Customer Reviews

Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939 (Norton Paperback)

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This book delves into the effect of the National Socialist movement and Third Reich on German society and economy, thereby shining a light on aspects widely overlooked and reminding us that the Nazis were about much more than "Herrenvolk" and the Holocaust. Schoenbaum's exhaustively documented work (from primary sources) supports the conclusion that the Nazi regime was more socialist in both character and deed than most realize.

Communism nationalized industry; Nazism nationalized the people. The concept of "Volksgemeinschaft" (national community) became the supreme organizing principle of German society and economy, and a mass of controls materialized to ensure that no individual's interest be allowed to interfere with the general welfare of the whole collective (as determined by those in charge). The nationalism espoused by the Nazis was their perceived antidote to the Marxist theory of class struggle, which they sought to transcend by uniting all interests in a fraternal bond embodied within the state. Schoenbaum's incredibly important and unmatched work describes nearly every significant aspect of the move toward social egalitarianism, duty, and endless economic interventions that reduced business owners to mere shop managers as industry under Hitler's regime was forced into a position of prostration "not even demanded of it by a revolutionary SPD."

This book is very accessible but lends itself to serious study, not casual reading. It is quite simply an indispensable component for anyone who wishes to make sense of the less sensational parts of this episode in history and to ascertain just how much of the Nazis' walk in fact matched their talk. I suspect that for many readers, more of their initial assumptions will be challenged than will be confirmed.

Hitler led the National Socialist German Workers' Party, yet allied himself with the Fascists. How could this be? What could he have offered to all the diverse people he attracted, workers, big business, middle class? Schoenbaum, analyzing carefully, discovers there was one thing Hitler did offer everyone -- blame. Decades later we all laughed at the U.S. television character Archie Bunker saying "The trouble with America is THEM."

Schoenbaum's book is extensively researched. Almost every page has a list of social statistics from the Nazi period. But at the end of each chapter, I was so overwhelmed with details that I had no idea what the author had proven. Eventually I just gave up. Readers who are already very knowledgeable about Nazi Germany might gain something from this book, but people looking for introductory works should avoid it.

Yes, Schoenbaum's book is heavily footnoted with a myriad of sources, but his subtly biased German-bashing drum beats in the background throughout the work. Objectivity is difficult to maintain with the memory of the holocaust being kept alive by the Zionist influenced media and film industry. Yet, scholarship demands it and this book disappoints.