How Much Did Average Germans Know About the Holocaust During World War Two?
Aug 22, 2024
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Richard Evans, a prominent historian and author known for his insights into the Third Reich, discusses the chilling question of how much ordinary Germans knew about the Holocaust. He dives into the psyche and backgrounds of key Nazi figures like Himmler and Goebbels, exploring their motivations and moral complicity. The conversation also addresses the societal dynamics of post-war Germany, including the reluctance to confront its Nazi past and the evolving attitudes toward culpability. Evans weaves together personal narratives and broader historical contexts, shedding light on the complex interplay of perpetration and bystanding.
The podcast explores the complex debate regarding the extent of average Germans' awareness and complicity in the Holocaust's atrocities.
It highlights how the motivations of Nazi leaders were often intertwined with their personal crises and societal influences in post-war Germany.
Deep dives
Understanding German Complicity in the Holocaust
Historians have long debated the degree of knowledge that average Germans had regarding the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities during World War II. One perspective holds that common Germans were largely unaware, attributing responsibility solely to Hitler and his inner circle, while another argues that the scale of the Holocaust necessitated civilian awareness and complicity. This complexity is highlighted through various historical interpretations, indicating that while many Germans may have distanced themselves from responsibility, a significant portion likely had at least some knowledge of the regime's actions. The ordeal of the Nürnberger trials further complicates this understanding, as many perpetrators claimed ignorance to evade punishment, perpetuating a lingering confusion about societal involvement in Nazi crimes.
The Impact of Weimar Republic Instability
The fragile political landscape of the Weimar Republic played a critical role in the rise of the Nazi Party, significantly influenced by the aftermath of World War I and subsequent economic crises. Following Germany's defeat, the nation experienced a national trauma marked by the abdication of the Kaiser, rampant hyperinflation, and political unrest, which set the stage for extremist movements. The economic collapse after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 further destabilized German society, leading to widespread unemployment and the Nazis capitalizing on public discontent. Despite losing elections and never gaining a supermajority, the Nazis exploited social grievances to amplify their support, capturing a growing share of the electorate by the early 1930s.
The Role of Hitler's Inner Circle
The inner circle of Adolf Hitler, including figures like Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels, was composed of individuals who were not inherently criminal but represented the mainstream of German society. Many of them experienced personal crises or social decline, leading them to embrace the Nazi ideology, which promised solutions to their problems and a revival of national pride. This circle's complexity highlights that these leaders were often middle-class individuals motivated by a mix of nationalism and a desire for stability in an unstable post-war context. Their motivations varied widely but were frequently rooted in a desire for personal empowerment within a society that had experienced dramatic upheaval.
Perpetrators vs. Bystanders in Nazi Germany
The delineation between perpetrators, bystanders, and victims during the Nazi regime reflects a spectrum of complicity, where individuals often fell into overlapping roles based on their personal ideologies and circumstances. While many were actively engaged in supporting Nazi policies, a significant number of Germans remained unaware or chose to ignore the regime's increasingly violent measures. Some individuals, such as conservative middle-class figures, rationalized their involvement through nationalistic and ideological lenses, indicating that the Nazi party provided both an outlet for personal grievances and a structure for social conformity. Ultimately, the capacity of ordinary citizens to commit atrocities often stemmed from a dehumanization process, where targeted groups were portrayed as less than human, facilitating widespread complicity.
This is the question that historians have argued since the end of World War Two. How much did an average person know, and, more importantly, how responsible were they? What made people “perpetrators,” “bystanders,” and “victims” within a wider context of coercion and consent?
To explore this question is today’s guest, Richard Evans, author of “Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich.” We look at a connected series of biographical portraits of key Nazi figures that follows power as it radiated from Hitler to the inner and outer circles of the regime’s leadership. This includes personal lives of figures whose names appear in nearly all Nazi biographies, like Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels (“The Policeman” and “The Propagandist”), as well as professionals with skills deemed advantageous to the Nazi agenda, including Julius Streicher (“The Schoolmaster”) and the eugenicist Karl Brandt (“The Professional”), and some of the women in Hitler’s orbit such as Ilse Koch (“The Witch”) and Leni Riefenstahl (“The Star”).
Through these biographies, one of our greatest historians explores the enduring and unnerving questions: How could human beings carry out such terrible and murderous atrocities? Were they degenerate, deranged psychopaths, or were they ordinary men doing their jobs? How can examining individual personalities help us reach an understanding of the evil and immorality that sustained the Nazi regime?
