Nazi Germany Research Articles

The German-Jews' Identity and Reactions to the Nazi Policy

In early April 1933, the racist laws went into effect in Nazi Germany. These officially dictated that all involvement with Jews should be severed by keeping a safe distance. On the eve of Hitler’s taking power, there were some six hundred thousand Jews in Germany. They enjoyed full civil rights and were deeply involved in social and political life. The German Jewish identity was clear-cut to most of them, and some were convinced that Nazi ideology had nothing to do with them. The following article, which focuses on the period between January 1933 and November 1938, will present some responses and identical dilemmas of those German Jews, who found it difficult to accept that Nazi laws include them as Jews only. It will describe their conduct within a community preparation that was gradually being formulated already in Zionist and German-Jewish responses and activities. Most of the sources and examples in this article are aimed to observe the German Jewish dilemma based on their dual cultural loyalty as Germans and as Jews as well. Describing these difficulties, and the German Jews' reactions to the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, and after the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, intends to describe expressions of uncertainty and a sense of detachment that characterizes German Jews more prominently. This article deals with the Legal-Racial Lows experienced as German Jews and its future impacts on their fate during the war and afterward.

THE POLITICS OF FEAR: FABRICATING THE ENDANGERMENT OF THE SERBIAN MINORITY IN KOSOVO AS AN EXPANSIONIST STRATEGY FOR SERBIA

This study investigates the methods used by Serbia to maintain influence over the Serbian minority in Kosovo, exploring the potential use of these strategies to further Serbia's regional ambitions in the Western Balkans. The research focuses on various tactics such as media narratives and political maneuvers, aiming to understand their role in Serbia's strategic goals. By analyzing contemporary practices alongside historical cases, such as Serbia's narratives during the early 1990s conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, this study draws parallels to discern behavioral patterns. Additionally, comparative case studies of Nazi Germany's use of propaganda about the Sudeten Germans and Russia in the Crimea provide a broader context of state-led ethnic manipulation. This research contributes to understanding how ethnic dynamics are used for political gain in volatile regions.

Foreign Debt, Capital Controls, and Secondary Markets: Theory and Evidence from Nazi Germany

Foreign Debt, Capital Controls, and Secondary Markets: Theory and Evidence from Nazi Germany

Agency under German Occupation: Conservationist Policy-Making in The Netherlands, 1940–1945

The paper provides a political history of nature conservation in the Netherlands during the Second World War, 1940–1945. Nature and nature conservation were not mere victims of Nazi German oppression or destruction; rather, conservationist organisations clearly had agency under difficult circumstances. The movement’s leaders were accustomed to using informal contacts, semi-formal arrangements and back channel deals with government authorities and agencies, and continued to exert influence on the new Department of Education, Science and Protection of Culture with considerable success after 1940. Although these consultation structures and the Department’s power to impose measures by decree could not always prevent severe damage, this story sheds new light on the history of the nature conservation movement as an historical actor in its own right under the conditions of war and occupation. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .

Resource Policy of the Third Reich in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine: Waste Recycling in 1941-1943

This article explores the assortment and primary methods of waste collection within the Reichskommissariat Ukraine during the occupation by Nazi forces. The Ukrainian occupational press serves as the primary source for this article. It demonstrates that the extraction of various resources and the plundering of material valuables were directed towards supporting the economic and military power of the Third Reich, with waste collection policies being one of its facets. To facilitate this activity in this realm, the Nazis utilized existing infrastructure within the territory of Ukraine, including warehouses, factories, and offices of Soyuzutyl, established on the eve of the Second World War, as well as the infrastructure of the consumer cooperative system. It is shown that the specificity of Ukraine lies in assigning waste collection duties to consumer cooperatives, which transformed into the primary suppliers of various raw materials for the needs of the Third Reich. Local administrations and individual cooperatives actively participated in this endeavor, and special associations were also established. Additionally, the occupying authorities sought to involve schoolchildren and the broader population, developing various incentive systems for this purpose, although the participation of these actors was minimal. The article examines the peculiarities of waste collection propaganda within the territory of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, which was based on ideological motives such as gratitude for liberation from Soviet rule, as well as economic motives related to the need for waste to produce consumer goods for the local population by enterprises of the Nazi regime. It is argued that primary attention was given to collecting scrap black and colored metals, as well as bones, paper, and rags. The author suggests that the scale of economic plundering of Ukraine was much larger than commonly believed, yet acknowledges that this requires further in-depth research involving a wide range of archival sources.

German colonial geography as a racial-Völkish reordering project beyond the East: National Socialism and the colonial writings of geographer Oskar Schmieder

There is very little research on German colonial geography in general, and the boom in this subdiscipline during the National Socialist period has not received any scholarly attention so far. Against that backdrop, this paper aims to contribute: a) to a finer-grained picture of colonial, racial-Völkish thinking – and its application – in German geography during the National Socialist period and b) to our understanding of the continuities and ruptures in German geographical scholarship after WWII. To that end, I focus on the biography of Oskar Schmieder (1891–1980). Two interrelated aspects of Schmieder's writings will guide the analysis: first, his conceptualization of race, Volk, and soil regarding (Germans in) South America and, secondly, the political colonial project that he pursued for Nazi Germany. Studying Oskar Schmieder shows that German geographers not only stood up for the re-establishment of a German colonial empire during the National Socialist period, but also fought for its Fascist orientation – which, at least for Schmieder, was to differ from the German colonial pre-1914 empire. Being primarily known as a representative of Länderkunde, Schmieder's institutionally and conceptually influential career after 1945 can be seen as a prime example of the continuities within the discipline in Germany.

