Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People

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Unique, original and engagingly written. This account of visitors and tourists to Germany brings to life these difficult decades in a most refreshing way [and] should attract a wide circle of readers”– Dr Zare Steiner, author of The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919-1933 and Triumph of the Dark: 1933-1939 What was Nazi Germany really like in the run up to the Second World War? Julia Boyd’s painstakingly researched and deeply nuanced book shows how this troubled country appeared to travellers of the 1930s who did not have the benefit of hindsight. A truly fascinating read." A compelling historical narrative ... both flatters and challenges our hindsight. [Boyd] lets her voices, skilfully orchestrated, speak for themselves, which they do with great eloquence.' - The Daily Telegraph 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. 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.

To a younger generation it seems incomprehensible that after the tragic Great War people and political leaders allowed themselves to march into the abyss again. Julia Boyd’s book, drawing on wide experience and forensic research, seeks to answer some of these questions."

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Ypač ryški užsienio jaunimo stovyklose kurios buvo labai madoje tarp Anglijos ir Amerikos jaunimo. Susitikimai su valdančiaisiais tikintis, kad vaikai perduos viską tėvams. Pvz britų ambasadoriaus dukrai specialus spektaklis ir susitikimai su politikais suorganizuoti tam jog ji kuo teigimiau savo tėvui atsilieptų apie nacių gėrį The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908. Anii au trecut, Germania a reușit să se stabilizeze și la putere venise partidul naționalist-socialist, cu Hitler în frunte. Străinii nu mai veneau doar ca să vadă o țară bucolică, ci și pentru studii și mediul cultural. Însă totul era înșelător, iluzia s-a spart destul de repede odată cu Anchluss, anexarea Austriei. Cu toate astea, oamenii si-ai văzut mai departe de viețile și concediile lor. Liniște a fost și la anexarea Cehoslovaciei. Abia în Noaptea de Cristal, când sunetul vitrinelor sparte, a strigătelor de spaimă și durere, când persecuția evreilor a devenit evidentă, când nu se mai puteau închide ochii la uciderea acestora, la existența lagărelor în care erau închiși, abia atunci situația reală a început să devină zgomotoasă. 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. 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.

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. Keliautojai buvo itin subtiliai įtraukiami į propogandos mašiną. Kokia Vokietija didinga ir nuostabi, kokie sveiki žmonės, kultūra ir kaip viskam trukdo žydai. 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. Utterly fascinating and terrifying. No, I don’t think Trump will try to exterminate people like Hitler. But, yes, I do believe he is attempting to lead us to fascism. And that he aspires to be a dictator.In the 1930s the most cultured and technologically advanced country in Europe tumbled into the abyss. In this deeply researched book Julia Boyd lets us view Germany's astonishing fall through foreign eyes. Her vivid tapestry of human stories is a delightful, often moving read. It also offers sobering lessons for our own day when strong leaders are again all the rage." This compelling, intricate, and meticulous work of how outsiders viewed Hitler’s Germany will appeal to readers of World War II and 20th-century history."

Pre-existing racism and fear. Anti-semitism was rampant in Germany and throughout the world. Just like anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant feelings are plaguing our world now. What was Nazi Germany really like in the run up to the Second World War? Julia Boyd’s painstakingly researched and deeply nuanced book shows how this troubled country appeared to travellers of the 1930s who did not have the benefit of hindsight. A truly fascinating read” -- Keith Lowe, Sunday Times bestselling author of Savage Continent and InfernoBoyd 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. To a younger generation it seems incomprehensible that after the tragic Great War people and political leaders allowed themselves to march into the abyss again. Julia Boyd’s book, drawing on wide experience and forensic research, seeks to answer some of these questions." -- Randolph Churchill Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People by Julia Boyd