What We Knew

This book combines the expertise of a German sociologist and an American historian to offer a startling oral history of life in the Third Reich.

It draws on oral histories and a unique survey of 4,000 people, including both German Jews and non-Jewish Germans, who lived under the Nazi regime.

The research confirms that both Germans and Jews were aware of the mass murder of European Jews as it was occurring.

It also refutes long-held assumptions, suggesting that Hitler and National Socialism were genuinely popular among ordinary Germans, and that intimidation and terror played a minor role in enforcing loyalty.

The book is crucial for understanding life in the Third Reich and is a central work for scholars of the Holocaust, World War II, and totalitarianism.