Inside Nazi Germany : Conformity, Opposition and Racism in Everyday Life - Hardcover

Detlev J.K. Peukert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 071345217X ISBN 13: 9780713452174

Publisher: Batsford, 1987

Synopsis

Describes the experiences of ordinary people living in Nazi Germany, explains how they aided or avoided Nazi programs, and analyzes the use of terror against social outsiders

About this title

From the Back Cover

This book by Detlev Peukert is a survey of the complex experiences and attitudes of ordinary German people between 1933 and 1945. It records how people lived during this period, how they evaded or accepted the regime's demands, and where they positioned themselves along the spectrum between the front lines, side lines, and firing lines.

Reviews

In this quirky survey of daily life in the Third Reich, Peukert, who teaches at the University of Essen, attempts to help readers "understand better a generation which it would be unjust (and unhelpful for learning lessons for the future) to condemn . . . ." The raw material he presentssuch as circulation statistics in libraries following the public book-burnings and a judge's official view of "negative human material" and what should be done about "it"is more useful to historians than to general readers. Although he discusses the origins of the Nazis' deadly enmity toward homosexuals and "the facists' stereotyped fantasies of violence," quoted citations make the deeper impression: Himmler's decree banishing "young swing fans" to a concentration camp, for example, or diary records of dreams by German citizens intent on avoiding conscious confrontation with the sinister effects of National Socialist policies. Illustrations.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Batsford
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 071345217X
• ISBN 13: 9780713452174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288