Distance Education During a Paper Shortage

This article examines letters and study guides sent by philosophical faculties of Nazi universities to soldiers enrolled in correspondence courses during World War II. These educational media were produced during a severe paper shortage brought about by autarky and the wartime Nazi economy. I consider the conditions surrounding paper production and soldiers’ learning materials to depict how the media circulating between universities and the front demonstrate evidence of material scarcity and economic exploitation. The brevity of the messages indicates that these media had been adapted to the material economy of the war and a scarcity of time. As I show, knowledge of the humanities was brought to the front via these media; at the same time, knowledge of an ideology was created that integrates the extraction of resources from a war of conquest into a version of German history—resources that were also required to maintain distance learning itself. The article contributes most directly to studies on the media and material practices of academic teaching and to the history of science and scholarship in the Nazi era. It also builds on recent studies on how the work of the sciences and humanities are reliant on supplies of natural resources.

Radio Caledonia: Scottish Nationalism and Nazi Radio Propaganda, 1940–1942

In June 1940, from somewhere in Scotland, a radio station named Radio Caledonia began to broadcast Scottish nationalist, anti-government and anti-war propaganda to Britain, on behalf of an organisation called the Scottish Peace Front. Its objective was to bring about Scotland's exit from the war, an end to the capitalist system, and the creation of an independent, socialist Scotland. The speaker and scriptwriter behind Radio Caledonia was Donald Grant, a Scot, since dubbed Scotland's Lord Haw-Haw. But Radio Caledonia was only superficially a Scottish nationalist station. In reality, the Scottish Peace Front was an entirely fictitious group, and Radio Caledonia's programmes were made in and broadcast from Berlin under the direction of Joseph Goebbels, as one element of his propaganda campaign against Britain. Radio Caledonia, like other similar ‘secret stations’ commissioned by Goebbels, was conceived of by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry, and its broadcasts written and produced by British renegades. This paper looks at Grant's background and political beliefs, the Nazi propaganda organisation within which he worked in Berlin, and the broadcast output of Radio Caledonia. It concludes that far from being an authentically nationalist or socialist enterprise, Radio Caledonia was devised by German Nazis and British fascists as a tool to achieve their shared aim of bringing about an end to Britain's involvement in the war.

Reshaping Capitalism in Weimar and Nazi Germany ed. by Moritz Föllmer and Pamela E. Swett (review)

Reshaping Capitalism in Weimar and Nazi Germany ed. by Moritz Föllmer and Pamela E. Swett (review)

The People’s Dictatorship: A History of Nazi Germany by Alan E. Steinweis (review)

The People’s Dictatorship: A History of Nazi Germany by Alan E. Steinweis (review)

The Image of the Ideal German Mother in Nazi Era Posters

The Image of the Ideal German Mother in Nazi Era Posters

Contested Memories in the Border Town of Trieste: A Comparative Analysis of the Risiera di San Sabba and The Foiba di Basovizza

Abstract This article analyses the Risiera di San Sabba, the museum of the only Nazi concentration camp in Italy with a crematorium, and the Foiba di Basovizza, the prominent memorial commemorating the mass killing of Italians carried out by Yugoslav Partisans, examining how they exhibit Italian complicity with Nazi Germany and shed light on the politics of memory in Italy’s post-war history. Through a theoretical framework grounded on theories of nationalism, the argument that will be put forward is that the mentioned museums represent fascism as an alien object and Italians as victims/freedom fighters, neglecting Italy’s direct involvement in the Holocaust. Concluding remarks will suggest that the historical lack of critical analysis enabled the juxtaposition of the memory of the Holocaust with the Foibe, paving the ground for the proliferation of post-fascist historical accounts and their institutionalisation as manifest in Italy’s current political landscape.

Naval Strategy in the Normandy Invasion

The Normandy invasion, also known as Operation Overlord, was one of the most monumental events in the history of World War II. On June 6, 1944, nearly three million Allied troops crossed the English Channel from England into France occupied by Nazi Germany. The invasion of Normandy opened the way to the liberation of Europe and finally ended World War II. Naval strategy was crucial in this operation to support the landing of troops on the beaches of Normandy. In the context of naval strategy, the Normandy invasion involved coordination between the navy, army, and air force. The writing methodology uses a descriptive method by analyzing the facts that occurred during the 1944 Normandy battle and is supported by literature studies, literature and various scientific journals.

An archaeology of the Pomeranian Crime of 1939: collecting the material evidence

Abstract‘An archaeology of the Pomeranian Crime of 1939’ is a multidisciplinary scientific project that focuses on collecting the material evidence of the Nazi German mass execution committed in the first months of the Second World War in the Gdańsk Pomerania region in Poland. Since 2023, it has excavated mass graves containing material evidence of crimes against humanity.

