The horrors of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust still present some of the most disturbing questions in modern history: Why did Hitler's party appe...
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reviews
Jun 24, 2009
Alina
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This book is a sturdy resource for those studying the way in which individuals and social groups deal with cognitive dissonance in cases of demicide and mass murder. In historical studies of the Shoah, scholars have a hard time accounting for the "lack of knowledge" on the part of both Germans and Jews about the mass extermination of Jews under Hitler's regime. For example, many of the German soldiers on the Eastern front who could not have avoided being involved in the implementation
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Aug 04, 2011
Lauren
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Johnson sums up years of interviews and research in his attempt to determine exactly what ordinary German citizens knew about what was going on in the concentration camps during World War II. The first two-thirds of the book are transcribed interviews with individuals representative of all towns, classes, education backgrounds, and religions of mid-20th century Germany; the first half of the interviews are with German Jewish survivors (both concentration camp survivors as well as those who went
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Apr 25, 2011
Rosenkavalier
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Il libro prende le mosse dalla controversia nata dopo la pubblicazione del famoso "I volonterosi carnefici di Hitler" di Daniel J. Goldhagen, che sosteneva una tesi provocatoria e contestata. L'antisemitismo, elemento costitutivo della cultura popolare (e non solo) tedesca, sarebbe stato il principale motore e motivo dell'adesione - spontanea - di molti tedeschi comuni alle operazioni di sterminio.
La tesi di Goldhagen, nonchè soprattutto l'impianto teorico di base e l'uso delle fonti, More...
La tesi di Goldhagen, nonchè soprattutto l'impianto teorico di base e l'uso delle fonti, More...
Nov 14, 2008
Dave
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What We Knew by Eric Johnson and Karl-Heinz Rueband
This fascinating non-fiction work is a collection of testimonies from those involved in the Holocaust, including Jewish deportees, Concentration Camp survivors, ordinary German citizens as well as those in military service during that chilling time. The book itself is an academic sociological account of individual experiences, the premise of which is to establish the extent of which the German population was aware, or otherwise, of t More...
This fascinating non-fiction work is a collection of testimonies from those involved in the Holocaust, including Jewish deportees, Concentration Camp survivors, ordinary German citizens as well as those in military service during that chilling time. The book itself is an academic sociological account of individual experiences, the premise of which is to establish the extent of which the German population was aware, or otherwise, of t More...
Jan 21, 2009
Paula
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It's hard to review a book so tragic. This is an oral history of Nazi Germany before and during World War II. Interviews are sorted into chapters focusing on Jews who left Germany before or after Kristallnacht, Jews who went into hiding, people who knew little about the mass murder of the Jews, people who heard about it, and people who witnessed or participated in it. What was interesting was reading about every day life from so many different perspectives. The interviews are extensive. Tho
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Apr 29, 2008
Dennis
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Perhaps the most important lesson I took away from this book was that people who wanted to know what was happening to their Jewish friends and neighbors found out what was happening. Those who say they didn't know were largely uninterested or too cowed or docile to seek answers.
To me, the question of who knew exactly what was going on in the camps misses the central point - when your friends and neighbors and coworkers are systematically excluded from the protection of the law, when their More...
To me, the question of who knew exactly what was going on in the camps misses the central point - when your friends and neighbors and coworkers are systematically excluded from the protection of the law, when their More...
Sep 27, 2011
Becky
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An excellent collection of interviews with various demographic groups with survivors of the Second World War and the Holocaust. A look into the minds of those in Germany, Poland, and surrounding areas and what they actually knew of the atrocities conducted by Hitler and his followers. A great read for anyone interested in the subject.
Dec 04, 2009
Meg
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Really interesting, in-depth interviews with both "ordinary Germans" and Jewish survivors. Chilling, but also deeply human. I really appreciated the thoughtful, nuanced discussion/ interpretation - including the authors disagreeing with each other at a couple of points, and explaining why they had different opinions about the data.
Mar 12, 2010
Continuing my exploration into a terrible time in world history, this book was frightenning and very sad. I'm glad I read it, since it gave me insight into a horrifying and confusing era. I still wonder what would lead intelligent people to bahve as they did.
Nov 10, 2009
Jill
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OK, so I just read the first half of the book, and I found it fascinating. The last half was statistics of their study and the authors analyzing their data. Got a bit scholarly for me. But I loved all the testimonials and personal experiences in the first half. Very thought-provoking and enlightening.
