Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity, Opposition, and Racism in Everyday Life [Paperback]

Detlev J.K. Peukert (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this quirky survey of daily life in the Third Reich, Peukert, who teaches at the University of Essen, attempts to help readers "understand better a generation which it would be unjust (and unhelpful for learning lessons for the future) to condemn . . . ." The raw material he presentssuch as circulation statistics in libraries following the public book-burnings and a judge's official view of "negative human material" and what should be done about "it"is more useful to historians than to general readers. Although he discusses the origins of the Nazis' deadly enmity toward homosexuals and "the facists' stereotyped fantasies of violence," quoted citations make the deeper impression: Himmler's decree banishing "young swing fans" to a concentration camp, for example, or diary records of dreams by German citizens intent on avoiding conscious confrontation with the sinister effects of National Socialist policies. Illustrations.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 10, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300044801
• ISBN-13: 978-0300044805
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #565,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How did German social groups react to the Reich?, February 23, 2002

By 

Severin Olson (Hyattsville, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity, Opposition, and Racism in Everyday Life (Paperback)

The main emphasis of this book is on German social groups and classes and their behavior in Nazi Germany. Peukert looks at the working and middle classes, as well as the youth, and shows how each choose to conform or resist to authority. The youth, we are told, resisted actively by banding together in small groups to resist the Hitler Jugend and passively by listening to forbidden music. Working class organizations resisted in small ways but were generally unable to offer any real challenge to the Nazis.

The book's second half looks at Nazi terror and racialism. Peukert explains how much of Nazi ideology was in fact borrowed from 19th Century sources. He also argues that the Third Reich broke up traditional social networks, thereby 'atomizing' every German.

My one major fault with this book is that pivotal events such as the seizure of power in 33, the Rohm purge and the Kristalnacht are referred to only in passing. I know the author did not intend to write a general history by any means, but such fascinating events should not be thought unimportant by any researcher of Nazi Germany

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthy Study of Complex Period, May 16, 2001

By 

seamus enright - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity, Opposition, and Racism in Everyday Life (Paperback)

While this book isn't as revealing as it's title would suggest, it's a worthy contribution to the vast amount of literature on the subject. It makes good use of primary sources to illuminate the era, though the author often quotes these at excessive length. Some of the revelations surprised me, like the amount of juvenile resistance to Hitler that took the form of listening to "decadent" forms of music like Jazz. It's admirable in it's lack of willingness to point the finger at anyone for the existence of Nazism and level-headed in it's conclusions about the amount of continuity between the "Third Reich" and it's predecessors and successors in Germany. Sometimes the sobreity of it's tone can be grating, but there's enough fascinating details to keep you reading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for WW2 History Lovers, October 29, 2010

By 

Allen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity, Opposition, and Racism in Everyday Life (Paperback)

If you enjoy learning about WW2 this is a must read . Do not pass this one up. It is beyond being informative , it is fabulous reading for a researcher. The Third Reich like all Control Freak governments was extremely complex to say the least. It was extremely multi leveled and overpowered everyone it touched.
They were diabolical maniacs that controlled every facet of Europe in those 12 years and reached across the world controlling nearly everyone else. The world would grow to hate them or love them in very short time. Yet few have taken the time to read what went on inside the Nazi empire.
Reading combat novels only gives one view and without undersanding the political side you will not learn the complete picture. The poor citizens of Germany suffered beyond blief , those outside of their borders were not worth living and their lives meant nothing and had to be eliminated from the face of the earth to make fertilzer.
Take a few hours to read what an inside expert saw . Mind boggling emotions.