A thoroughly fascinating and occasionally depressing series of excerpts from hundreds of interviews of West German and Austrian survivors of the Nazi years. In 16 thematic chapters the authors have collated brief statements on topics such as the war, genocide, resistance, women, children, simple survival, and daily affairs. The contributors come from a wide variety of backgrounds and persuasion. The result is an intriguing and troubling picture of those who made the Third Reich. Many of those interviewed, who were children or teenagers when Hitler came to power, speak frankly about the allure of National Socialism and of the "adaptations" forced on them, internally and externally, during the war. As the editors point out, heroism and self-sacrifice are evident in many of the statements, but so are egoism and self- deception. The book challenges certain assumptions common among non-Germans: that most citizens of the Third Reich were fully aware of the crimes perpetrated by the regime; that the survivors of that generation are conscious of a burden of guilt; and finally that older Germans are happy to forget the war.
