Martin Gilbert's book The Holocaust: A History of the Jews During the Second World War traces the legacy of anti-Semitism in Europe from medieval times to the death camps of Auschwitz. According to Gilbert, the Holocaust was a specifically German event. It was an act of violence perpetrated upon Jews with historically and culturally driven causes deep in German culture. Thus, Martin suggests that the lessons to be learned from the Holocaust are not simply that of humanity's potential inhumanity during times of peace and war, as existed before and after the Weimar Republic in Germany and after Hitler's National Socialists came to power. Rather, the lessons from the Holocaust are the need for Europe to acknowledge the powerful legacy of hatred that still seethes against the Jewish people in Europe even to this day. This is why there is a for a Jewish state in the form of Israel to provide a powerful political, physical, and emotional sanctuary for Jews all over the world who have suffered the decimation of Jewish people and culture as a result of the events of World War II.

             Martin Gilbert does not state categorically that the Holocaust could happen again in similar form. However, his point of view does raise powerful concerns about the rise of right-wing hatred and anti-Semitism during times of crisis in Germany and other nations such as Poland, with long legacies of anti-Jewish actions in their histories. Be wary and guarded of even small expression of anti-Jewish hatred, Gilbert would counsel, for one never knows where violence and bigotry against Jews may strike. The violence of the events of Europe continues to haunt the hearts of survivors, and the voices of survivors must be heard. Gilbert does pay powerful tribute to non-Jews such as Oscar Schindler, who saved many Jews from death, while still advocating for the essentially Jewish character of his historical event.