Broken Lives: How Ordinary Germans Experienced the 20th Century

by Konrad H. Jarausch

The gripping stories of ordinary Germans who lived through World War II, the Holocaust, and Cold War partition--but also recovery, reunification, and rehabilitation

Broken Lives is a gripping account of the twentieth century as seen through the eyes of ordinary Germans who came of age under Hitler and whose lives were scarred and sometimes destroyed by what they saw and did.

Drawing on six dozen memoirs by the generation of Germans born in the 1920s, Konrad Jarausch chronicles the unforgettable stories of people who not only lived through the Third Reich, World War II, the Holocaust, and Cold War partition, but also participated in Germany's astonishing postwar recovery, reunification, and rehabilitation. Written decades after the events, these testimonies, many of them unpublished, look back on the mistakes of young people caught up in the Nazi movement. In many, early enthusiasm turns to deep disillusionment as the price of complicity with a brutal dictatorship--fighting at the front, aerial bombardment at home, murder in the concentration camps--becomes clear.

Bringing together the voices of men and women, perpetrators and victims, Broken Lives reveals the intimate human details of historical events and offers new insights about persistent questions. Why did so many Germans support Hitler through years of wartime sacrifice and Nazi inhumanity? How did they finally distance themselves from this racist dictatorship and come to embrace human rights? Jarausch argues that this generation's focus on its own suffering, often maligned by historians, ultimately led to a more critical understanding of national identity--one that helped transform Germany from a military aggressor into a pillar of European democracy.

The result is a powerful account of the everyday experiences and troubling memories of average Germans who journeyed into, through, and out of the abyss of a dark century.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Germany, World War II, War, Holocaust, 20th Century

464 pages, Hardcover

First published June 12, 2018

About the author

Konrad H. Jarausch is the Lurcy Professor of European Civilization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews

[Thomas George Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Jarausch wrote this historical book of history from memoirs of the survivors of The Third Reich.

This account was taken from memoirs from more than six dozen Germans born in the 1920's.

This incredible account not only covers the Weimar Republic, but also World War One, the Great Depression and the rise of the Nazis. So why, then, did so many Germans abandoned their own culture and colorful history to follow a megalomaniac?

"Broken Lives" reveals not only the fascination with Adolph Hitler, but why the vast majority of Aryan Germans willfully colluded in the extermination of the Jews, homosexuals, intellectuals, mentally ill and a wide array of others who did not fit into Hitler's Thousand Year Reich.

Mr. Jarausch also studied the memoirs of the numerous Jews in Nazi Germany. And their accounts give much credible insight during the darkest period of the Twenth Century.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broken Lives delves into the lives of those born in the 1920s in Germany, grew up during the post WWI years and when the Third Reich was coming into being, and follows them in the through their old age. There were some interesting points I found in the book, which Jarausch does sum up:

*Those born to Jewish families had a completely different experience, which is obvious. While, Jarausch did include a few people who were Jewish, this book mostly is directed at those who were not Jewish.

*Women were more likely to talk more about their actual feelings as children, the excitement they felt for their country even if they didn't understand the politics, the struggle during the war, the brutality they experienced by invading armies, the shock of losing the war, and the determination to build new lives afterwards. Women were able to rebound, especially among the younger generations.

*Men let their complete life experiences overshadow their stories. Not one of them reported being happy or active with the youth groups and seemingly had a grasp of what was happening, no one reported understanding the war and were disillusioned very quickly to why they were fighting, they blamed the women for what happened when they returned, and thought they had it the hardest. Men had a harder time finding their spots in the new Germany, although the younger men were able to find their way easier.

It was interesting to see how it was this younger generation who was fed the propaganda of the adults, fought the wars, died, suffered the violence at home, and had to rebuild although it was the older generations who did the most damage and were unable to accept any of the blame.

Overall, while a blip of the those who lived in that era, it doesn't seem to offer a great insight to what people really thought. Age, shame, and hindsight seems to have override what had been.

