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A Village in the Third Reich: How Ordinary Lives Were Transformed by the Rise of Fascism
New from the author of Travellers in the Third Reich—the Sunday Times Top Three bestseller and Waterstones Book of the Month: a stunningly evocative portrait of Hitler’s Germany through the people of a single village.
Oberstdorf is a beautiful village high up in the Bavarian Alps, a place where for hundreds of years ordinary people lived simple lives while history was made elsewhere. Yet even here, in the farthest corner of Germany, National Socialism sought to control not only people’s lives but also their minds.
Drawing on archive material, letters, interviews and memoirs, A Village in the Third Reich is an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Germany under Hitler, of the descent into totalitarianism and of the tragedies that befell all of those touched by Nazism. In its pages we meet the Jews who survived—and those who didn’t; the Nazi mayor who tried to shield those persecuted by the regime; and a blind boy whose life was thought ‘not worth living’.
It is a tale of conflicting loyalties and desires, of shattered dreams, despair and destruction – but one in which, ultimately, human resilience triumphs.
These are the stories of ordinary lives at the crossroads of history.
Oberstdorf is a beautiful village high up in the Bavarian Alps, a place where for hundreds of years ordinary people lived simple lives while history was made elsewhere. Yet even here, in the farthest corner of Germany, National Socialism sought to control not only people’s lives but also their minds.
Drawing on archive material, letters, interviews and memoirs, A Village in the Third Reich is an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Germany under Hitler, of the descent into totalitarianism and of the tragedies that befell all of those touched by Nazism. In its pages we meet the Jews who survived—and those who didn’t; the Nazi mayor who tried to shield those persecuted by the regime; and a blind boy whose life was thought ‘not worth living’.
It is a tale of conflicting loyalties and desires, of shattered dreams, despair and destruction – but one in which, ultimately, human resilience triumphs.
These are the stories of ordinary lives at the crossroads of history.
412 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2022
468 people are currently reading
4426 people want to read
About the author
Julia Boyd
18 books75 followersJulia Boyd is the author of A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Peking's Foreign Colony, The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The Life of the First Woman Physician and Hannah Riddell: An Englishwoman in Japan. An experienced researcher, she has scoured archives all over the world to find original material for her books. As the wife of a former diplomat, she lived in Germany from 1977 to 1981. A former trustee of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, she now lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 310 reviews
April 27, 2022
Oberstdorf is one of the most famous places in Bavaria owing to ski jumping competitions and magnificent scenery for tourists to admire both in summer and winter. Ms Boyd's idea to describe life in a village during the inter-war period sounds interesting as most of the books cover towns or cities whereas countrylife is rather obscure.
This non-fiction depicts the cultural, social and political changes over the 40 years in a village whose life focused around sheep breeding, some farming and tourist industry as Obersdorf became more and more popular in the covered period. Such a detailed analysis was possible due to vast archives preserved and to memoirs, letters and memories of those whose ancestors lived in the village before the WW2 and through it.
I enjoyed this book since it gives a panorama of those days, desciribing attitudes, hardships and tragedies which affected the small village. It is a well-researched book which offers a good insight into the period.
*Many thanks to Julia Boyd, Elliot & Thompson, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
This non-fiction depicts the cultural, social and political changes over the 40 years in a village whose life focused around sheep breeding, some farming and tourist industry as Obersdorf became more and more popular in the covered period. Such a detailed analysis was possible due to vast archives preserved and to memoirs, letters and memories of those whose ancestors lived in the village before the WW2 and through it.
I enjoyed this book since it gives a panorama of those days, desciribing attitudes, hardships and tragedies which affected the small village. It is a well-researched book which offers a good insight into the period.
*Many thanks to Julia Boyd, Elliot & Thompson, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
March 29, 2022
Wars come and go, but life goes on. And so it went on in the village of Oberstdorf throughout the 1930s and 1940s, with the rise and fall of Nazism an undercurrent all along – except it was one that swelled in a way that even a quiet little village couldn’t ignore.
A few years ago I took a class called Experiencing Total War, in which I learned about what it was like for the average person to live through the world wars. It was a fascinating class that highlighted the ordinary voices of war, and it remains one of my favorite classes I ever took. It was on the strength of this that I picked up this book, for that is its purpose – seeing how the Third Reich unfolded in an ordinary Bavarian village.
For the most part I found this an interesting read. The book is well-researched and delves into many aspects of life during the Third Reich, showing how the government pervaded every part of one’s daily activities. I liked that the chapters were organized thematically rather than chronologically, which made it easier to follow.
There were some quite emotional parts to the story – for example I doubt I will ever forget the chapter on how the regime murdered people with disabilities which depicted the injustice through a case study. However, for the most part I had some trouble following who was who, despite the list of townspeople at the back of the book, and this kept me from getting too emotionally invested.
Overall an interesting read about life during World War 2.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
A few years ago I took a class called Experiencing Total War, in which I learned about what it was like for the average person to live through the world wars. It was a fascinating class that highlighted the ordinary voices of war, and it remains one of my favorite classes I ever took. It was on the strength of this that I picked up this book, for that is its purpose – seeing how the Third Reich unfolded in an ordinary Bavarian village.
For the most part I found this an interesting read. The book is well-researched and delves into many aspects of life during the Third Reich, showing how the government pervaded every part of one’s daily activities. I liked that the chapters were organized thematically rather than chronologically, which made it easier to follow.
There were some quite emotional parts to the story – for example I doubt I will ever forget the chapter on how the regime murdered people with disabilities which depicted the injustice through a case study. However, for the most part I had some trouble following who was who, despite the list of townspeople at the back of the book, and this kept me from getting too emotionally invested.
Overall an interesting read about life during World War 2.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
March 31, 2022
Having read, and enjoyed, Julia Boyd’s previous book, “Travellers in the Third Reich,” I was eager to read her new title, which looks at the Third Reich from the viewpoint of the Bavarian village of Oberstdorf. This was a largely Catholic village at the time, the most southern village in Germany, a farming community which became a tourist destination thanks to the mountains and with the first concentration camp of Dachau close by. As such, this detailed look at what happened from the end of the First World War to the devastation of the end of the Second World War gives the reader a very personal view of events from a number of the village’s inhabitants.
