Robert Michael - A History of Catholic Antisemitism. The Dark Side of the Church [2008][A]

Book Description
In recent years, the Catholic Church has come under censure for its inaction during the Holocaust and for its similar passivity in the face of contemporary antisemitism. However, as Robert Michael shows in this comprehensive study, the Church’s involvement in the history of antisemitism goes back to its founding and to the essence of the Christian Scriptures. Moving from the Church’s origins, through the Roman era, Middle Ages, and Reformation to the present, Michael here provides a definitive history of Catholic antisemitism.

Review
"Michael's work is path-breaking, in that few before him have tackled both the historical and theological foundations of Catholic antisemitism and, at the same time, traced its path from biblical times all the way through to Auschwitz. In this, Michael is brave; but, as this outstanding work shows, his bravery is vindicated. His treatment of such topics as the Church’s age-old and ongoing dehumanization of the Jews, coupled with its failure to confront that supreme manifestation of evil that became manifest in the Nazis, is an important contribution to an already massive literature on antisemitism and the Holocaust."--Paul R. Bartrop, Head, Department of History, Bialik College, Melbourne, Australia

About the Author
Robert Michael is Professor Emeritus of European History at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Listed in Who's Who in America, Professor Michael was a 1997 recipient of the American Historical Association's James Harvey Robinson Prize for the "most outstanding contribution to the teaching and learning of history." A founder of the scholarly e-mail lists H-Antisemitism and H-W-Civ, Dr. Michael has published more than fifty articles and ten books on the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust.