Book · 1996 · History
Hitler's Willing Executioners
Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
- mentions
- 4
- people
- 3
- podcasts
- 3
- episodes
- 4
- recommendations
- 0
His work was influenced by the recent publication at that point in time of a book called Hitler's Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen.
The best things said about it
I mean right maybe you personally but you can't just say there are people that I mean that book Hitler's Willing executioners you know it's it's about your neighbors.
Ryan Holiday The Daily Stoic · Aug 2026 I mean, by the way, this was also, I believe, the point of a pretty famous book, Hitler's Willing Executioners, which asked the question, what happened to Germans who just said, "I'm not participating in the Holocaust.
Bryan Caplan Dwarkesh Podcast · Apr 2022 Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
Why people recommend it
Hitler's Willing Executioners by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen is a controversial historical study examining the role of ordinary German citizens in the Holocaust and their complicity in genocide. Ryan Holiday brought up the book on The Daily Stoic to discuss how ordinary individuals can become participants in harmful societal structures and difficult situations. Robert Evans referenced Daniel Goldhagen's work on Behind the Bastards while examining the academic influences behind Alex Karp's dissertation in Germany. However, Evans also strongly critiqued the book on a different episode of the podcast, dismissing it as one of the worst books ever written on the Holocaust and contrasting it with Christopher Browning's superior work in Ordinary Men. Additionally, Bryan Caplan referenced Goldhagen's arguments on the Dwarkesh Podcast to illustrate a broader discussion regarding peer pressure, individual moral responsibility, and what happened to Germans who refused to participate in the atrocities of the period.
Every mention
Robert Evans His work was influenced by the recent publication at that point in time of a book called Hitler's Willing E… 2
“His work was influenced by the recent publication at that point in time of a book called Hitler's Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen.”
“I mean, that's pretty pretty solidly thrown out the window by uh Christopher Browning's work um in Ordinary Men, which then spawned one of the worst books on the Holocaust I think I've ever read called Hitler's Willing Executioners.”
Bryan Caplan I mean, by the way, this was also, I believe, the point of a pretty famous book, Hitler's Willing Execution… 1
“I mean, by the way, this was also, I believe, the point of a pretty famous book, Hitler's Willing Executioners, which asked the question, what happened to Germans who just said, "I'm not participating in the Holocaust."”
Ryan Holiday I mean right maybe you personally but you can't just say there are people that I mean that book Hitler's Wi… 1
“I mean right maybe you personally but you can't just say there are people that I mean that book Hitler's Willing executioners you know it's it's about your neighbors”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I remember the controversy when the New Yorker assigned for review Daniel gold hogins book about the Holocaust title that book Hitler's willing executioners willing executioners and they gave the book to Clive James for review”