Study Questions
Snyder, Holocaust Essay

  1. Why has Auschwitz become in many ways the symbol of the Holocaust, according to Snyder?

  2. Why is it an inadequate symbol, and what should replace it?

  3. When and where did most Jews perish? Where did most of them originate? How many of the Jews from these areas survived?

  4. What was Generalplan Ost? To what extent was it carried out?

  5. How many non-Jewish civilians did the Nazis kill?

  6. What difference does Snyder point out regarding the victims of the German regime and the Soviet regime?

  7. What parallel does Snyder make between Auschwitz and the Soviet Gulag?

  8. Why does Snyder call Ukraine and Belarus the "heart of darkness" (5)?

  9. What does Snyder say with regard to the fates of Russian Soviet citizes compared with the non-Russian Soviet citizens during the war? How are recent politicians in formerly Soviet countries exploiting this history?

  10. What crucial element of both Nazi and Soviet policies seems largely absent from discussions about this history? What implication does Snyder say this has for the modern world?