatting of mass atrocity and genocide in our time. An indispensable resource."
Irwin Cotler, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

"Holocaust, Genocide, and the Law is a carefully crafted and beautifully written analysis of the many ways in which the law was and is deeply implicated in an understanding of the Shoah. Prof. Bazyler crafts a series of important arguments both about the law's dark side and its illuminating and liberating possibilities. This book is a tour de force."
David Fraser, Professor of Law and Social Theory, University of Nottingham School of Law

"A unique and important book. Michael Bazyler presents a broad, up-to-date overview of Holocaust justice ranging from landmark criminal trials to restitution litigation to the prosecution of Holocaust deniers. He also discusses the ramifications of the Holocaust's judicial reckoning on how the world has addressed, successfully or not, contemporary state-sponsored atrocities across the globe."
Norman Goda, Braman Professor of Holocaust Studies, University of Florida

"Prof. Bazyler's book is different than other books on the Holocaust. He first depicts the Holocaust as 'a legal event, ' arguing that it was the law, and not its absence, that became an instrument for destruction. He then analyzes current efforts to build a legal world based on what he labels 'Post-Holocaust Law.' This book is a must-read."
Dina Porat, Professor emeritus of Jewish history and Head of the Kantor Center in Tel Aviv University, and Chief Historian of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem

"For the first time in the literature, this outstanding book holistically considers the entire output of Holocaust litigation-both criminal and civil. Bazyler has done a masterful job of weaving together profound doctrinal, philosophical, and historical themes into a powerful narrative that explains how justice emerged in such protean forms from one of humanity's greatest single cataclysms."
Gregory S. Gordon, Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law

"This book provides a distinctive approach to understanding the Holocaust in specifically legal terms. No one interested in either the Holocaust itself or the ways in which we prosecute human rights violations will want to miss its informed, compelling discussion."
John Torpey, Presidential Professor of Sociology and History, and Director, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, Graduate Center, City University of New York

"Bazyler deploys considerable legal expertise to underpin his first, and for readers of this Journal arguably most important thesis: that the Nazi persecution of the Jews, leading ultimately to the attempted genocide of the entire Jewish people, was carried out within a framework of law, even though this was in reality a corrupted and perverted form of pseudo-legality in which only the external forms of true legality were preserved." - Anthony Grenville, The Association of Jewish Refugees