This work investigates the theological and ethical failures of institutional Christianity in the face of the Holocaust, specifically questioning how religious frameworks permitted or ignored state-sanctioned genocide. Donald Dietrich, a scholar of modern European history and theology, examines the historical trajectory of anti-Judaism within Western religious institutions. By analyzing primary source documents and historical records, the author argues that long-standing theological prejudices created a moral vacuum that facilitated the Nazi regime's systematic murder of European Jews.

Scholars and historians frequently cite this text as a rigorous examination of the intersection between religious doctrine and political atrocity. The book is recognized for its academic depth and its unflinching critique of institutional moral failure during the twentieth century.