Boyd makes full use of memoirs, local newspapers, letters, and other research to tell the story of one, rural community, during a time of national change. She takes us from soldiers returning from the trenches of WWI, through the political turmoil of hyperinflation and the Weimar Republic, to the regime of the Third Reich, which promised so much but delivered devastation.
Oberstdorf was a village where food was scarce and people poor after WWI, until tourism became a growing source of income. Alpine beauty, a new cable car, and the growth of visitors brought new prosperity to the village. Many of the villagers viewed Hitler with distrust and Bolshevism with fear, but the villages new mayor, Ernst Zeitler, was unpopular as he expected the villagers to conform to Nazi ideology and policy. Many, such as Dr Otto Reh, Chairman of the local Fishing Society, resigned when it was proposed that Jewish members should be banned – even though there were none. Others resented the suggestion Jewish shops be boycotted, even though there weren’t any Jewish shop owners. However, despite these noble intentions, Boyd is good at showing how much of life is not black or white, but shades of grey. For most inhabitants, they feared war, disliked the fact that Nazi ideology changed their lives and often took the line of least resistance and hoped to come through unscathed.
Of course, there are acts of defiance and bravery, those who worked for the regime but retained their humanity towards others, such as the new Mayor, who was moderate and generally bent the rules as far as he was able. Still, even for this small, remote village, the new regime changed all aspects of their lives, from education through to religion. Locals deemed ‘undesirable,’ or who were Jewish, were in constant danger – many killed or forced into suicide, making this an often sobering read. For most, it was obvious fairly soon that the country was headed for defeat and disaster. This is an excellent social history, which makes the reality of those years personal and immediate and shows the discomfort that many had at that time. I received a cop of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
Boyd makes full use of memoirs, local newspapers, letters, and other research to tell the story of one, rural community, during a time of national change. She takes us from soldiers returning from the trenches of WWI, through the political turmoil of hyperinflation and the Weimar Republic, to the regime of the Third Reich, which promised so much but delivered devastation.
Oberstdorf was a village where food was scarce and people poor after WWI, until tourism became a growing source of income. Alpine beauty, a new cable car, and the growth of visitors brought new prosperity to the village. Many of the villagers viewed Hitler with distrust and Bolshevism with fear, but the villages new mayor, Ernst Zeitler, was unpopular as he expected the villagers to conform to Nazi ideology and policy. Many, such as Dr Otto Reh, Chairman of the local Fishing Society, resigned when it was proposed that Jewish members should be banned – even though there were none. Others resented the suggestion Jewish shops be boycotted, even though there weren’t any Jewish shop owners. However, despite these noble intentions, Boyd is good at showing how much of life is not black or white, but shades of grey. For most inhabitants, they feared war, disliked the fact that Nazi ideology changed their lives and often took the line of least resistance and hoped to come through unscathed.
Of course, there are acts of defiance and bravery, those who worked for the regime but retained their humanity towards others, such as the new Mayor, who was moderate and generally bent the rules as far as he was able. Still, even for this small, remote village, the new regime changed all aspects of their lives, from education through to religion. Locals deemed ‘undesirable,’ or who were Jewish, were in constant danger – many killed or forced into suicide, making this an often sobering read. For most, it was obvious fairly soon that the country was headed for defeat and disaster. This is an excellent social history, which makes the reality of those years personal and immediate and shows the discomfort that many had at that time. I received a cop of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
February 7, 2024
Village in the Third Reich is a thoroughly-researched and well-presented history of the village Oberstdorf in Bavaria from 1919 to the end of World War II and beyond.
I have read quite a few book on several aspects of World War II, but this has been the first time that I read about it from the point of view of "everyday" German people and how they lived through it all. Julia Boyd absolutely managed to capture all aspects of their lives shown though the context of the mundane and the historical.
She handled it all with sensitivity, but the required "aloofness" and this made all the stories especially poignant to read about.
Absolutely recommended.
ARC provided by the publisher Elliott & Thompson via Netgalley for an honest review.
I have read quite a few book on several aspects of World War II, but this has been the first time that I read about it from the point of view of "everyday" German people and how they lived through it all. Julia Boyd absolutely managed to capture all aspects of their lives shown though the context of the mundane and the historical.
She handled it all with sensitivity, but the required "aloofness" and this made all the stories especially poignant to read about.
Absolutely recommended.
ARC provided by the publisher Elliott & Thompson via Netgalley for an honest review.
December 27, 2022
An interesting alternative take on Nazi Germany, seen through the microcosm of a small alpine village, the southernmost in the country, on the border with Austria and near beautiful mountain ranges. The scene is set, starting just after the First World War, progressing through the rise to power of Hitler, the take over of all aspects of daily life by the Nazi state and the eventual build up and waging of war and its aftermath A few people were opposed to the Nazis but kept their heads down, aware of the grim fate of those who spoke out, about ten percent were members of the party and the rest weren't bothered about what the Nazis did to certain groups, such as the Jews, as long as they provided full employment and gave Germany back its self respect and prestige after the humiliation of the defeat in WWI and the treaty of Vienna. Some of those gradually experienced doubts once the Nazis dragged the country into a second world war.
The book is meticulously researched, helped by very good records kept in the village itself and some unpublished diaries including a couple of soldiers' diaries from the regiments in which villagers served. The chapters are organised thematically which is a help, as it would probably be too bitty with a chronological approach. As it is, there are a huge number of people mentioned and I referred to the index and the list of people at the back quite frequently to remind myself who was who. Some were mentioned only once and possibly some of those could be dropped.
The most harrowing chapter is a case study of a young man blind from birth who was one of the victims of the "euthanasia" programme which was designed to get rid of the disabled, seen by the Nazis as a burden and a blot on the perfect master race. I had read about this programme before, in the context of its being the forerunner of the Final Solution, whereby the Nazis practiced the methods they eventually used on the Jews, and other "racial undesirables" such as Gypsies. The book possibly does fall down in not making that connection especially as the chapter on how village Jews were affected doesn't convey the full horror - some were helped to commit suicide before deportation, some managed to leave the country, and some were hidden, or shielded by the mayor, a "good Nazi". As far as I recall, only a couple of people were actually deported to camps and they managed to survive and return to the village after the war. The Jews always formed a tiny minority in the village so that part of the book isn't really representative of a lot of other, often more urban, communities.
The book is very detailed and in some cases, such as the account of infighting among the local Nazis, becomes a bit too much so and drags a bit. I found the postwar section also does this and so many people are mentioned in the book that it would be nice to have a bit more depth on some and fewer sketchy mentions in passing, but I suppose the material just doesn't exist. Overall, I rate the book as 4 stars.
The book is meticulously researched, helped by very good records kept in the village itself and some unpublished diaries including a couple of soldiers' diaries from the regiments in which villagers served. The chapters are organised thematically which is a help, as it would probably be too bitty with a chronological approach. As it is, there are a huge number of people mentioned and I referred to the index and the list of people at the back quite frequently to remind myself who was who. Some were mentioned only once and possibly some of those could be dropped.
The most harrowing chapter is a case study of a young man blind from birth who was one of the victims of the "euthanasia" programme which was designed to get rid of the disabled, seen by the Nazis as a burden and a blot on the perfect master race. I had read about this programme before, in the context of its being the forerunner of the Final Solution, whereby the Nazis practiced the methods they eventually used on the Jews, and other "racial undesirables" such as Gypsies. The book possibly does fall down in not making that connection especially as the chapter on how village Jews were affected doesn't convey the full horror - some were helped to commit suicide before deportation, some managed to leave the country, and some were hidden, or shielded by the mayor, a "good Nazi". As far as I recall, only a couple of people were actually deported to camps and they managed to survive and return to the village after the war. The Jews always formed a tiny minority in the village so that part of the book isn't really representative of a lot of other, often more urban, communities.
The book is very detailed and in some cases, such as the account of infighting among the local Nazis, becomes a bit too much so and drags a bit. I found the postwar section also does this and so many people are mentioned in the book that it would be nice to have a bit more depth on some and fewer sketchy mentions in passing, but I suppose the material just doesn't exist. Overall, I rate the book as 4 stars.
January 31, 2023
First 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 of the year. Fascinating, compelling account of one tiny village's journey through the rise of fascism in Germany. By following the villagers of Oberstdorf throughout the decades, Julia Boyd hammers home a brutally effective way of detailing the horrors of Nazism and the humanity of those who suffered at its hands.
The insidious creep of totalitarianism, racism, and fanaticism is so well documented through every minute detail of life in Oberstdorf. Highly recommend!
The insidious creep of totalitarianism, racism, and fanaticism is so well documented through every minute detail of life in Oberstdorf. Highly recommend!
September 13, 2022
A Masterpiece.
A study of Nazi Germany from the end of WWI to the end of WWII told through the lives of people in one Bavarian village in the Alps.
This is brilliantly done. If you have an interest in history and looking for a captivating read that doesn’t shy away from discussing ordinary people’s potential culpability then read this book. There is something disarming about reading this book too as it makes one question one’s own culpability when we know terrible things are happening in the world around us.
It really brings history to life. I can’t recommend it enough.
A study of Nazi Germany from the end of WWI to the end of WWII told through the lives of people in one Bavarian village in the Alps.
This is brilliantly done. If you have an interest in history and looking for a captivating read that doesn’t shy away from discussing ordinary people’s potential culpability then read this book. There is something disarming about reading this book too as it makes one question one’s own culpability when we know terrible things are happening in the world around us.
It really brings history to life. I can’t recommend it enough.
December 15, 2023
An interesting study on the spread and influence of Nazism in the 1930s and through the Second World War. The authors chose the village of Oberstdorf in the far south of Bavaria because the local authorities had preserved so many records from the period. For the book it is a good choice to have a small community from which individual lives can be extracted and brought to life rather than a large town or city in which so many citizens are anonymous. The downside is that one wonders if German villages provided the lifeblood of the Party. If the Party's strength lay in Munich, Berlin, Nuremberg, Cologne, Hamburg and so on, the study becomes distorted and may give an impression that a significant number of the population were either anti-Nazi or ambivalent to its demands and messages.
At times there seems to be a search going on to find "good Nazis", the Party members who showed humanity to local people they knew including members of the Jewish community. However, although such people were undoubtedly there, and no doubt in every village, town and suburb, there is always the shadow of 'how much did they know?' How much did the Party draw them into its ideologies and policies of extermination and social control?
The portraits painted by the authors are vivid and moving and, apart from the most devoted of the Nazi members, one has great sympathy for their situation. Obey Party orders and at least give a show of obedience and you will be allowed to live relatively unmolested, have a job, and never see the inside of Dachau. Would I have reacted any differently to the majority had I been there? I am certainly no hero so I don't have an answer, and not being able to respond how can I criticize others? There are so many people in the world who now are facing a similar situation with the rise in populist and fundamentalist governments. Perhaps the time will come even in the UK when I will be tested.
At times there seems to be a search going on to find "good Nazis", the Party members who showed humanity to local people they knew including members of the Jewish community. However, although such people were undoubtedly there, and no doubt in every village, town and suburb, there is always the shadow of 'how much did they know?' How much did the Party draw them into its ideologies and policies of extermination and social control?
The portraits painted by the authors are vivid and moving and, apart from the most devoted of the Nazi members, one has great sympathy for their situation. Obey Party orders and at least give a show of obedience and you will be allowed to live relatively unmolested, have a job, and never see the inside of Dachau. Would I have reacted any differently to the majority had I been there? I am certainly no hero so I don't have an answer, and not being able to respond how can I criticize others? There are so many people in the world who now are facing a similar situation with the rise in populist and fundamentalist governments. Perhaps the time will come even in the UK when I will be tested.
February 26, 2022
A Village in the Third Reich – What Happened in a Beautiful Village
Julia Boyd has once again written an enticing history of Germany, coming at it from a different perspective than usual histories. Boyd the author of the author of Travellers in the Third Reich which was a best-selling history will once again make the charts with this book. This time looking at the Third Reich through the picturesque village of Oberstdorf in the mountains of Bavaria.
Today Oberstdorf is a destination village for those who love alpine and winter sports in winter and mountain climbing in summer. It is the southernmost village in Germany and one of its highest towns, with the next stop being Austria. Before tourism arrived in the nineteenth century the village subsisted on farming.
Boyd using unpublish diaries is able to follow the lives of the villagers and their day to day encounters with the rise of the Nazis, through to the end of the war when the village was occupied first by the French and then the Americans. What emerges is a picture is how some supported the Nazis other adapted to survive and how some knew it was best not to say what they thought out aloud.
