This book deals with the Second World War in Southeastern Europe from the perspective of conditions on the ground during the conflict. The focus is on the reshaping of ethnic and religious groups in wartime, on the "top-down" and "bottom-up" dynamics of mass violence, and on the local dimensions of the Holocaust. The approach breaks with the national narratives and "top-down" political and military histories that continue to be the predominant paradigms for the Second World War in this part of Europe. Xavier Bougarel is Researcher at the Centre d’études turques, ottomanes, balkaniques et centrasiatiques (CETOBaC), CNRS, Paris, France. Hannes Grandits is Professor of Southeast European History, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. Marija Vulesica is Researcher at the Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany.