Timothy Snyder, Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning

Prof. Timothy Snyder is a rare breed of a historian who can develop truly new insights after looking at material extensively researched by learned investigators. Shortly after its publication, Prof. Deborah Lipstadt provided one of the best brief evaluations of ‘Black Earth’: “I don’t agree with everything in ‘Black Earth,’ … But he’s such a bold and serious and incisive thinker and writer, he makes me go back and reassess what I think I’m sure of.” [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/books/timothy-snyders-black-earth-puts-holocaust-and-himself-in-spotlight.html]

Black Earth re-examines and deepens our understanding of some critical ideas that drove the horrors of the European mass murders of the 1930s and 1940s, including the Shoah and the Holodomor in Soviet Ukraine. He points to the role played in the Shoah by the double conquest of the previously independent states. These were first conquered by the Soviet Union in 1939 and then by the Nazis in 1941. The Communists, through murder and deportation, removed the elites in the societies they conquered. In addition, they disassembled many of the mechanisms of the State. The Nazis completed the process, creating lawless areas where their form of racist anarchy could reign supreme. It was in those doubly conquered areas that the Shoah was most bloody. From this extreme example, Snyder learns of the crucial importance of state institutions to human well-being.

Another point that comes out strongly in the book is the role of late 19th and early 20th century concepts of ecology. Snyder points to the German term lebensraum, which means both geographies are sufficient to grow crops that can feed a nation and a sense of domestic comfort. Hitler did not believe in the ability of science to solve problems, so he engaged in an aggressive war of conquest. He was mistaken, and the agricultural revolution proves his understanding was off-base.

At times Snyder seems enchanted by his research. One senses that is the case in his lengthy excursion on how Polish intelligence trained some Betar activists in the 1930s. Some of these became leaders of the Jewish terror organizations in revolt against the British. He highlights Menahem Begin and Itzhak Shamir, who became Prime Ministers decades after Israeli independence. He does not explain persuasively why he deals with this at such length. Revisionist Zionism was devastated by the Shoah that slaughtered so many of its adherents. The creation of the Jewish State and its institutions was primarily the work of social-democratic parties and their activists. The whole episode of the Polish Intelligence training Betar activists seems little more than a footnote. It does illustrate how the Poles, who ethnically dominated the Polish Republic, seem to have explored creative ways to get rid of their Jews by exporting them to Mandatory Palestine. However, little seems to have come of the initiative. Snyder does not clarify how this was a development outside the mainstream of events.

Snyder writes clearly. If his style has a problem, it has to do with length. His book tends towards repetition and might have benefited from aggressive editing in that regard.

Educators can probably only use Black Earth in its entirety at the graduate level. It may be too long and complicated for most high school or undergraduate students to access. On the other hand, selected chapters may be beneficial, mainly where Snyder explains the concept of lebensraum and the impact of double conquest and state destruction. His concluding chapter, in particular, ties his book together and will be a good resource for discussion and analysis in a classroom.

Bibliographic Information:
Snyder, Timothy. Black Earth The Holocaust as History and Warning. New York: Tim Duggan Books, 2015.
ISBN: 978-1-101-90347-6