“A childish illusion, fixed in the minds of all children born in a certain decade and hammered home for four years, can easily reappear as a deadly serious political ideology twenty years later.”
How did the Nazis come to power in Germany and why didn’t the German people do more to stop them? Those are the questions that people have been trying to answer for decades. Defying Hitler is a personal memoir by one man who was an eyewitness to the changes that happened in Germany during those years. As a boy, he read the news and numbers coming out about The Great War. He was a teen as the country tried to recover. As a young man, he saw the Nazis come to power and sought to find a way to avoid getting caught up in their way of thinking.
A friend highly recommended Defying Hitler to me and I checked it out from my library as an audiobook to listen to on a road trip. I am always interested in learning more about history and this time period always fascinates me. I am glad my friend recommended it to me.
Defying Hitler is not a finished book, but the author’s son published what he had, which goes up to the early years of Hitler being in power. He explores so many aspects of the “how” part of the rise of the Nazis. Personal privacy was taken away, people started to think of the good of “all” instead of thinking for themselves and there was fear of physical punishment. There are lessons to be learned from this book so the past is not repeated. The author’s personal struggles of trying to maintain friendships with Jews, trying to decide whether to leave the country and then trying to decide how to behave while in a leadership indoctrination camp required for him to take his law exam. He shows how easy it is to be caught up in world you don’t agree with.
I would highly recommend Defying Hitler to anyone who enjoys learning more about history. Fans of WW2 historical fiction will enjoy the details of this book and the personal stories of one German’s experience.
What do you think is the most important book covering WW2? Share in the comments!
Buy Defying Hitler here (affiliate link).
