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Nazi Germany: Confronting the Myths
Nazi Confronting the Myths provides a concise and compelling introduction to the Third Reich. At the same time, it challenges and demystifies the many stereotypes surrounding Hitler and Nazi Germany. Creates a succinct, argument-driven overview for students by using common myths and stereotypes to encourage critical engagement with the subject Provides an up-to-date historical synthesis based on the latest research in the field Argues that in order to fully understand and explain this period of history, we need to address its seeming paradoxes – for example, questioning why most Germans viewed the Third Reich as a legitimate government, despite the Nazis’ criminality Incorporates useful study features, including a timeline, glossary, maps, and illustrations
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 22, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 15, 2015
Not really confronting myths, but widely accepted misconceptions for the less informed reader.
One example. "Before World War II - except for a brief period in 1938 - concentration-camp prisoners were rarely Jews. Instead, the inmate population consisted of leftists, clergymen, and those groups (not Jews) deemed racially inferior. In 1937, Himmler claimed that camp prisoners "are the dregs of criminality, of people who have taken the wrong path. There are people there with hydrocephalus, people who squint, people with deformities, half-Jews, a mass of racially inferior material."
Or, "Many countries were reluctant to accept Jewish refugees. The United States, for example, refused to change its immigration quotas. It was thus extremely difficult for Jews to secure entry visas and other documents necessary for immigration."
This is not news for someone who has read a couple of books or even articles about Nazi Germany, but I presume would surprise readers who get their history lessons by Hollywood. Nevertheless it's a well written account for a period stretching from the end of WWI to the end of WWII with plenty of interesting facts that don't focus much on the boring details. Overall it's a good start for a subsequent, more in depth research of the era.
One example. "Before World War II - except for a brief period in 1938 - concentration-camp prisoners were rarely Jews. Instead, the inmate population consisted of leftists, clergymen, and those groups (not Jews) deemed racially inferior. In 1937, Himmler claimed that camp prisoners "are the dregs of criminality, of people who have taken the wrong path. There are people there with hydrocephalus, people who squint, people with deformities, half-Jews, a mass of racially inferior material."
Or, "Many countries were reluctant to accept Jewish refugees. The United States, for example, refused to change its immigration quotas. It was thus extremely difficult for Jews to secure entry visas and other documents necessary for immigration."
This is not news for someone who has read a couple of books or even articles about Nazi Germany, but I presume would surprise readers who get their history lessons by Hollywood. Nevertheless it's a well written account for a period stretching from the end of WWI to the end of WWII with plenty of interesting facts that don't focus much on the boring details. Overall it's a good start for a subsequent, more in depth research of the era.
February 20, 2018
There are no words....
For my own future reference a few bits of information that I found interesting or worth noting.
*Hitlers mother died of breast cancer, during her illness she was treated by a jewish doctor. Later on
Hitler gave him some pieces of his art as gratitude and ensured his safe passage out of Nazi-occupied
Europe.
*In 1920, Hitler designed the party banner, a black swastika in a white circle in a red background.
White signified German nationalism, red the color of socialism, and swastika representing the sun.
*Many historians believe that Nazi voters were protest voters, fed up with the current Wiemar
Republic. They voted for the Nazi's to protest a party they grew to despise.
*Book burnings: In 1933, students from 19 universities burned 20,000 books by Jewish authors. In an
earlier era, the author Henrich Hein (a 19th century author) wrote, "Where books are burned, in the
end people will burn too".
*In 1933, the Nazi's instituted a law that purged Jews and most leftists from government bureaucracies. The law had dismissed some 1600 of 5000 professors at German universities. Some were world renowned scientist, such as Albert Einstein.
*In 1935 Hitler promoted and built the first Autobahn highway system. Many believed it had military
applications, but it played no role in the design. They planned sweeping, curvy routes that blend into
the German terrain and traversed mountain peaks and lake shorelines.
*35 days after invading France, Hitler controlled a large Western European land empire. German
hegemony stretched from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, encompassing 30% of Global GDP and some
290 million people (20% of the worlds population).
*Roughly 5.8 million Jews died in the Holocaust. Some 60% died by gassing, 40% by other means, including open-air executions and starvation in the ghettos.
-3 million Jews in Poland
-1 million Jews in the Soviet Unioni
-500, 000 in Hungary
-270,000 in Romania
-160,000 in Germany
-106,000 in Netherlands
-83,000 in France
For my own future reference a few bits of information that I found interesting or worth noting.
*Hitlers mother died of breast cancer, during her illness she was treated by a jewish doctor. Later on
Hitler gave him some pieces of his art as gratitude and ensured his safe passage out of Nazi-occupied
Europe.
*In 1920, Hitler designed the party banner, a black swastika in a white circle in a red background.
White signified German nationalism, red the color of socialism, and swastika representing the sun.
*Many historians believe that Nazi voters were protest voters, fed up with the current Wiemar
Republic. They voted for the Nazi's to protest a party they grew to despise.
*Book burnings: In 1933, students from 19 universities burned 20,000 books by Jewish authors. In an
earlier era, the author Henrich Hein (a 19th century author) wrote, "Where books are burned, in the
end people will burn too".
*In 1933, the Nazi's instituted a law that purged Jews and most leftists from government bureaucracies. The law had dismissed some 1600 of 5000 professors at German universities. Some were world renowned scientist, such as Albert Einstein.
*In 1935 Hitler promoted and built the first Autobahn highway system. Many believed it had military
applications, but it played no role in the design. They planned sweeping, curvy routes that blend into
the German terrain and traversed mountain peaks and lake shorelines.
*35 days after invading France, Hitler controlled a large Western European land empire. German
hegemony stretched from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, encompassing 30% of Global GDP and some
290 million people (20% of the worlds population).
*Roughly 5.8 million Jews died in the Holocaust. Some 60% died by gassing, 40% by other means, including open-air executions and starvation in the ghettos.
-3 million Jews in Poland
-1 million Jews in the Soviet Unioni
-500, 000 in Hungary
-270,000 in Romania
-160,000 in Germany
-106,000 in Netherlands
-83,000 in France
November 4, 2018
This book's entire premise was "I'm right, everyone else is wrong", which is fine but a bit off-putting.
January 19, 2015
My Amazon review -
http://www.amazon.com/review/R274LR2A...
http://www.amazon.com/review/R274LR2A...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews