This book explores the similar attitudes and methods behind modern society’s treatment of animals and the way humans have often treated each other, most notably during the Holocaust. The book’s epigraph and title are from “The Letter Writer,” a story by the Yiddish writer and Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer: “In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka.” The first part of the book (Chapter 1–2) describes the emergence of human beings as the master species and their domination over the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. The second part (Chapters 3–5) examines the industrialization of slaughter (of both animals and humans) that took place in modern times. The last part of the book (Chapters 6–8) profiles Jewish and German animal advocates on both sides of the Holocaust, including Isaac Bashevis Singer himself.
The Foreword is by Lucy Rosen Kaplan, former attorney for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her foreword, the preface and afterword, excerpts from the book, chapter synopses, and an international list of supporters can be found on the book’s website at: charleswpatterson.com.
“[S]heds light on violence against animals and humans so that we might one day put an end to it.”—Moment Magazine
“Compelling, controversial, iconoclastic . . . strongly recommended . . . a unique contribution.”—Midwest Book Review
“Eternal Treblinka is an eye-opening, thought-provoking book that I highly recommend.”—The Gantseh Megillah (Montreal)
“Important and timely . . . written with great sensitivity and compassion. . . . I hope that Eternal Treblinka will be widely read.”—Martyrdom and Resistance
“There are good books . . . great books . . . and important books. . . . Eternal Treblinka is all three.”—Satya