It was during the 1920s that Oberstdorf started to develop a substantial tourist trade as a holiday resort. Oberstdorf was in the main an observant Catholic village with a small Protestant church. In politics the village supported the centre-right Catholic Bavarian People’s Party. Oberstdorf was doing quite well in the 1930s and many of its were wealthy and they also had distinguished Jewish visitors.
Nazi history began in the village in 1927 when a postman, Karl Weinlein transferred into the village from Nuremberg. Weinlein had a better NSDAP party membership number than Goebbels. A low party number conferred on Weinlein hallowed status within the Party. The villages were reluctant to join, but the Wall Street crash did offer fertile ground even in Oberstdorf.
In the election of 1930 on a village turnout of 70% the NSDAP won more votes than any other of the Parties which had stood. It was found that Protestants were more likely to vote for the Nazis, but all the same they received a substantial vote from the Catholics. It also showed that in 1933 the taking over of the machinery of Government at every level. It also showed how petty the Nazis could be amongst themselves, especially when the first two Nazi mayors were “moved” rather quickly. It also shows how there could be compassionate Nazi mayors such as Mayor Fink who lasted throughout the war years until the surrender and occupation.
We learn that many of the younger members of the Village when war came were members of the 98th or 99th Mountain Battalions part of the 1st Mountain Division, which was an elite division. It also committed war crimes in the later war in Greece. But also other members of the village were part of the suppression of partisans and Jews in Ukraine. One also supervised the killing of 700 Jews in Ukraine.
Dachau was to the north of the Oberstdorf, but the villages were already aware of some of the Nazi round-ups of its citizens, especially the Jews. By 1941 most were well aware of the roundups that had been undertaken in the East in their name. This leaked out via the Feldpost, or when soldiers were on leave at home.
When it came to the end of the war the propaganda machine which they had lived under for the previous 12 years, they were fearful for their lives. Stories about what the Russians were doing were widespread and all they could do was hope that it would not be the Russians who came. In the end the village surrendered to the French in May 1945, before the Americans took over in the July.
At the end of the war a list of the Nazis in the village was completed from various sorts. From an incomplete list it was found that there were 455 names on the list, roughly 10% of the village, which also happened to mirror the Nazis membership across Germany.
Today the only visible scars of the war and the Nazi years can be found in the memorial chapel, where the names of the 286 Oberstdorfers killed in the Second World War are carved in stone. Some families never forgave their neighbours for what happened, while others tried to forget. But what cannot be seen is the invisible scars of the Third Reich which will always remain part of the village’s history.
This is a wonderful micro-history of the Third Reich using the village as an exemplar of the ordinary German in those fateful years. It brings to life some of the difficulties for some and how easy it was for others to do nothing. Everybody made their decision which is clear and had to live with it.
As a book that brings to bear what was happening in Germany at the time it brings a fresh and new perspective. Germany during the Third Reich needs to be focused on the people not just the military and political leaders. This book does that, very well.
Julia Boyd has once again written an enticing history of Germany, coming at it from a different perspective than usual histories. Boyd the author of the author of Travellers in the Third Reich which was a best-selling history will once again make the charts with this book. This time looking at the Third Reich through the picturesque village of Oberstdorf in the mountains of Bavaria.
Today Oberstdorf is a destination village for those who love alpine and winter sports in winter and mountain climbing in summer. It is the southernmost village in Germany and one of its highest towns, with the next stop being Austria. Before tourism arrived in the nineteenth century the village subsisted on farming.
Boyd using unpublish diaries is able to follow the lives of the villagers and their day to day encounters with the rise of the Nazis, through to the end of the war when the village was occupied first by the French and then the Americans. What emerges is a picture is how some supported the Nazis other adapted to survive and how some knew it was best not to say what they thought out aloud.
It was during the 1920s that Oberstdorf started to develop a substantial tourist trade as a holiday resort. Oberstdorf was in the main an observant Catholic village with a small Protestant church. In politics the village supported the centre-right Catholic Bavarian People’s Party. Oberstdorf was doing quite well in the 1930s and many of its were wealthy and they also had distinguished Jewish visitors.
Nazi history began in the village in 1927 when a postman, Karl Weinlein transferred into the village from Nuremberg. Weinlein had a better NSDAP party membership number than Goebbels. A low party number conferred on Weinlein hallowed status within the Party. The villages were reluctant to join, but the Wall Street crash did offer fertile ground even in Oberstdorf.
In the election of 1930 on a village turnout of 70% the NSDAP won more votes than any other of the Parties which had stood. It was found that Protestants were more likely to vote for the Nazis, but all the same they received a substantial vote from the Catholics. It also showed that in 1933 the taking over of the machinery of Government at every level. It also showed how petty the Nazis could be amongst themselves, especially when the first two Nazi mayors were “moved” rather quickly. It also shows how there could be compassionate Nazi mayors such as Mayor Fink who lasted throughout the war years until the surrender and occupation.
We learn that many of the younger members of the Village when war came were members of the 98th or 99th Mountain Battalions part of the 1st Mountain Division, which was an elite division. It also committed war crimes in the later war in Greece. But also other members of the village were part of the suppression of partisans and Jews in Ukraine. One also supervised the killing of 700 Jews in Ukraine.
Dachau was to the north of the Oberstdorf, but the villages were already aware of some of the Nazi round-ups of its citizens, especially the Jews. By 1941 most were well aware of the roundups that had been undertaken in the East in their name. This leaked out via the Feldpost, or when soldiers were on leave at home.
When it came to the end of the war the propaganda machine which they had lived under for the previous 12 years, they were fearful for their lives. Stories about what the Russians were doing were widespread and all they could do was hope that it would not be the Russians who came. In the end the village surrendered to the French in May 1945, before the Americans took over in the July.
At the end of the war a list of the Nazis in the village was completed from various sorts. From an incomplete list it was found that there were 455 names on the list, roughly 10% of the village, which also happened to mirror the Nazis membership across Germany.
Today the only visible scars of the war and the Nazi years can be found in the memorial chapel, where the names of the 286 Oberstdorfers killed in the Second World War are carved in stone. Some families never forgave their neighbours for what happened, while others tried to forget. But what cannot be seen is the invisible scars of the Third Reich which will always remain part of the village’s history.
