In the Ruins of the Reich

by Douglas Botting

A classic account of Germany after her fall to the Allies in May 1945. Concentrates on the period between the collapse of the Reich and the foundation of the new Germanys, an unusual and little-charted time in history. Botting shows that the plan to bring democracy to Germany was far from straightforward. Douglas Botting is the author of Nazi Gold (with Ian Sayer) and Hitler's Women .

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Germany, War

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Denis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book is a revelation. Botting tells the story of Germany (with Berlin as the beating heart of his tale) right after it was defeated by the Allies in 1945: what he paints is, truly, apocalypse on earth, and on scale barely imaginable. The Germans did pay a terrible, awful price for their terrible, awful sins, and Botting is here to remind us of what this price was - not forgetting nevertheless why it happened, and what the Nazis did. It does raise a lot of fascinating question - about justice, retribution, vengeance, humanity. It is horrifying. Especially shocking are the parts that deal with moments of History which have been completely occulted by most history books, such as the extermination of millions of Russians, and citizens of the USRR, who were ex-prisoners of war of the Nazis and whom the Allies sent back to the USRR knowing perfectly well what was going on (to the author, that amounts to a genocide), the state of near-starvation that most of Germany was into (it even seems that there were cases of cannibalism in Berlin), the way some of the occupation forces behaved (sometimes as horribly as the SS men they had fought), or the intense suffering that millions of Germans endured when they were displaced from their home in Eastern parts of Europe to the remains of Germany (the largest movement of population in History, according to the author). Germany, almost eradicated from the planet, was a landscape of total ruins, and it was hell, on a daily basis. Botting does a wonderful job at showing us the different aspects of the situation, in clear and illuminating ways, showing a lot of compassion for victims of all sides, not recoiling from some ugly things that happened on the victor's side, but also always keeping in mind what the Nazis had done. It's hard not to be infuriated when reading that many, many Nazis were never prosecuted, and that the de-nazification program of the Allies was actually a failure. This book goes beyond the fate of Germany, though, as it shows how what happened during those year is at the core of the cold war, and of what happened in Europe till the fall of communism. Quite a necessary read.

[Shaun W · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, everyone who is interested in WW2 needs to read this book to gauge exactly what happened after the war in Germany. It puts the actual war years into a different perspective and outlines the horrors and consequences of the Nazi regime. Quite horrifying to learn that the Germans were treat as bad after the war as they treat others during it. People may say this is deserved, others may disagree, this book gave me both sides to that argument. On a final note, this book is also a great prelude to the cold war, something I knew very little about.

[Frank Souder · Rating 5 out of 5]

showed me the history of post war Germany that I had never heard

[Aravind Jayaraj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a different perspective to the world war scenario. Apart from the countries, their leaders and the glory of war this book shows the life of common people in the aftermath of a crushing defeat.
Could never pull myself together to believe that it is the same country where these atrocities came about and has reworked itself to where it is today. Reading the incidents and staring out of the window in disbelief was the most natural reaction. It is so disheartening that by the time I read the book and reach the work place I would be completely broken and depleted.
The book also answers the question of why one needs to think sensibly while talking about the world war, more here than anywhere else on the planet.

[Ubiquitousbastard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pretty hard-hitting book. Okay, so everyone has heard of the Holocaust, but I doubt most people know exactly what went on in Germany after WWII, during the Allied occupation. It wasn't pretty, and it happened to a lot of innocent people. We (in the US) might like to think that we're always the goodguys, but I'm not so sure that can really apply here. I don't think mass rape is really a thing that good people do.
This book isn't a piece of propaganda. It's absolutely based in fact, and is able to be cross-referenced and still hold truth.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

After World War II the suffering wasn't over. Botting's book details the huge displacement of people that followed the war's end, especially so in the Soviet sphere.