Apr 21, 2008
Rae
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The author interviewed German Jews and German non-Jews regarding the political atmosphere in their country during WW2. He asked them specifically how much they knew about the death camps and at what point they found out about them. His conclusions are that many German citizens knew about the camps and a)felt helpless to do anything or b)were too frightened for their own lives or c)thought it couldn't be as bad as people said or d)left it in governmental hands. This book was darkly informative...
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Jan 05, 2008
Sydney
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The authors of this book sought to answer the question of what Germans, both Jews and non-Jews, knew about the mass murder of Jews during World War II. They based their findings on a questionnaire they distributed to Holocaust survivors and Germans who live in Germany from the early 1930s - 1945. I didn't think this book was all that enlightening. I studied a lot about the Holocaust in college so maybe my expectations were high, but I had already heard about most of their findings. Also, the
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Jun 23, 2009
Jacob
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This is a sobering book. What do normal people do when the world goes insane? Here is an account from people on all sides of the equation. Not an easy read.
Nov 03, 2010
Erin
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Great, heart-breaking and fascinating book. Last 1/4 is all data population though, hence no 5th star. Excellent oral historicism.
Jul 04, 2010
Ilene
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This book was really quite good. It presented first hand accounts from various people of what they really knew regarding the Nazis and the holocaust. The interviews were an important work, as they were done before the last of the generation of the people who lived during the holocaust died. The problem I found with the book is that since they were all young during that time, I think that most of their memories were slanted in such a way so as to not damn the actions of their elders. Some of
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Aug 31, 2011
Christine
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This book affected me so profoundly, I could hardly come up for air. It revealed the darkest sides of human nature and society. This is a compilation of some of the most harrowing interviews conducted 40-50 years after WW2, when those who experienced it firsthand (whether as an ordinary German or Jew) have fewer reservations about sharing their memories. It will change your perspective and challenge your preconceptions about civilization, tolerance, and intolerance.
Mar 03, 2011
Alyssa
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It's sad. You can't really expect much different from a non-fiction Holocaust book, but it was definitely a good book. Very enlightening.
May 16, 2009
What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder, and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany by Eric A. Johnson (2006)
Aug 04, 2011
Michelle
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It was boring at the begining and end with all the facts but the actual interviews were very good
Sep 15, 2009
Kelsey
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Good, but scary. One of the few books I've found that is laid out in interview form.
Aug 04, 2011
Kiof
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There are some very, very important lessons to be learned from this book.
Dec 17, 2009
Karen
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This is an interesting book about what people who lived in or around Germany in the 1930's-1940's knew about the Nazi treatment of Jews. The book is mainly a compilement of interviews with people which were done as part of a research study. I read most of it but then lost interest when Harry Potter came out. (weird huh?) The accounts can become a little redundant after a while, but it's still worth a look if you want an idea of what the average person knew about what was going on.
Oct 25, 2008
Ginny
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This series of interviews with people who came of age during the Holocaust in Germany seeks to reveal what people really knew about the treatment of Jews, concentration camps and mass murder. Interviewees are Jewish and non-Jewish Germans. Other than a description of study design, there is no text other than the interviews. It's densely packed with memories of a great variety of experiences from that time and some fascinating perspectives.
Jul 27, 2008
Vicki
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Attempts to answer the question of how much did German citizens and Jews know about what was occurring during the stages of the Holocaust. It is based off of fairly recent oral interviews so memory may have a part to play in the validity of the evidence, but it is still a powerful book!
Dec 27, 2011
Ricky
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Very interesting collection of interviews but I don't necessarily agree with their conclusions. Fortunately, their questionable methodology and conclusions doesn't really matter because the main attraction here are all the interviews, which are amazing.
Jan 24, 2011
Andrea
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This book is just fascinating. Stories from Jews who stayed in hiding, who were deported both before and after Kristallnacht are most interesting to me. I love oral histories and this one is superb.
Dec 11, 2007
Joseph
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This Guy was one of my professors at CMU. So it is a given that I read some of his books. I learned a lot from Prof Johnson good teacher, good book
Apr 19, 2008
C
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Some stories are hard to read because of the graphic images that they portray, however they are all first hand accounts of the Holocaust.
Mar 18, 2008
Sarah
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This is personal accounts from people who lived through the NS time. Great research from the authors.