This is a wonderful micro-history of the Third Reich using the village as an exemplar of the ordinary German in those fateful years. It brings to life some of the difficulties for some and how easy it was for others to do nothing. Everybody made their decision which is clear and had to live with it.
As a book that brings to bear what was happening in Germany at the time it brings a fresh and new perspective. Germany during the Third Reich needs to be focused on the people not just the military and political leaders. This book does that, very well.
May 23, 2023
A historical work is most easily followed when tightly centered around a main figure or a few main figures and one can see how they have done over time. Here, the author follows a whole village. It is impossible to keep all the villagers clear in one’s head, and the book just goes on and on and on. The chapters are well organized but the pacing feels incredibly slow. Also this book very much minimized what happened to the Jews, just by picking a town that didn’t have a lot of Jews in the first place.
Unfortunately, this book reads like a 400 page Wikipedia article. It is clearly well-researched and informative, but there’s no story, no coherence. Would not recommend.
I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book pre-publication through the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Unfortunately, this book reads like a 400 page Wikipedia article. It is clearly well-researched and informative, but there’s no story, no coherence. Would not recommend.
I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book pre-publication through the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
August 5, 2022
Review to follow
October 20, 2023
An absolute masterpiece of a book.
I recently read Julia Boyd's Travellers in the Third Reich which gave outsider impressions of pre war Germany which was good but this one was in another league.
Focusing on the tiny village of Obersdorf in Bavaria near the Austrian border the reader gets to know many of its citizens and their family's as the Nazi Party gains influence in the Weimar Republic and then takes over having been voted into power. In the village there are die hard early supporters of the Nazis, a small Jewish community living in fear and many folk who are persuaded by Hitler's early successes to go along with the Nazi project.
Many of the children are shown to have been indoctrinated into total belief and a lots of Obersdorf residents are killed during WW2 fighting with the Mountain Division or in the death camps.
The book finishes with the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945 and Allied occupation along with the De-Nazification tribunals that very imperfectly attempted to punish the guilty.
Highly recommended.
I recently read Julia Boyd's Travellers in the Third Reich which gave outsider impressions of pre war Germany which was good but this one was in another league.
Focusing on the tiny village of Obersdorf in Bavaria near the Austrian border the reader gets to know many of its citizens and their family's as the Nazi Party gains influence in the Weimar Republic and then takes over having been voted into power. In the village there are die hard early supporters of the Nazis, a small Jewish community living in fear and many folk who are persuaded by Hitler's early successes to go along with the Nazi project.
Many of the children are shown to have been indoctrinated into total belief and a lots of Obersdorf residents are killed during WW2 fighting with the Mountain Division or in the death camps.
The book finishes with the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945 and Allied occupation along with the De-Nazification tribunals that very imperfectly attempted to punish the guilty.
Highly recommended.
August 22, 2024
This is a really interesting study of life in the village of Oberstdorf in southern Germany between the years 1915 - 1945 and focuses on the upheavals of seismic events on the locals, from The Great War to Germany's catastrophic defeat in 1945. These events include the impacts of Hyperinflation, the Depression and Nazification/deNazification.
Though the retelling of the bigger picture seems rather simplistic to this retired teacher of modern History, it's the smaller stories which are the most fascinating, from the unusually sympathetic Nazi mayor and his regional superior to the resistance group set up in early 1945 to protect the village from possible vengeful allied retaliation. These tales of the best and worst of humanity - and the vast majority residing somewhere in between - are what really make the book work.
A fascinating read!
Though the retelling of the bigger picture seems rather simplistic to this retired teacher of modern History, it's the smaller stories which are the most fascinating, from the unusually sympathetic Nazi mayor and his regional superior to the resistance group set up in early 1945 to protect the village from possible vengeful allied retaliation. These tales of the best and worst of humanity - and the vast majority residing somewhere in between - are what really make the book work.
A fascinating read!
dnf
November 13, 2024DNF @ 14% (page 62)
I really wanted to enjoy this, but it was very slow and heavy. Perhaps just not something suitable for my current reading mood.
I really wanted to enjoy this, but it was very slow and heavy. Perhaps just not something suitable for my current reading mood.
March 30, 2023
An interesting examination of Nazism through a detailed examination of one Bavarian village - Obersdorf.
April 22, 2023
4/5 I'd say it is definitely worth reading if interested in Nazi Germany.
About the village of Oberstdorf in southern Bavaria (which the author chose due to there being a lot of sources available). Plenty of context with a decent amount on the Weimar period and the lead up to the Nazis taking over. A mix of chronological chapters following the progress of WWII and how that affected the village as well as more specific chapters using the story of the village's inhabitants to show the bigger things happening in Nazi Germany. For example a story of a blind man who was murdered in Aktion T4 to show how that process worked across Germany (one of the darker chapters but probably the best one for the information given) or attacks by local Nazi officials on the various Catholic organisations in the area like the nuns. The military chapters tend to follow the stories of the men who went off to fight mainly with the 98th and 99th regiments of the 1st Mountain Division in France, the Soviet Union and the Balkans as well as the atrocities they saw and sometimes were involved in.
Flaws - Personally I found the 1933-1939 bits to be a bit boring as there is a chapter specifically about the infighting and power struggles between the Nazi 'old guard' and the new members who signed up after the Nazis started to do well, but it is just a village and the stakes are rather low it wasn't that interesting personally. Additionally but no fault of the authors the village chosen had a relatively moderate mayor, who despite being a Nazi was willing to cover up for Jews and wouldn't report private criticism of Hitler, wasn't really bombed during the war, and was occupied by the French and later Americans (rather than the Soviets) without a fight (due to a local coup imprisoning all the local important Nazis then surrending to the approaching French). Basically what I'm trying to get at is while the book is good at depicting what life under Nazi rule was like the area had it relatively ok compared to a lot of other areas across Germany during Nazi rule and at the end of the war and the experience of this village might not be representative of most places in this period.
