Julia Boyd

This is a follow-up to the author's excellent earlier work on travellers in the Third Reich. This time a Bavarian village is taken as a case study and in fine deatil, tyhe author shows the impact of Nazism on the people and structures of the villages. Most notable is the way that everything is permeated; Nazism was not just a system of government but intended to be a way of life for commuinities. The book is balanced and seeks out examples of people who behave in ways which might not not be expected from their position or title. Very useful in correcting preconceptions about what it was like to be an ordinary German in those years.… (lisätietoja)

An interesting alternative take on Nazi Germany, seen through the microcosm of a small alpine village, the southernmost in the country, on the border with Austria and near beautiful mountain ranges. The scene is set, starting just after the First World War, progressing through the rise to power of Hitler, the take over of all aspects of daily life by the Nazi state and the eventual build up and waging of war and its aftermath A few people were opposed to the Nazis but kept their heads down, aware of the grim fate of those who spoke out, about ten percent were members of the party and the rest weren't bothered about what the Nazis did to certain groups, such as the Jews, as long as they provided full employment and gave Germany back its self respect and prestige after the humiliation of the defeat in WWI and the treaty of Vienna. Some of those gradually experienced doubts once the Nazis dragged the country into a second world war.

The book is meticulously researched, helped by very good records kept in the village itself and some unpublished diaries including a couple of soldiers' diaries from the regiments in which villagers served. The chapters are organised thematically which is a help, as it would probably be too bitty with a chronological approach. As it is, there are a huge number of people mentioned and I referred to the index and the list of people at the back quite frequently to remind myself who was who. Some were mentioned only once and possibly some of those could be dropped.

The most harrowing chapter is a case study of a young man blind from birth who was one of the victims of the "euthanasia" programme which was designed to get rid of the disabled, seen by the Nazis as a burden and a blot on the perfect master race. I had read about this programme before, in the context of its being the forerunner of the Final Solution, whereby the Nazis practiced the methods they eventually used on the Jews, and other "racial undesirables" such as Gypsies. The book possibly does fall down in not making that connection especially as the chapter on how village Jews were affected doesn't convey the full horror - some were helped to commit suicide before deportation, some managed to leave the country, and some were hidden, or shielded by the mayor, a "good Nazi". As far as I recall, only a couple of people were actually deported to camps and they managed to survive and return to the village after the war. The Jews always formed a tiny minority in the village so that part of the book isn't really representative of a lot of other, often more urban, communities.

The book is very detailed and in some cases, such as the account of infighting among the local Nazis, becomes a bit too much so and drags a bit. I found the postwar section also does this and so many people are mentioned in the book that it would be nice to have a bit more depth on some and fewer sketchy mentions in passing, but I suppose the material just doesn't exist. Overall, I rate the book as 4 stars.… (lisätietoja)

I'd just like to note a few points about this collation of first hand writing by foreign visitors to Wiemar Germany and the Third Reich. First, it is extremely well done in terms of weaving together many source documents into a coherent whole. Just as a technical exercise in handling a lot of diverse material, it succeeds well. Better than that, the authorial text which links all the contributions is grown-up and expects readers to also be – it does not assume they are ignorant of history, which is a welcome change from the modern trend to explain the simplest thing.

A few less positive observations. The blurb on the cover (probably done by the publisher rather than the author) says this is 'the rise of fascism through the eyes of everyday people'. Well, some of the words are from everyday people, but an awful lot are not – ambassadors, families of ambassadors, some politicians, and other people in prominent positions. Yes, there are also school girls, students, manual workers on holiday, but overall, this description is stretching things. The other point is that although the author is pretty neutral in the first half of the book, her own opinions obtrude a bit too much later on.

These quibbles notwithstanding, the book is a compelling read for anyone interested in the subject.… (lisätietoja)