[Heike · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "Zerrissene Leben" begleiten wir zahlreiche Zeitzeugen durch das so unruhige 20. Jahrhundert. Es sind dies die in den 20er Jahren Geborenen, im Buch "Weimarer Kinder" genannt. Auf gelungene Weise werden hier historische Fakten und Hintergrundinformationen mit den Stimmen der Zeitzeugen verbunden. Zahlreiche Zitate aus persönlichen Erinnerungen zeigen eindrucksvoll und auch unterhaltsam, wie die Menschen jener Zeit die Weltgeschichte erfuhren und wie sie ihr Leben beeinflußte. Der Titel "Zerrissene Leben" ist hier sehr gut gewählt.

Die neun Kapitel führen uns von der Kaiserzeit bis zur Wende. Die Zeitzeugen umfassen ein weitgefächertes Spektrum aus verschiedenen Gegenden Deutschlands und verschiedenen sozialen Hintergründen. So gelingt es sehr gut, verschiedene Sichtweisen und Erlegnisse darzustellen. Die Zeit der Nazidiktatur wird ebenfalls auf diese vielfältige Weise beschrieben, es kommen die Verfolgten des Regimes zu Wort, ebenso wie innerlich distanzierte Mitläufer, Verführte, oder auch überzeugte Nazis. Das Buch bemüht sich erfolgreich, zahlreiche Aspekte dieser Zeit einzufangen. Die Schuld der Diktatur und jene, die sie möglich machten (oder nun durch aktives Mitmachen oder passives Zuschauen) wird ebenso beleuchtet wie die Leiden auch der deutschen Bevölkerung durch Bombenkrieg, Vergeltungsmaßnahmen und Vertreibung.

Dadurch, daß viele der Zeitzeugen in mehreren oder allen Kapiteln zu Wort bekommen, sind ihre Namen bald bekannt und man hat das Gefühl, diese Menschen lesend durch ihr Leben zu begleiten. Dies führt zu einer erfreulichen persönlichen Komponente und stärkerer innerer Beteiligung beim Lesen.

Während manche Kapitel, gerade jene die die Untaten der Diktatur und die Leiden des Krieges beschreiben, sehr intensiv wirken und teilweise schwer zu verkraften waren, weil einfach zu viel Schlimmes geschieht, wirken andere Kapitel ruhiger. So ist die Beschreibung der Kindheit in der Weimarer Republik fast beschaulich und man sieht, wie wenig die Unruhen jener Zeit sich in den Kindheitserinnerungen niedergeschlagen haben. In den Nachkriegskapitel nimmt der Anteil der Zeitzeugenzitate spürbar ab, es wird erklärt, daß viele dieser Zeitzeugen ihre Erinnerungen mit Ende des Krieges beendet oder die folgenden Jahrzehnte nur noch kurz zusammengefaßt haben. Dies nimmt den Kapiteln ein wenig die Lebendigkeit, sie sind eher historische Überblicke und waren für mich weniger packend.

Der Schreibstil des Buches ist angenehm zu lesen und die Vermischung persönlicher Erinnerungen und historischer Information bietet einen sehr guten anderen Zugang zu der deutschen Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts und der Menschen, die sie erlebten. An manchen Stellen gibt es Wiederholungen, aber im Ganzen liest sich das Buch flüssig und ist für jeden Geschichtsinteressierten eine Bereicherung.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but I also found myself getting frustrated with the amount of sympathy the autobiography authors seemed to want for what they went through, while also being surprisingly unwilling to accept blame for the Holocaust, war, and other atrocities they took part in. It was interesting, but that bothered me.

[Adrian]

Jarausch collects between 70 and 80 autobiographies of Germans born in the 1920s and uses these to write a social history of Germany in the twentieth century. Continually interesting study of mostly ordinary lives and how they reacted to all the changes from the Weimar Republic to the bringing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Jarausch shows how Naziism was aimed at and appealed to the young with the emphasis on marches, picnics, demonstrations and sharp uniforms. Many of the men who contributed their life stories here joined the Nazis to be part of exciting times. Jarausch is particularly good on the effect Hitler and the Third Reich had on women. Frequently given a pass by historians Jarausch's women were as enthusiastic as the men and they paid a high price when saturation bombing of German cities started and Russian soldiers rampaged in 1945. The post-war years are no less interesting. The rise from rubble sorting to economic miracle was, one can hardly doubt, a result of hard graft. East Germany and its many challenges are covered well. Still it's the question of war guilt and the Holocaust that looms over the whole book. How did the books' subjects deal with it? During the war and right through its conclusion most were unwilling to come to grips with this question preferring avoidance instead. However, over time an impressive number experienced a change of view realized they were culpable and committed themselves to a life of civic action and pacifism.

[IJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Methodology: written memoir analysis - **factual confirmation and narrative deconstruction** Strategies worth noting. Detailed descriptions of MSP systems in place: discourses; strategies; behaviours; crimes - "The most important thing to get out of history is to face it head on" Some topics: victors and losers, gender roles in war and economy; procedural justice. Noteworthy behaviours displayed in various tragedies that take the opportunity to seize dominance and speculation. People in the general environment are always resilient, or subject to incentives, and may act in small ways for evil or for good, prone to make choices in the heat of passion for a long time and to disappointment and doubt.
Mention also the rapes committed by Soviet and German soldiers (over 2 million). By the most primitive principle of reciprocal retaliation, shouldn't one go after the individual who has committed the crime? Rape of the other side's women because the other side raped their own women is essentially the objectification of women and the enjoyment of power and violence.
"On this hostile planet, only an act of unjustified mutual assistance can keep the spirit of the prisoners alive. "

[Kitty Red-Eye · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scope is quite a mouthful: Germany in the 20th century, as seen by the generation born in the 1920ies. As such it has many qualities, but I would have preferred to know more about the autobiography authors. For the most, they remain names mentioned briefly, and it’s hard to remember who’s who. Another 3-Star review here said that «instead of letting the authobiographies tell the story, the author tells the story and then fits in some names of people where they fit the narrative» (paraphrase from memory). That was my feeling too. At times, the story is very powerful and gripping (how could it not be), but overall, it becomes too much of a summary, referenced by names you recognize, but don’t exactly remember from where.

There still is a considerable effort and amount of work behind this book, and it’s definitely worth reading, if you’re in the «wow, the sum total of human experience really is flabbergasting» camp with a stomach to match your masochist curiosity. But it could have been more engaging.

[Peyton Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

In both their popular and academic titles, historians have traditionally tended to adopt a top-down view of history, emphasizing the key individuals and dynamics—political, economic, social, or otherwise—that shaped the given time and place on a broad scale. There is merit to this approach. For readers unfamiliar with twentieth-century German history, for instance, a book addressing the sources of political instability in the Weimar Republic, the Nazis’ rise to power, the horrors of World War II and the division of Germany in its aftermath would be far more useful than a profile of a Hamburg fisherman who found himself caught up in those events. Yet earnest readers and students of history inevitably come to wonder—how did common German folk grapple with the tumult of the twentieth century? What did Stalingrad, the Holocaust, the Berlin Wall, and German reunification mean to young soldiers, housewives, shopkeepers, and high school teachers?

It is precisely these sorts of questions that Jarausch sets out to answer in Broken Lives. To do so, he takes stock of about one hundred memoirs, biographies, and interviews of Germans born in the 1920s and builds a collage out of their individual experiences. (Other authors have used this methodology to good effect. For a splendid example, one might look to Orlando Figes’ 2007 history of the Stalinist Soviet Union, The Whisperers.) The result of his efforts is a worthwhile read that gives twentieth-century German history a human face. The book has relatively little new information to offer professional historians or those otherwise familiar with German-language media covering the period. However, the book’s major strength is that it introduces Anglophone readers to important dimensions of the German twentieth century that English-language titles unfortunately tend to neglect or ignore outright.

