The Social History of the Third Reich, 1933-1945

The historian wishing to write a social history of German society during the Nazi era is confronted with a dilemma: Is it possible to arrive at some conclusion regarding the extent of opposition or collusion of the people in a totalitarian society? How does one interpret documents under such a regime? Should one accept the version of the SS (""which saw potential rebels on every side"") or that of the opposition (who ""detected cowards or accomplices everywhere"")? Ay oberry (author of The Nazi Question) has done an admirable job of painting a portrait of a people (in opposition to that of Daniel Jonah Goldhagen in Hitler's Willing Executioners) who are at once perpetrators and victims. From the Volk to the army, the diplomatic corps to the SS, the churches to the youth organizations, this is a fine overview, with Hitler, of course, at the center. Ay oberry shows how Germans from all walks of life were seduced or corrupted by, or simply in agreement with, the F hrer from the beginning. This work captures the essence of Nazi culture, what the author calls ""a compound of kitsch and terror."" Revealingly, he begins the book (contrary to conventional historiographical convention) with a discussion of Nazi violence. Equally important is the attention he devotes to the victims of that violence; often lumped together in an indiscriminate mass; Ay oberry restores their humanity and identities, reminding us that the concentration camps opened in 1933. The ""Final Solution to the Jewish Question"" is examined in the larger context of racial pseudoscience, mass delusion and war. Although there is little here that is new, Ay oberry displays an impressive command of the secondary sources in French, English and German, and he has consulted a wide collection of documents. The result is a synthetic and analytical work that reveals the complex nuances of life under the Third Reich. (Dec.)