About the village of Oberstdorf in southern Bavaria (which the author chose due to there being a lot of sources available). Plenty of context with a decent amount on the Weimar period and the lead up to the Nazis taking over. A mix of chronological chapters following the progress of WWII and how that affected the village as well as more specific chapters using the story of the village's inhabitants to show the bigger things happening in Nazi Germany. For example a story of a blind man who was murdered in Aktion T4 to show how that process worked across Germany (one of the darker chapters but probably the best one for the information given) or attacks by local Nazi officials on the various Catholic organisations in the area like the nuns. The military chapters tend to follow the stories of the men who went off to fight mainly with the 98th and 99th regiments of the 1st Mountain Division in France, the Soviet Union and the Balkans as well as the atrocities they saw and sometimes were involved in.
Flaws - Personally I found the 1933-1939 bits to be a bit boring as there is a chapter specifically about the infighting and power struggles between the Nazi 'old guard' and the new members who signed up after the Nazis started to do well, but it is just a village and the stakes are rather low it wasn't that interesting personally. Additionally but no fault of the authors the village chosen had a relatively moderate mayor, who despite being a Nazi was willing to cover up for Jews and wouldn't report private criticism of Hitler, wasn't really bombed during the war, and was occupied by the French and later Americans (rather than the Soviets) without a fight (due to a local coup imprisoning all the local important Nazis then surrending to the approaching French). Basically what I'm trying to get at is while the book is good at depicting what life under Nazi rule was like the area had it relatively ok compared to a lot of other areas across Germany during Nazi rule and at the end of the war and the experience of this village might not be representative of most places in this period.
March 24, 2023
An insightful and important account of one of the largest and most infamous tragedies of modern history, told through the stories of real people and shining a light on what life was like for the average person living in Germany during the Second World War. This book raises important questions surrounding morality, complicity and survival in the face of omnipresent danger and gives a voice to the lesser acknowledged victims of the Nazi regime. It also begs the question: Would people today conform to Nazi ideals under such circumstances as the subjects of this book were exposed to? For some I feel the answer is a resounding yes. Such as Ben ‘Barbarossa’ Phillips, James ‘the big Jud’ Kidd and of course Olli ‘Adolf’ Attwood. Fascists the lot of em.
May 25, 2023
It’s not been deliberate but I seem to be constantly reading both fiction and non-fiction about the Second World War and the Holocaust. After so many books have been, and are being, written about this period, it’s amazing that there are still so many new stories to tell.
This is an excellent book with an amazing amount of primary sources and historical detail. What it does really well is go some way towards explaining why so many ordinary German citizens either actively supported the Nazis or tried to ignore what was happening and get on with their lives.
This is an excellent book with an amazing amount of primary sources and historical detail. What it does really well is go some way towards explaining why so many ordinary German citizens either actively supported the Nazis or tried to ignore what was happening and get on with their lives.
October 12, 2023
I expected something else entirely, more like a romanticized retelling of Oberstdorf's history and place in the Third Reich. But it was still an interesting read, although sometimes slightly repetitive.
February 16, 2023
Immaculately researched and full of incredible stories I've bookmarked to use in my classroom. Worth the time it took me to read it.
May 19, 2023
How the rise of fascism and World War II affected the citizens of the remote German mountain village of Oberstdorf.
January 18, 2025
Granular study of a Oberstdorf, a beautiful post-card of an Alpine town in southern Germany (population 4,000). The book chronicles the Nazification of the town, via the lives of several town members and familiers. The town itself is hardly a typical German one. On top that, it was largely Catholic, so there was in-built distrust of the Nazis. That said, with the Nazi rise to power, which was also enabled by a majority vote in Oberstdorf. The support for the Nazis was, even then, shallow, but reflective of the unease throughout Germany due to the Stock Market crash, and the devastating effects of hyper-inflation. Once Hitler was in power, he was granted sweeping powers in the 1933 Enabling Act. But, as Julia Boyd points out, it was the 1933 Equalization Act that reached down in to daily lives of Germans, transforming everything that was familiar. Nazification at the grass-roots level, which required every domestic organization, however small, to re-organize as Nazi groups. If one wonders at the speed of Nazification, this particular act is Exhibit A. The fact that the town is not a typical German town probably allowed the author to view town's history through a clearer lens. Whatever the case, it works. I enjoyed Boyd's previous book, Travelers in the Third Reich, but this effort is, to my mind, a superior accomplishment with something more important to teach.
May 18, 2025
this may very well be one of the best books i have ever read, fiction or nonfiction.
it's so difficult to describe what this book does and the many emotions involved in reading it. as spoken to by the author in the book's end notes, the book aims not to mollify the perception of the very real and unspeakably awful horrors committed under the third reich, but paints an emotional, harrowing picture of what this period in time was like from a human perspective; how everyday people navigated moral shades of grey to survive in such a horrific time.
reading this book now made it especially poignant, particularly in the early chapters describing the conditions of and techniques used within the rise of the nazi party and the capitulation of the german people to fascism and a willingness to point the blame for their country's problems at their most vulnerable. there is truly so much in the rise of the party and their rhetoric that mirrors the modern us republican party, and current us systems and policies. it's nauseating to read and illustrates the need for resistance, reminding us that we know all too well what the consequences can be.
there is so much i can say about this book, but tldr it was absolutely harrowing and incredible. this should be required reading.
it's so difficult to describe what this book does and the many emotions involved in reading it. as spoken to by the author in the book's end notes, the book aims not to mollify the perception of the very real and unspeakably awful horrors committed under the third reich, but paints an emotional, harrowing picture of what this period in time was like from a human perspective; how everyday people navigated moral shades of grey to survive in such a horrific time.
reading this book now made it especially poignant, particularly in the early chapters describing the conditions of and techniques used within the rise of the nazi party and the capitulation of the german people to fascism and a willingness to point the blame for their country's problems at their most vulnerable. there is truly so much in the rise of the party and their rhetoric that mirrors the modern us republican party, and current us systems and policies. it's nauseating to read and illustrates the need for resistance, reminding us that we know all too well what the consequences can be.
there is so much i can say about this book, but tldr it was absolutely harrowing and incredible. this should be required reading.
September 7, 2024
Još jedna knjiga o 2. Svjetskom ratu koju sam pročitao, ali sigurno nije zadnja, čak što više nadam se da ću ih sve više čitati.
Zanimljivo je vidjeti kako su obični ljudi živili u razdoblju strahovlade Hitlera. Većinom se u knjigam o 2. Svjetsko ratu priča o političarima i vojskama a rijetko kad o običnim ljudima. Iako volio bi da je bilo više priča o pojedincima i njihovim sudbinama.
