Newsgroups: alt.revisionism,soc.history Subject: Holocaust Almanac: German public opinion during the Nazi period Followup-To: alt.revisionism Organization: The Nizkor Project Keywords: opinion,Marrus,Stokes,Steinert X-Web: http://www.nizkor.org/ Archive/File: places/germany/climate/public-opinion Last-modified: 1993/03/07 Not long ago, there was a brief discussion in alt.revisionism and soc.history which related to German public opinion during the Nazi period. In the past few weeks, I've managed to dig up a few sources for those who wish to explore the issue in depth. Marrus devotes a chapter to public opinion in his `The Holocaust in History,' which is where the citation below was found, and where other sources were noted. While I have not taken the time to segment or catagorize my bibliography, all of the Marrus sources are included - I have listed the author/editors' names below, so that those using my bibliography will be able to locate the citations relating to public opinion at the time throughout Europe. The file grafeneck.01 (grafeneck.01, also provides evidence that the public was aware of the events in question, and includes a letter from Bishop Wurm to Frick which complained about the 'euthanasia' program then in full swing. "In a study of German attitudes published in 1973, Lawrence Stokes considered the extent to which ordinary Germans grasped the essence of the murder process and concluded that `much, although not all of the terror and destruction inflicted upon the Jews of Europe by the Nazis was generally known among the German people.' Stokes acknowledged that the Nazis kept the extermination camps like Auschwitz hidden from the German public. It was impossible to prevent leaks about the grisly work of the Einsatzgruppen, however, and there were frequent rumors about other massacres and atrocities. Most people understood the awesome implications of the `very severe measures' taken against the Jews, he concluded, even if they did not know details.<16> "The German scholar Marliss Steinert discussed this issue in a 1977 book on public opinion during the Second World War.<17> She recognized that there was indifference and lack of reaction on the Jewish issue during the period of Nazi persecutions. However, she also noted extensive examples of `non-conformist behavior,' suggesting a much more positive attitude. It is important to remember that as late as January 1942 there were still more than 131,000 Jews in Germany, mainly in Frankfurt and Berlin. Most Germans found themselves cut off from Jews, but some did not. While the SS often drew satisfaction from evidence of popular antisemitism, they also reported instances where opposition evidently existed. To be sure, only a very few Germans were willing to assist the beleaguered Jews. Steinert also asked what was known about the Final Solution. In her judgement, `only a very few people knew about the monstrous scope of the crimes,' and `many were befuddled by propaganda.' Although rumors, fragmentary reports, and other clues to mass murder existed, for most people these were incomprehensible. Concluding her discussion, she suggested that the Jewish issue was of modest importance for most Germans at the time. Hitler was obsessed by Jews, but the German people, evidently, were not." (Marus, 88) <16> Stokes, Lawrence. "The German People and the Destruction of the European Jews," Central European History 6 (1973), 167-91 <17> Steinert, Marliss. "Hitler's War and the Germans: Public Mood and Attitude during the Second World War," ed. and trans. Thomas E. J. de Witt (Athens, Ohio, 1977) Work Cited Marrus, Michael R. The Holocaust in History. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited, 1987 Author-Editor names in my Holocaust bibliography relating to public opinion: Abramsky, Chimen et al Hunczak, Taras Lukas, Richard Dipper, Christop[f] de Jong, Louis Mendelsohn, Ezra Friedman, Philip Kater, Michael Ringelblum, Emmanuel Gordon, Sarah Kershaw, Ian Tec, Nechama Gutman, Yisrael Kulka, Otto Dov Wilhelm, Hans-Heinrich Hallie, Philip Laqueur, Walter (also many others...) Marrus continues his discussion after the above citation, borrowing from Kershaw, who conducted studies of public attitude in Bavaria before and during the war. Kershaw's book should be on your recommended reading list if public opinion is of interest to you. "The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference." [Kershaw] "..a large part of the German people ... believed that a `Jewish Question' existed and had to be solved." [Christof Dipper] "Indifference might better be termed `passive complicity.'" [Kulka]
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