Last modified: Thursday, January 14, 2010
IU Press encyclopedia wins a 2009 National Jewish Book Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 14, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Press publication The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945, Volume I, has been selected as the winner of the 2009 National Jewish Book Award in the Holocaust category.
The National Jewish Book Awards competition, now in its 59th year, is the longest-running program of its kind in North America. Winners of the 2009 National Jewish Book Awards will be honored March 9, at the Center for Jewish History in New York City.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945, Volume I: Early Camps, Youth Camps, and Concentration Camps under the SS-Business Administration Main Office (WVHA), is the first volume of a projected seven-volume encyclopedia, the result of years of work by the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. With Geoffrey P. Megargee as general editor, the encyclopedia will describe the universe of camps and ghettos -- some 20,000 in all -- that the Nazis and their allies operated, from Norway to North Africa and from France to Russia.
Volume I covers three groups of camps: the early camps that the Nazis established in the first year of Hitler's rule, the major SS concentration camps with their constellations of subcamps, and the special camps for Polish and German children and adolescents. Overview essays provide context for each category, while each camp entry provides basic information about the site's purpose; the prisoners, guards, working and living conditions; and key events in the camp's history. Material from personal testimonies helps convey the character of the site, while source citations provide a path to additional information.
Another Indiana University Press book, Orthodox Jews in America by Jeffrey S. Gurock, was a finalist in the American Jewish Studies category. Gurock details how American Orthodox Jews have coped with the challenges of religious freedom, economic opportunity, and social acceptance.
For more information on these and other titles published by Indiana University Press, visit https://iupress.indiana.edu. For information on the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, visit https://www.ushmm.org/research/center/.
The Jewish Book Council is a not-for-profit organization devoted exclusively to the promotion of Jewish-interest literature. For more information visit https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org.