Zanimljivo je vidjeti kako su obični ljudi živili u razdoblju strahovlade Hitlera. Većinom se u knjigam o 2. Svjetsko ratu priča o političarima i vojskama a rijetko kad o običnim ljudima. Iako volio bi da je bilo više priča o pojedincima i njihovim sudbinama.
April 3, 2024
Julia Boyd's "A Village in the Third Reich" offers a unique and compelling perspective on life in Nazi Germany by focusing on the experiences of ordinary people living in a small village. Rather than delving into the grand narratives of politics and warfare, Boyd intricately humanizes the individuals who grappled with the realities of daily life under the Nazi regime.
One of the most striking aspects of the book is its portrayal of the villagers as multifaceted individuals striving to navigate the complex web of power that controlled their lives. Boyd eschews melodrama and instead presents a nuanced depiction of how these ordinary people coped with the challenges imposed upon them by the totalitarian regime. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, she captures the resilience, fears, and moral dilemmas faced by the villagers as they sought to preserve their dignity and autonomy in the face of oppressive forces.
What sets "A Village in the Third Reich" apart is its emphasis on the humanity of its subjects. Boyd skillfully brings to life the diverse array of personalities within the village, from the staunch supporters of the Nazi party to those who quietly resisted its ideology. By highlighting the complexities of individual agency and moral decision-making, the book challenges simplistic narratives of collective guilt and complicity, offering a more nuanced understanding of how ordinary Germans responded to the pressures of the Nazi regime.
While some may find the absence of sensationalism or overt drama in Boyd's narrative surprising, I believe that this restraint is precisely what makes the book so powerful. By eschewing stereotypes and clichés, Boyd allows the voices of the villagers to shine through with authenticity and integrity. In doing so, she reminds us that history is not just a series of grand events orchestrated by powerful leaders, but also the collective experiences of ordinary people trying to make sense of their world.
Overall, "A Village in the Third Reich" is a thought-provoking and empathetic exploration of life under Nazism. By humanizing the ordinary people of Germany, Julia Boyd offers readers a deeper understanding of the complexities of history and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. It is a book that challenges us to confront the past with compassion and nuance, and one that will resonate with readers long after they have turned the final page.
One of the most striking aspects of the book is its portrayal of the villagers as multifaceted individuals striving to navigate the complex web of power that controlled their lives. Boyd eschews melodrama and instead presents a nuanced depiction of how these ordinary people coped with the challenges imposed upon them by the totalitarian regime. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, she captures the resilience, fears, and moral dilemmas faced by the villagers as they sought to preserve their dignity and autonomy in the face of oppressive forces.
What sets "A Village in the Third Reich" apart is its emphasis on the humanity of its subjects. Boyd skillfully brings to life the diverse array of personalities within the village, from the staunch supporters of the Nazi party to those who quietly resisted its ideology. By highlighting the complexities of individual agency and moral decision-making, the book challenges simplistic narratives of collective guilt and complicity, offering a more nuanced understanding of how ordinary Germans responded to the pressures of the Nazi regime.
While some may find the absence of sensationalism or overt drama in Boyd's narrative surprising, I believe that this restraint is precisely what makes the book so powerful. By eschewing stereotypes and clichés, Boyd allows the voices of the villagers to shine through with authenticity and integrity. In doing so, she reminds us that history is not just a series of grand events orchestrated by powerful leaders, but also the collective experiences of ordinary people trying to make sense of their world.
Overall, "A Village in the Third Reich" is a thought-provoking and empathetic exploration of life under Nazism. By humanizing the ordinary people of Germany, Julia Boyd offers readers a deeper understanding of the complexities of history and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. It is a book that challenges us to confront the past with compassion and nuance, and one that will resonate with readers long after they have turned the final page.
February 18, 2023
In A Village in the Third Reich Julia Boyd creates a fascinating account of the impact of the Third Reich on Obertsdorf, a small German village in the Bavarian Alps. The book, on which she has collaborated with local historian Angelika Patel, is based on meticulous local archives, diaries, newspaper stories and letters and other contemporary sources. The account it gives is all the more powerful for being told though the voices and experiences of ordinary people.
While due to geography Oberstdorf is not often at the centre of events, the village and its inhabitants are exposed to many of the major threads of Nazi history. This includes the rise of the party and Hitler’s ascent to power, the triumphs of the early years of the War, the killing fields of the Eastern Front, the persecution of the Jews and of disabled people and the hunger of the post War period and the process of de-Nazification.
A story told through the lives of ordinary people is always more complicated than a more simplistic historical narrative. With some exceptions few of the inhabitants of Obertsdorf are wholly good or bad. We are shown Ernst Fink, the village’s Nazi Mayor but at the same time responsible for many acts to protect local Jews and other inhabitants who fall the wrong side of the regime. We see Eduard Bessler, the headmaster of Obertsdorf’s Secondary School, forced to follow the regime’s insistence on upholding Nazi doctrine in schools while doing his best to preserve as humanitarian an education for his pupils as possible. We hear of Karl Richter a soldier who leads a local coup to protect Obertsdorf the village at the end of the war from Allied attack but who then becomes deeply unpopular in the village.
Like others I have often wondered about where to find the bridge between the atrocious events perpetrated by the Nazi regime and the ordinary people who lived in Germany at the time and who, to greater or lesser extents became complicit in what was going on. The book is very good at describing the spectrum of fears, beliefs, hopes and indifference which allowed the Nazis to stay in power.
The book covers some terrible events but the one which probably affected me the most was the story of a young blind boy from the village, Theodor Weissenberg who was one of the 70,000 disabled people killed by the regime between 1940 and 41. Having a blind brother the story struck me straight to the heart.
The most important thing about the terrible events of the Third Reich is that we should not forget them. A Village in the Third Reich shows how that story can be told in new and illuminating ways which remind us as the Angelika Patel says in her dedication that peace, freedom and justice cannot be taken for granted.
While due to geography Oberstdorf is not often at the centre of events, the village and its inhabitants are exposed to many of the major threads of Nazi history. This includes the rise of the party and Hitler’s ascent to power, the triumphs of the early years of the War, the killing fields of the Eastern Front, the persecution of the Jews and of disabled people and the hunger of the post War period and the process of de-Nazification.
