Hitlers Nützliche Idole

by Guido Knopp

Idols and heroes caught between obedience and conscience, excitement and distance, involvement and protest - with this book, Guido Knopp delivers yet another fascinating aspect of a critical examination of the National Socialist regime. In center stage of this book are the careers and destinies of Heinz Rühmann, Max Schmeling and Leni Riefenstahl. The stories of other idols in Hitler's Reich, some still well known and others nearly forgotten, are included as supplementary and comparative material. Artists, sports figures and famous actors - were they willing lackeys of the Nazis? Or were they unable to escape being monopolised by the dictator? The regime needed its idols in order to maintain a pleasant façade. Those who refused service to the Nazis risked falling into disfavour or being forced to leave the country. Each needed to for or against. Many remained and cooperated, to become stylised into symbols. A few used their popularity in others ways and showed indications of disapproval of the excesses of the Nazis or helped those being persecuted to flee. Through portraits of famous personalities, Guido Knopp's documentation skillfully presents the fame and suffering, glitter and tragedy, and responsibility and involvement in the shadow of the swastika. Press Author Professor Guido Knopp was born in 1948. After receiving his doctorate in history he was an editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and then chief foreign editor of Die Welt am Sonntag. Since 1984 he has been head of history and current affairs programs for the ZDF television network. He has received many awards for his television documentaries and has written numerous bestselling books on contemporary history.

340 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2007

About the author

Guido Knopp is a German journalist and author. He is well known in Germany, mainly because he has produced a great number of TV documentaries, predominantly about the Nazi era, but also about other topics, such as Stalinism.

Reviews

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting look at how celebrities were used - and let themselves be used - by Nazi propaganda. The book tells the stories of Heinz Rühmann, Hans Albers, Marika Rökk, Max Schmeling, Heinrich George and Lena Riefenstahl and how they got drawn into the totalitarian regime, sometimes willingly, sometimes less so.