Lethal Elites
The Institutions and Professionals That Made the Holocaust Possible
Published on 13. November 2025
Book
Hardback
312 pages
979-8-7651-5701-5 (ISBN)
Description
This eye-opening book highlights the role of elites in constructing systems of persecution and extermination during the Holocaust.
Being highly educated or living within a certain social class doesn't prevent us from being lured into destructive systems, especially when they operate to our benefit. The perception that the Holocaust was largely a crime carried out by ill-educated thugs acting on nationalistic hysteria and xenophobic prejudice is a myth. Leaders from many sectors of society, including industry, science, and religion came to support and enable the Nazi government, often due to the ways in which they were able to profit and benefit from the policies of persecution and genocide. With both a social science and historical approach, Lethal Elites highlights and assesses the ways in which the influence, training, and expertise of the most powerful and best educated were used in service to the genocidal agenda of the National Socialist Regime.
Being highly educated or living within a certain social class doesn't prevent us from being lured into destructive systems, especially when they operate to our benefit. The perception that the Holocaust was largely a crime carried out by ill-educated thugs acting on nationalistic hysteria and xenophobic prejudice is a myth. Leaders from many sectors of society, including industry, science, and religion came to support and enable the Nazi government, often due to the ways in which they were able to profit and benefit from the policies of persecution and genocide. With both a social science and historical approach, Lethal Elites highlights and assesses the ways in which the influence, training, and expertise of the most powerful and best educated were used in service to the genocidal agenda of the National Socialist Regime.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
979-8-7651-5701-5 (9798765157015)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dr. Alex Alvarez is a Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University. From 2001 until 2003 he was the founding Director of the Martin-Springer Institute for Teaching the Holocaust, Tolerance, and Humanitarian Values. In 2017-2018, he served as the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University. His main areas of study are in the areas of collective and interpersonal violence and his previous books include Government, Citizens, and Genocide, Murder American Style, Violence: The Enduring Problem, Genocidal Crimes, Native America and the Question of Genocide, and Unstable Ground: Climate Change, Conflict, and Genocide.
Dr. Richard R. Fernandez is an Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Northern Arizona University (NAU). His involvement in the current book grew out of a friendship with Alex Alvarez a colleague at NAU and scholar of genocide. They collaborated on a paper presented at the Pacific Sociological Association meetings in 2015 titled: Legitimizing Mass Killing:Social Elites, Genocide, and the Manufacture of Acceptance. This led to the development and drafting of the current submission of Lethal Elites.
Dr. Richard R. Fernandez is an Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Northern Arizona University (NAU). His involvement in the current book grew out of a friendship with Alex Alvarez a colleague at NAU and scholar of genocide. They collaborated on a paper presented at the Pacific Sociological Association meetings in 2015 titled: Legitimizing Mass Killing:Social Elites, Genocide, and the Manufacture of Acceptance. This led to the development and drafting of the current submission of Lethal Elites.
Content
Chapter 1. With Cold Inhuman Eyes
Chapter 2. Legalizing Repression
Chapter 3. All in a Day's Work
Chapter 4. Howling with the Wolves
Chapter 5. With Burning Concern
Chapter 6. Life Unworthy of Life
Chapter 7. Getting the Most out of the Golden Calf
Chapter 8. Lethal Elites: A Cautionary Tale
Chapter 2. Legalizing Repression
Chapter 3. All in a Day's Work
Chapter 4. Howling with the Wolves
Chapter 5. With Burning Concern
Chapter 6. Life Unworthy of Life
Chapter 7. Getting the Most out of the Golden Calf
Chapter 8. Lethal Elites: A Cautionary Tale