Money, Law, and Genocide in the Twentieth Century
by Christopher Simpson
1992, Grove Press
ISBN 0802113621
399 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Citing newly uncovered archival sources, Simpson (Blowback: America’s Recruitment of Nazis and Its Effects on the Cold War) first argues that Hitler emulated the Turkish government’s 1915–1918 policy regarding the massacre of Armenians by offering economic incentives and other rewards to citizens willing to participate in the extermination of the Jews. He then examines the U.S. government’s response to both genocidal campaigns. Of utmost interest here is the evidence he presents that President Eisenhower’s secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, and Dulles’s brother Allen, director of the CIA, deliberately stymied efforts to bring to justice many German bankers and industrialists involved in the Nazis’ extermination-through-labor programs. The study leaves little doubt that many members of Germany’s corporate elite not only were aware of the genocidal programs during the war but sponsored innumerable supplementary negelganger , or “side camps,” staffed by company employees. Simpson argues that while genocide is still widely practiced today, it is usually tolerated by those who benefit from it through the theft of land and natural resources. The cycle of genocide can be broken, he maintains, through relatively straightforward (though politically difficult) reforms of the international legal system.
From Library Journal
In this intriguing combination of revisionist history and conspiracy theory that should interest many students of the Cold War, Simpson (Blowback, Grove, 1988) asserts that genocide has been a common factor in the development of many Western nations, including the United States. He argues that genocide has recurred due to the willingness of monied classes to support amoral governments that work to further their commercial interests. By way of example, he cites both the Turkish slaughter of the Armenians during World War I and the Jewish Holocaust. He faults U.S. diplomats for their role in both tragedies, especially those who aided the escape of Nazi war criminals after World War II. Though well written, Simpson’s work suffers from a lack of objectivity and a constant tone of accusation. Some conclusions regarding the origins of the Cold War are highly speculative and are likely to come under serious criticism by many historians. Recommended for libraries with large European history collections. Joseph W. Constance Jr., St. Anselm Coll. Lib., Manchester, N.H.
THIS BOOK IS IN PRINT. Available commercially. Learn more about Christopher Simpson.
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