Memory activism in the Republic of Moldova: Last address and Stolpersteine projects

Drawing on the threefold categorisation of memory as antagonistic, cosmopolitan and agonistic, proposed by Anna Cento Bull and Hans Hansen, the article examines contemporary memory activism in the Republic of Moldova and how it contributes to creating historical narratives. Through an analysis of two memory initiatives, namely ‘The Last Address’ and ‘Stolpersteine’, designed to memorialise victims of Soviet repression and atrocities committed by the Romanian and Nazi German forces, respectively, the article uncovers the many challenges facing memory activists in Moldova where there is limited openness about these periods in recent history. Instead, different versions of the past and suppression of painful truths are subservient to contemporary political agendas.

A Holocaust Survivor Who Became a Freedom School Teacher: Marione Ingram’s Journey from Hamburg to Mississippi

Marione Ingram was born in 1935 in Hamburg, Nazi Germany. In late July 1943, two days before the date of Ingram’s family’s deportation, the Hamburg air raid, one of the biggest air raids during World War II, began. Ingram and her mother narrowly survived it and spent the rest of the war in hiding. In 1952, Ingram immigrated to the United States to follow after her mother. Upon learning about the discrimination against African Americans, Ingram became involved in the civil rights movement to protest racial bigotry and prejudice. She worked for the March on Washington in 1963 and as a Freedom School teacher in Mississippi in 1964. Through her involvement in the civil rights movement, Ingram transformed herself from a “victim” of the Holocaust into a “combatant in a campaign against racial injustice.” This study aims to demonstrate an example of how a Holocaust experience could turn into power to bring peace and equality to the world through the analysis of Ingram’s autobiographies, The Hands of War (2013) and The Hands of Peace (2015), which Miyuki Kita translated to Japanese.

Vast Workshop and Laboratory: Labor and Refugees to the Bohemian Lands and Czechoslovakia, 1914–39

AbstractAs a part of the conversation in the forum “Austria and the Czech Republic as Immigration Countries: Transnational Labor Migration in Historical Comparison” this article revisits the history of refugees in the Bohemian Lands and Czechoslovakia, from World War I until the occupation by Nazi Germany in 1939. Taking stock of existing research, it suggests alternative lines of thinking about the management of migrants' labor and contributes to the wider discussion about how to conceptually combine refugee studies and research on labor migration. For analytical purposes, it focuses on three distinct state approaches to managing refugee labor that often existed in parallel: mobilization of refugee labor in a crisis situation, the support of labor as a pathway to future citizenship, and the denial of work as a sign of statelessness. These three approaches show how refugees' work impacted their status, communicated ideas about the future, and reproduced hierarchies defined by ethnicity, class, or political persuasion.

Ehren und Erinnern (re‐)konstruieren – ein Kommentar.

AbstractThe commentary interprets the practices of remembering and the creation of memory as an attempt at academic and public‐media self‐understanding, which exhibit past‐political, present‐oriented and future‐oriented perspectives and intentions. Academic politics of history and remembrance can hardly be imagined without reference to and interaction with the public and politics. The contributions in this special issue make it clear that a large number of public and private actors and interest groups are usually involved in memory policy controversies surrounding academics. When discussing prizes, street names or school names named after academics, for example, very different logics and ideas about remembering and memory often clash. This fundamental dilemma is particularly evident in debates about controversial academics who worked before, during and after the Nazi era.

German and Italian Fascisms: An Impediment to Theorizing Fascism?

Fascism as a concept enjoys a plethora of definitions, usages and variants which lead to the problems of social science to have a generic theory of fascism. This paper aims to explore the differences between the two fascist variants of the interwar period in Europe, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to reflect on the question of whether exploration of these differences may contribute to social science’s quest to theorize fascism. Though the two fascist regimes differ widely in terms of totalitarianism, ideology, nation and race, state and party relationships, the extent of resistance and the existence of multiple power centers, and finally, the use of total terror; exploration of different fascisms, rather than negating the possibility of having a generic definition of fascism, allows us to explore some of the central characteristics of fascism: its flexibility and resilience.

The Duce’s Cheerleaders and the Führer’s Vanguard

Abstract Regimes in the interwar years went to great lengths to educate young girls into their ideology. Fascist Italy had a few years head start—its Accademia fascista di educazione fisica femminile [Fascist Academy of Female Physical Education] was regarded as innovative from likeminded governments of the time, including Nazi Germany, and was the object of visits and attention. This article explores the arc drawn by relationships between Italian and German girl organizations, focusing on encounters between Orvietine and Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) members. It focuses on two exemplary moments in the history of the network: the 1937 trip to Berlin by 150 students of the Orvieto Academy, and the one-month observation visit in winter 1941 by Ursel Stein, a rising star of the BDM administration. By analyzing and comparing the dynamics, rituals, and actors of the two occasions the article points out at the different roles given to girl organizations by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and raises questions concerning the agency of the members of this women network.