"Why do only some people targeted in genocide fight back? In this sensitive and original investigation, Evgeny Finkel shows that resistance to violence is a function of the skills and habits at a community's disposal. Finkel reveals the pattern of constrained choices that drove communal behavior during the Holocaust and, in the process, returns the idea of agency to discussions of victimhood and survivorship." --Charles King, author of Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams "How do people react when they are targeted for genocide? Who cooperates with the killers? Who resists? Who flees and who simply tries to cope? In Ordinary Jews , Finkel's answer combines compelling historical evidence, convincing theory, and a moving narrative. This is a truly extraordinary book--rich with lessons for us all." --Nancy Bermeo, University of Oxford "In this arresting and important book, Evgeny Finkel explains why individuals choose different courses of action when targeted by genocidal violence. Skillfully merging a large body of testimonial evidence from the Holocaust with archival-based case studies and statistical analysis of new datasets, Finkel highlights the critical roles of prior political experience and broad social integration. Ordinary Jews is a landmark work, as moving as it is incisive." --Stathis Kalyvas, Yale University "Superb and pathbreaking, Ordinary Jews places victim agency at the center of its analysis.

For too long genocide scholars have been concerned with uncovering the sources of perpetrator behavior while ignoring victim reactions as the genocide unfolded. The individual victim stories told here are heartrending yet fascinating in their complexity. The narrative was so compelling, I was reluctant to put the book down." --Manus Midlarsky, Rutgers University "This is a very important and fascinating contribution to our understanding of genocide and the choices made not only by the perpetrators and bystanders but also by the victims. In explaining the different types of strategies the targets of genocide might use to ensure their survival, ranging from compliance to resistance to evasion, this compelling analysis returns agency to the victims." --Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University.