Take chapter three, for instance. To the extent that the late Weimar period and the 1933 Nazi seizure of power are depicted in Anglo-American media, we are often exposed to such themes as economic turmoil and political polarization, reflected both in the paralysis of the German parliament and in street violence between communist and Nazi paramilitary groups. Out of this poverty and unrest emerged a desire for greater German unity and political expediency, paving the way for Hitler’s dictatorship—so goes the common narrative. Yet, with Jarausch fixing his gaze on the German youth amidst this tumult, a more complex picture takes shape. Somewhat oblivious to the severity of the global economic depression, most of the Weimar generation recalled their childhood fondly; though perhaps anxious and overworked, their parents often managed to provide them with a comfortable, secure domestic life. Nor was the Nazi ideological takeover as total as we might expect. On the eve of World War II, only a minority of the Weimar generation appears to have fully embraced the Nazi ideology. Though Nazism’s racial mythology and Manichaean worldview found fertile soil in the minds of some teenagers searching for a straightforward universal truth, perhaps an equal proportion, often raised in staunchly Christian or leftist families, rejected Nazism outright. In any case, the majority of their peers seem to have had a more ambivalent relationship with the Third Reich in the 1930s, embracing the excitement of Hitler Youth activities but showing relatively little interest in the political and intellectual dimensions of Nazism. In the decades after World War II, some of the latter cohort would deny accusations of complicity and assert that their youth and innocence had been stolen from them by manipulative ideologues. Their more honest and introspective peers, Jarausch shows, admitted that they only opened their eyes to the depravity of the regime once the tide of the war began to turn against Germany in 1943.

Chapter five, which homes in on the experiences of German women in the years of World War II, introduces readers to other significant elements of modern German history Anglo-Americans hear relatively little about—namely, the bombing of civilian targets and mass sexual assaults inflicted by the victorious Allies. With their brothers, boyfriends, and husbands off fighting a horrific war of annihilation in Eastern Europe, women increasingly dominated civilian life in Nazi Germany. They not only toiled away in the factories and farms fueling the war effort, but also assumed the traditionally male burdens around the house and in town. The experiences gained working in the war economy forged a generation of German women who were more resourceful and resilient than their predecessors. These qualities served them well as the war drew to a disastrous close. Indeed, in the latter years of the war, life on the home front was marked by British and American bombing raids, which all but annihilated cities such as Hamburg and Dresden and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians—mostly women, children, and the elderly. In 1945, as the Soviet Red Army pushed into Germany from the east, millions of German women were victims of rape and even murder by vengeful soldiers. Hoping to escape these horrors, millions of German civilians made the fateful decision—first out of prudence, later by compulsion—to flee to Western Germany and to abandon forever the Eastern territories, which were occupied by the Soviet army and then ceded to Poland after the war. Admittedly, Jarausch speaks less to the expulsions and refugee crisis than those familiar with them might anticipate, given the massive scale of the phenomena, but his treatment of the subject is by no means insufficient for a book targeting a popular readership.

Perhaps the best section of the book is chapter nine, which follows those members of the Weimar generation who, either by choice or circumstance, found themselves in socialist East Germany—officially, the German Democratic Republic, or GDR—after the war. Though the legacy of the GDR is still debated today in a reunified Germany, in the Anglosphere, its history is often regarded as little more than an aberration or a curiosity. Only rarely do Anglo-American media look past the Stasi spies and low-quality cars and appliances; even when they do, they seldom consider whether the GDR was a viable state in the long term, or to what extent the population genuinely believed in its communist mission. Suffice to say that Jarausch, who has examined East Germany extensively in his academic work, finds more than a few members of the Weimar generation who supported the GDR right up until its dissolution in 1989–90. The strong emotions discussions of the GDR still arouse, as well as the conspicuous rise of far-right political parties in the former eastern states since the 2010s, should lead us to reflect carefully on the GDR and the German reunification process.

