Nazi Impact on a German Village

In this excellent study, the authors describe in rich detail the political, economic and social structures of a village in southwestern Germany from the turn of the century to the present, and reveal that the villagers of Oberschopfheim held Hitler in high esteem as the first national leader to improve their material lot but were relatively indifferent to the Nazis, who interfered only sporadically with their liberties. Rinderle and Norling assess the impact on the village of two world wars, the French military occupations of 1923 and 1945, the catastrophic inflation of the 1920s, the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the postwar years, which have included the West German ``economic miracle.'' The villagers were shaken more profoundly by the Depression than by either world war or by the rise and fall of the Nazis. The authors conclude with an analysis of postwar problems such as severe food shortages (largely caused by French occupation policies) and the current flood of East German refugees. Rinderle is adjunct professor of humanities and social sciences at Vincennes University in France; Norling is professor emeritus of European history at Notre Dame. Illustrations. (Oct.)