Confronting Hitler: German Social Democrats in Defense of the Weimar Republic, 1929-1933

by William Smaldone

The stories of the individual men and women who led German Social Democracy's failed efforts to fend off the Nazi onslaught in 1933 have largely been lost in the wake of the cataclysmic war, the Holocaust, and the division of Europe that followed Hitler's victory. Confronting Hitler recovers their stories and places them at center stage. In a series of biographical essays focusing on the experiences of ten leading Social Democratic activists, Smaldone examines their defeat in 1933 from the perspective of individuals enmeshed in political struggle.

This study reveals what aspects of these activists' lives were most important in shaping their political outlook during the republic's final crisis and it illustrates the key factors that guided their actions in the effort to keep the republic alive. In addition, the biographies raise the important issue of the degree to which the defeat of German Social Democracy in 1933 is comparable to the experiences of other democratic socialist movements in the twentieth century.

Genres: History, Germany, Nonfiction

334 pages, Hardcover

First published December 16, 2008

Reviews

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smaldone provides clear explanation, through a series of mini-biographies, of why the German Socialist party, the largest before the Nazis came to power, did not do more to prevent the Nazi ascendancy. Too timid, too much talk, unwilling to work with other parties, afraid to act. It was hard for decent people to understand how brutal and committed the Nazis were, and to act accordingly. Could more aggressive action have kept the Nazis from power? I'll reach my conclusion on that when I write the sections of my novel for which this book was research.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

An intellectually dishonest discourse to white wash the very people who have made Hitler possible. These are the people who made the laws that brought the power to Hitler (ex. gun control laws, political control laws), these are the people who were ruling over the mandatory education system that made Hitler okay, these are the people brought the economic disaster on which Hitler has built his influence, these are the people who showed the Germans that shooting protesters is one way to get things done, these are monsters who lost at their own game.