Jarausch should be commended for producing a book that handles German experiences of the twentieth century with both scrutiny and care. The challenge to narrating German suffering in this era is that it risks relativizing the atrocities Nazi Germany inflicted on political opponents, occupied peoples, prisoners of war, and of course the Jews of Europe. Jarausch confronts this tension with the tact and sobriety befitting a historian of his stature and background. Examining the lives of the Weimar generation, he shows how Germans of all social profiles reckoned with the horrors they wrought—some more than others—and resolved to live a largely peaceful and morally upright life in the years after 1945. Not unreasonably, Jarausch suggests that the wisdom Germans gained from their calamitous experiment with fascism is likely responsible for Germany’s status as one of the healthiest democracies in the world today. Readers keen to gain a deeper understanding of how common German folk experienced the twentieth century will be more than satisfied with this book. Indeed, those looking for a single English-language study may find this to be among the best titles yet published.

[Elisabeth Bulitta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Konrad H. Jarauschs kollektive Biographie „Zerrissene Leben. Das Jahrhundert unserer Mütter und Väter“ ist im September 2018 bei wbg Theiss erschienen und umfasst 455 Seiten.
In seinem Sachbuch beschreibt Konrad Jarausch die deutsche Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts anhand von 80 Biographien von Männern und Frauen, die in der Weimarer Republik geboren wurden, Nationalsozialismus, den Zweiten Weltkrieg und den Wiederaufbau in Ost und West miterlebt haben, um dann ihren Ruhestand in einem wiedervereinigten Deutschland zu verbringen. Dabei stehen weniger die großen geschichtlichen Ereignisse im Mittelpunkt, sondern viel mehr individuelle Erlebnisse, die allerdings einander bedingen. So vereinigt er die Einzelschicksale zu einer großen kollektiven Biographie, die ein vielfältiges, aber dennoch in vielen Bereichen einheitliches Bild dieser Zeit ergeben.
Gerahmt werden die Biographien von einer Einführung, in der der Autor seine Arbeitsweise und Intention darstellt, und einem umfassenden Anhang mit Kurzbiographien der Protagonisten, Fußnoten, Quellenangaben und einem Register.
Bei der Darstellung der der Biographien geht der Verfasser chronologisch vor: Vom Kaiserreich über die Weimarer Republik schlägt er einen Bogen zu Kriegs- und Nachkriegszeit über die Entwicklung im getrennten Deutschland bis hin zur wiedervereinigten Bundesrepublik, wobei er in der Nachkriegszeit Ost und West getrennt betrachtet. Die einzelnen Biographien werden so nicht zusammenhängend dargestellt, sondern im jeweiligen geschichtlichen Kontext.
Zwar kommen in diesem Werk auch bekannte Persönlichkeiten wie Joachim Fest, Dorothee Sölle, Fritz Stern oder Carola Stern oder Opfer der beiden großen deutschen Diktaturen zu Wort, größtenteils handelt es sich jedoch um ganz normale deutsche Durchschnittsbürger. Wie sie mit und in der Geschichte gelebt haben, wie sie ihre Mitschuld an der großen Katastrophe erlebt und reflektiert haben, steht im Zentrum dieses Buches. Dabei stößt der Leser auf alle möglichen Facetten des Lebens und Wege, sich seiner Vergangenheit zu stellen. Somit präsentiert sich dem Leser ein eindrückliches Bild der deutschen Geschichte anhand von Individuen. Lobend sei erwähnt, dass auch die Frage nach Schuld und Wiedergutmachung (soweit sie denn möglich ist) nicht zu kurz kommt. Am Ende ergibt sich das Bild eines Deutschlands, das durchaus fähig war und ist, Konsequenzen aus seiner Geschichte zu ziehen.
Die Sprache ist eingängig, sachlich und gut zu lesen. Selbst bei Darstellungen wie den nationalsozialistischen KZs verzichtet der Herausgeber auf reißerische oder grausame Formulierungen. Bilddokumente illustrieren und verdeutlichen das Geschriebene.
Insgesamt präsentiert sich hier ein sehr lesenswerten Buch: Die letzten der in der Weimarer Republik Geborenen, die unser Land so sehr geprägt haben, sterben nach und nach. Mündliche Berichte und Erzählungen werden seltener. Erinnerungen gehen verloren, lediglich nackte geschichtliche Daten überdauern. Daher bedarf es eines solchen Buches, Erinnerungen präsent zu halten – erstrecht vor dem Hintergrund deutscher Geschichte, von der sich immer mehr Menschen zu distanzieren versuchen. Mich selber hat das Buch sehr zum Nachdenken angeregt, obwohl ich selber noch viele Zeitzeugen kennenlernen durfte und vieles von dem, was ich von ihnen gehört habe, wiedererkannte. Allen, denen dieses nicht widerfahren ist, kann ich dieses Buch nur wärmstens empfehlen.

