Contradictory books about Germans during the Nazi era: How far was the gap from the “Führer”?

The Germans were actually "unwilling comrades," writes historian Peter Longerich. But this bold thesis doesn't work with his sources. Another book, "Hitler's Loyal People," gets to the heart of the matter better.

With the end of the war, everything disappeared overnight: the swastika flags, NSDAP party books, busts of Hitler, and editions of "Mein Kampf." If anything, National Socialism seemed to have "burst" over the Germans through "external forces" and men in black leather coats. And in the end, people either "knew nothing" – or it was the "Führer" Adolf Hitler who was to blame for everything. Several generations of historians have written against this form of German self-victimization, which dominated the public image of National Socialism for many decades – and is now being revived . One of them, Peter Longerich, is among the most productive, and can look back on a long and impressive career as a researcher.