Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints)

Using Primary Evidence, The Author Reveals The Social Consensus Behind The Nazi Regime And Persecution Of Racial Minorities & Social Outsiders. Debate Still Rages Over How Much Ordinary Germans Knew About The Concentration Camps And The Gestapo's Activities During Hitler's Reign. Now, In This Well-documented And Provocative Volume, Historian Robert Gellately Argues That The Majority Of German Citizens Had Quite A Clear Picture Of The Extent Of Nazi Atrocities, And Continued To Support The Reich To The Bitter End. Culling Chilling Evidence From Primary News Sources And Citing Dozens Of Case Studies, Gellately Shows How Media Reports And Press Stories Were An Essential Dimension Of Hitler's Popular Dictatorship. Indeed, A Vast Array Of Material On The Concentration Camps, The Violent Campaigns Against Social Outsiders, And The Nazis' Radical Approaches To Law And Order Was Published In The Media Of The Day, And Was Widely Read By A Highly Literate Population Of Germans.^ Hitler, Gellately Reveals, Did Not Try To Hide The Existence Of The Gestapo Or Of Concentration Camps. Nor Did The Nazis Try To Cow The People Into Submission. Instead They Set Out To Win Converts By Building On Popular Images, Cherished Ideals, And Long-held Phobias. And Their Efforts Succeeded, Gellately Concludes, For The Gestapo's Monstrous Success Was Due, In Large Part, To Ordinary German Citizens Who Singled Out Suspected Enemies In Their Midst, Reporting Their Suspicions And Allegations Freely And In A Spirit Of Cooperation And Patriotism. Extensively Documented, Highly Readable And Illustrated With Never-before-published Photographs, Backing Hitler Convincingly Debunks The Myth That Nazi Atrocities Were Carried Out In Secret. From The Rise Of The Third Reich Well Into The Final, Desperate Months Of The War, The Destruction Of Innocent Lives Was Inextricably Linked To The Will Of The German People.^ The Nazis Never Won A Majority In Free Elections, But Soon After Hitler Took Power Most Germans Turned Away From Democracy And Backed The Nazi Regime. Hitler Was Able To Win Growing Support Even As He Established The Gestapo And Concentration Camps. Yet For Over Fifty Years Historians Have Disputed What The German People Knew About These Camps And In What Ways They Were Involved In The Persecution Of Race Enemies, Slave Workers, And Social Outsiders. In This Ground-breaking Study Of Nazi Terror Within Germany, Robert Gellately Finally Answers These Questions. The Author Exposes Once And For All The Substantial Consent And Active Participation Of Large Numbers Of Ordinary Germans In The Terror. He Shows That Rather Than Hide Their Racist And Repressive Campaigns From The German People The Nazis Trumpeted Them In The National Papers And On The Streets. He Reveals How They Drew On Popular Images, Cherished German Ideals, And Long Held Phobias To Win Converts To Their Cause.^ Tracing The Story From 1933 To Its Grim Conclusion In 1945, He Demonstrates How War And The Prospect Of Defeat Radicalized Nazism. As The Country Spiralled Towards Defeat, Germans For The Most Part Held On Stubbornly. For Anyone Who Dared Contemplate Surrender Or Resistance, Terror Became The Order Of The Day. Introduction -- Turning Away From Weimar -- Police Justice -- Concentration Camps And Media Reports -- Shadows Of War -- Social Outsiders -- Injustice And The Jews -- Special Justice For Foreign Workers -- Enemies In The Ranks -- Concentration Camps In Public Spaces -- Dictatorship And People At The End Of The Third Reich -- Conclusion. Robert Gellately. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [265]-338) And Index. The Nazis never won a majority in free elections, but soon after Hitler took power most people turned away from democracy and backed the Nazi regime. Hitler won growing support even as he established the secret police (Gestapo) and concentration camps. What has been in dispute for over fifty years is what the Germans knew about these camps, and in what ways were they involved in the persecution of'race enemies', slave workers, and social outsiders. To answer these questions, and to explore the public sides of Nazi persecution, Robert Gellately has consulted an array of primary documents. He argues that the Nazis did not cloak their radical approaches to'law and order'in utter secrecy, but played them up in the press and loudly proclaimed the superiority of their system over all others. They publicized their views by drawing on popular images, cherished German ideals, and long held phobias, and were able to win over converts to their cause. The author traces the story from 1933, and shows how war and especially the prospect of defeat radicalized Nazism. As the country spiralled toward defeat, Germans for the most part held on stubbornly. For anyone who contemplated surrender or resistance, terror became the order of the day. In this book, the author argues that the Nazis did not cloak their radical approaches to law and order in utter secrecy, but played them up in the press and loudly proclaimed the superiority of their system over all others