Carl Goerdeler and the Jewish Question, 1933-1942

In the 1930s, Carl Goerdeler, the mayor of Leipzig and, as prices commissioner, a cabinet-level official, engaged in active opposition against the persecution of the Jews in Germany and in Eastern Europe. He did this openly until 1938 and then secretly in contact with the British Foreign Office. Having failed to change Hitler's policy against the Jews, Goerdeler joined forces with military and civil conspirators against the regime. He was hanged for treason on 2 February 1945. This book describes the actions of Carl Goerdeler, the German resistance leader who consistently engaged in efforts to protect the Jews against persecution. Using new evidence and thus far under-researched documents, including a memorandum written by Goerdeler at the end of 1941 with a proposal for the status of the Jews in the world, the book fundamentally changes our understanding of Goerdeler's plan and presents a new view of the German resistance to Hitler.

About the Author

Peter Hoffmann is William Kingsford Professor of History at McGill University, Montreal. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany), the Officer´s Cross of the Order of Merit (Germany) and the Konrad Adenauer Research Award. He is the author of books on the German Resistance including The History of the German Resistance, 1933–1945 (1977), Hitler´s Personal Security (1979), German Resistance to Hitler (1988) and Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1905–1944 (1995, 3rd edition, 2009).