Theresienstadt 1941 - 1945

H. G. Adler's monograph on Theresienstadt has been regarded as the standard work on this 'ghetto' since its first publication in 1955. The work established itself as the most thorough and reliable account of a camp in the Third Reich. Adler began collecting material for his monograph while he was imprisoned in Theresienstadt. He subsequently deepened his insights into the extermination system during his detention in Auschwitz and in subcamps of Buchenwald. Characteristic of Adler's method is his conscious distancing from his experiences during his imprisonment, behaving like an ethnologist in order to save himself as a human being. The distanced objectivity of his account astonished and convinced readers. In three major drafts, Adler explores the history, sociology, and psychology of the camp. Essential methods of modern historiography first appear in the scientific study of the 'Final Solution' here. Above all, Adler impressively brings the documents to life, through which the magnitude of the events is irrefutably expressed. Also fundamental is Adler's masterful analysis of the Nazi system, in which he illuminates the principles of power as well as the rise and fall of the Third Reich. Among the earliest readers and supporters of Adler's book were Hermann Broch ('doubtlessly a standard work'), Hannah Arendt, and Theodor W. Adorno, who played a crucial role in the initial publication. Since then, Theresienstadt has not only influenced historians and sociologists but has also found reflection in the recent writings of authors like Kempowski and W. G. Sebald.