[Mike Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good idea of using autobiographical stories to follow people who lived in one of the most disruptive periods in history. Born during the Weimar republic immediately following WWI, teen years during the depression and the rise of hitler, WWII, and the following split nations only to see them reunited as they were in retirement. Instead of using the autobiographies to tell the history, he told the history and briefly referenced someone who did that exact thing. Really fascinating history but poorly told. Also written from German viewpoint so there were many organizations unknown to me.

[Lisajean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been much more interesting than it was. Instead, there was just too much extraneous detail and too little structure. I should have abandoned the book when the author shared the insight that most German children in the early 20th century loved their grandparents... Instead, I wasted several more hours of reading, hoping for something interesting. Alas.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of fascinating information in this book, but I wonder if it could have been sifted a bit more thoroughly. The author might have done better to pick out a few representative diarists, rather than trying to fit the entire gamut of 70 years of the experience of many everyday Germans into a single volume. Having said that, much of what these diaries and memoirs reveal is important because of what this single German generation experienced: Born during the Weimar Republic, reared during the Nazi takeover, coming of age during World War II and the Holocaust, young adults as post-war Germany achieves its Economic Miracle and the East struggles with communism, and finally reunification of the BRD and DDR in the early '90s. Their lives provided lessons -- both cautionary and celebratory -- for us all.

[Q Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading this after visiting Auschwitz. It is difficult to read due to all the emotions and shocks about what had happened - knowing it is one thing, seeing it, smelling it, and feeling it in the air is another. It has been a long-lasting question that "How could all of that inhumane thing happen" in history, social science, movies, arts, and everyone. I really like how Mr. Jarausch took an approach to better understand ordinary people's lives, and how everyone's decisions and behaviors can impact society. It is especially important in today's society - what kind of people do we want to be, what kind of society do we want to live in? How are we getting there? Are we going to be silent or are we going to critically think and practice the life that we want to live?

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I'm not an ordinary German who experienced the twentieth century so I cannot really vouch for the accuracy of the contents, but I found this book really fascinating. It pulled together a lot of different pieces of information and various threads for me. I'd love to read some of the actual memoirs the people wrote. The book is written in a very academic style, but honestly I think that's probably good, considering how upsetting some of the material is.

