ABSTRACT
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen argues that German anti-Semitism—which he characterized as centuries old—suddenly evaporated with the fall of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. He struggled to explain this argument convincingly: the transition seemed too sharp to be credible. Subsequent historical research has emphasized how violence persisted after 1945. Hitler's Willing Executioners is a peculiar candidate for consideration as a seminal text in modern history. Few works have been greeted with such uniform hostility by scholars within the field. Goldhagen's central ideas and methodological approach have been comprehensively dismissed by historians. Numerous essays have been published exploring the "Goldhagen Controversy". It is because of this, rather than the validity or otherwise of Goldhagen's sources or findings, that the text deserves special attention. Nearly 20 years after its publication, it remains an enlightening case in the history of academic controversies. The ideas of Hitler's Willing Executioners are unlikely to influence future historical research.