A story told through the lives of ordinary people is always more complicated than a more simplistic historical narrative. With some exceptions few of the inhabitants of Obertsdorf are wholly good or bad. We are shown Ernst Fink, the village’s Nazi Mayor but at the same time responsible for many acts to protect local Jews and other inhabitants who fall the wrong side of the regime. We see Eduard Bessler, the headmaster of Obertsdorf’s Secondary School, forced to follow the regime’s insistence on upholding Nazi doctrine in schools while doing his best to preserve as humanitarian an education for his pupils as possible. We hear of Karl Richter a soldier who leads a local coup to protect Obertsdorf the village at the end of the war from Allied attack but who then becomes deeply unpopular in the village.
Like others I have often wondered about where to find the bridge between the atrocious events perpetrated by the Nazi regime and the ordinary people who lived in Germany at the time and who, to greater or lesser extents became complicit in what was going on. The book is very good at describing the spectrum of fears, beliefs, hopes and indifference which allowed the Nazis to stay in power.
The book covers some terrible events but the one which probably affected me the most was the story of a young blind boy from the village, Theodor Weissenberg who was one of the 70,000 disabled people killed by the regime between 1940 and 41. Having a blind brother the story struck me straight to the heart.
The most important thing about the terrible events of the Third Reich is that we should not forget them. A Village in the Third Reich shows how that story can be told in new and illuminating ways which remind us as the Angelika Patel says in her dedication that peace, freedom and justice cannot be taken for granted.
June 9, 2022
A Village In The Third Reich is a fascinating and often very sad portait of forty years in the life of the Bavarian village Oberstdorf from 1915 to 1955. Nestled in the Alps, Oberstdorf was a burgeoning tourist town, relatively cosmopolitan and affluent enough, and yet like all of German slowly got swamped by the rise of National Socialism. Boyd and Patel have done a very deep dive on what seems to be a hugely comprehensive archive to tell the story of how the village adapted and changed, but also to follow the villagers as they themselves escaped, got sent to camps or went to war. There are a lot of tragic stories here, though there are reconstructions of the willing Nazi's there are also big questions about Good Germans and perhaps the unthinkable, Good Nazis.
Their canvas is large, even a village has thousands of residents, and sometimes the sheer weight of names and stories can overwhelm. Important figures however, such as the Mayor and local Nazi party administrators reoccur, and they do their best to give everyone with a story justice. There is even a tale at the end about the resistance whose names are still being protected seventy five years on. Nevertheless it does get a little relentless in places, and the nature of the archive is such that it favours dates, arrests and official actions and the authors are loathe to fill in additional speculative colour if they can help it. There are a few eyewitness accounts which fill those memories in but there is a tendancy for it to be a little dry in places.
Its an obvious companion to Milton Sanford Meyer's 'They Thought They Were Free', looking at the lives of ten Nazi party members in another German small village. This is a piece of history while that was part political investigation and part discussion of a (now past) future. They are different villages, but there are many similarities with actions, and A Village In The Third Reich does get tangled in the knotty issues of who were true believers without some of the introspection, deception or perhaps self delusion of Mayer's interviews. The overall tone here is of deep sadness rather than anger that comes with its place as history drifting out of living memory.
Their canvas is large, even a village has thousands of residents, and sometimes the sheer weight of names and stories can overwhelm. Important figures however, such as the Mayor and local Nazi party administrators reoccur, and they do their best to give everyone with a story justice. There is even a tale at the end about the resistance whose names are still being protected seventy five years on. Nevertheless it does get a little relentless in places, and the nature of the archive is such that it favours dates, arrests and official actions and the authors are loathe to fill in additional speculative colour if they can help it. There are a few eyewitness accounts which fill those memories in but there is a tendancy for it to be a little dry in places.
Its an obvious companion to Milton Sanford Meyer's 'They Thought They Were Free', looking at the lives of ten Nazi party members in another German small village. This is a piece of history while that was part political investigation and part discussion of a (now past) future. They are different villages, but there are many similarities with actions, and A Village In The Third Reich does get tangled in the knotty issues of who were true believers without some of the introspection, deception or perhaps self delusion of Mayer's interviews. The overall tone here is of deep sadness rather than anger that comes with its place as history drifting out of living memory.
August 7, 2022
I really enjoyed (although, enjoy is not quite the right word - appreciated?) this book. We've been 'fed' many overarching stories over the years, and it was really interesting to see what Nazism was like from the perspective of a small village.
Are there are a lot of characters, yes of course. I found it fascinating even if I didn't quite remember all the time who was who.
At times I had to put the book down as it packed such a punch with individual reflections and observations.
Well researched, and written too, the author references major war events happening at the time and references the affect back to the village.
Follows the outcomes for individuals, fair, foul or just plain tragic.
Are there are a lot of characters, yes of course. I found it fascinating even if I didn't quite remember all the time who was who.
At times I had to put the book down as it packed such a punch with individual reflections and observations.
Well researched, and written too, the author references major war events happening at the time and references the affect back to the village.
Follows the outcomes for individuals, fair, foul or just plain tragic.
May 8, 2023
This excellent book was not an easy read; not surprising considering the subject. The author told the history of Oberstdorf, a village in the Bavarian Alps, the community as well as the young men as they fought across Europe and the Eastern Front, from the end of World War I to 5 May, 1955, when the Federal Republic of Germany was granted the full authority of a sovereign state. She stated as a part of her purpose the desire to create "a narrative that allowed readers to live and breathe Oberstdorf's history; to sense what it had actually been like to be alive in this particular village at this particular time." I'd say she did an amazing job of fulfilling that purpose.
September 19, 2022
Brilliantly composed grassroots history of the Third Reich. If you have read the standard accounts (e.g. Evans, Kershaw), this is a nice alternative view. A bit like The Lost Cafe Schindler, Boyd uses local biographies to build a picture of a complex situation, where some embraced the Nazis, some didn't, but few people would or could say anything under Hitler's police state. The focus on Oberstdorf also shows the chaos that was the norm of the Nazi State and how much the implementation of the 'Jewish question' was dependent on individuals in power. As an academic, I would have loved to see the sources for the information, but that's a problem of the audiobook format, not the author's fault.
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