[Ryo · Rating 4 out of 5]

普通人奋力追求正常生活，想要以无关宏大政治的方式按部就班地从童年走向成年。但超越个人的力量不断打扰和平的生活，带来死亡和毁灭的威胁；
纳粹独裁可以迫害种族和意识形态上的少数群体，只要它确信能得到大多数成年人的支持和年轻人的热情；
德国妇女是纳粹政策的作用对象，而不是实施者”。这种观点很容易把母性与生育主义同民族社会主义一起归为人的解放的主要敌人，讽刺地免除了女性的大部分责任；
不关心政治的大多数女性仍正常上学、参加职业培训或从事战争生产，努力过着正常的生活，不经意间因为自己的行为维持了政权的稳定；
保持理智的另一种机制是培养可以在自己家里进行的爱好，例如收听外国电台，贪婪地阅读，或者集邮。观看体育比赛也是一个选择；
大多数自传还显示了一种近乎绝望的尝试，试图从他们年轻时的可怕经历中找出积极的意义。

[Josh McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellently researched and very well written. It offers a great insight into the thoughts of ordinary Germans (albeit in reflection or "ego") about life before and after the war. On its own, it does leave much to be desired in terms of broader contexts, and its vast scope can be rapid, but taken as a piece of historiography its value is immense and highly readable.

[Mary Camille Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this compilation of memoirs of Germans who came of age under Hitler as research for my novel Schatz - it was useful and fascinating reading.

[Christina Morden (ClaryNathanWill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Hist 401: Problems in Modern German History

[Jingdong Tsao · Rating 4 out of 5]

文字的可读性一般。本以为是生活史，读起来才知道是基于普通人回忆录对德国史的补充叙述，落脚点在私人记忆，算是对1920s-1990s德国史进行了补充。能看到许多与此地的相似性，也只有在西德的部分看到生活稳定展开的欣喜感。不知道此地正常化的社会生活要等到什么时候，或者非正常本身就是一种将永续存在的常态。

[Cuttlefish · Rating 4 out of 5]

放弃豆瓣第一标。看到后面觉得不如看自传直接，对自传的拆解让阅读很破碎。道理不需要讲明，它会从事实中自动浮现。看到过去在当下的影子，或者说是日光之下无新事。不管披什么主义的外衣都无法掩盖人性的恶和丑。对少数和弱者的迫害也从没有停止过。最大的警醒是绝对不要做普通的恶人，也就是不要成为卡波、党卫队、按毒气开关的人、打死小狗的大白、命令的执行机器。

[Xiang Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

好奇东德人民对苏联的态度 毕竟被打进来的时候实在太过惨烈

[Jarry · Rating 4 out of 5]

承认自己的错误 对于任何人都是很难的 这不仅是二战中的普通德国人 也是文革中的普通中国人 卢旺达内战中的普通胡图族 对于后来人/我最重要的是 时刻保持对国家/社会/小团体/自身行为的审视和反省

[Wayne Liberty · Rating 4 out of 5]

书本的整体内容就如标题所述，是好多20世纪经历二战的德国人的经历的集合。非常推荐这本书，不仅能够了解二战德国的历史，还能学习到政治与普通人的关系。

这种组织形式读起来会比较轻松，因为还是有很多故事性的不是干巴巴的分析阐述。但是比起另外两本我之前看的书 Nothing to envy, eat the buddha, 这本书又更偏研究性，因为书中的个人的故事是被打乱组合的，与作者的研究结论是相呼应的。

书本身的内容给我的感觉是颇为新颖的，从前对德国的认知似乎只有二战的发起者已经犹太屠杀者。书的内容聚焦了在这个时代的德国人的具体生活，认知与行动。可以让后来者对这个时代有更感性的认知。

书本的叙述具体分为三个时期，战前的童年，战时的青年以及战后的成年。穿插个人叙事中的是德国民族主义情绪和种族主义情绪被纳粹培养利用的各种具象化表现（对战争的痴狂，对犹太人的仇恨，对德国崛起的自豪）以及到最后面临战败时这些人的迷失以及反省。

最后我觉得对于2022年的中国，这本书是很有启发性的，因为我们也正在滑入民族主义的陷阱，希望历史不要重演，未来一切都好。