Publication
University Of Chicago Press (2017), Edition: Enlarged, 384 pages
Description
First published in 1955, They Thought They Were Free is an eloquent and provocative examination of the development of fascism in Germany. Milton Mayer's book is a study of ten Germans and their lives from 1933-45, based on interviews he conducted after the war when he lived in Germany. Mayer had a position as a research professor at the University of Frankfurt and lived in a nearby small Hessian town, which he disguised with the name "Kronenberg." "These ten men were not men of distinction," Mayer noted, but they had been members of the Nazi Party; Mayer wanted to discover what had made them Nazis.
Collection
User reviews
LibraryThing member graemeblake
I was unable to find this book until I got to the University of Toronto. I found it at OISE. The cover caused me some chagrin. Covers from that period used the Swastika when discussing Germany during the war.
I had expected this book to say more about the modern western experience. Not to say that
Did they know about them? He thought they didn't, but that they didn't really care to know. KNOW, in the sense of certainty. They might have suspected, but as long as they didn't KNOW, that was different.
As for Nuremberg, I suspect that it had a stronger effect on future generations, as did schooling. I learned about this in Post-War, but I've forgotten how German consciousness changed on this point.
For the men he interviewed, Nazism was a good time. Everyone had work after the depression, the government seemed to care about them, the little people (class divisions were more explicit). They didn't seem to give up freedom in any meaningful sense. It was hardest on the teacher, who knew, and thought, and was among those who faced more pressures. He knew Jews. He had to change his actions towards them. Most of Meyer's friends didn't.
Overall, a very good book.
I had expected this book to say more about the modern western experience. Not to say that
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it didn't have it's universal themes, but much turned on specific aspects of Germaness, and on aspects of the German character which may have changed since. Interestingly, he thought Nuremberg was a failure. Maybe it was at the time. Telling them they did bad things didn't seem to convince the Germans that they had. They were unthinking Germans largely, the ones he interviewed. Prisoners of culture and custom. Unfortunately, they had a custom of anti-semitism, which allowed the wider horrors to happen. Did they know about them? He thought they didn't, but that they didn't really care to know. KNOW, in the sense of certainty. They might have suspected, but as long as they didn't KNOW, that was different.
As for Nuremberg, I suspect that it had a stronger effect on future generations, as did schooling. I learned about this in Post-War, but I've forgotten how German consciousness changed on this point.
For the men he interviewed, Nazism was a good time. Everyone had work after the depression, the government seemed to care about them, the little people (class divisions were more explicit). They didn't seem to give up freedom in any meaningful sense. It was hardest on the teacher, who knew, and thought, and was among those who faced more pressures. He knew Jews. He had to change his actions towards them. Most of Meyer's friends didn't.
Overall, a very good book.
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This book was published in 1955. The author in Germany after the war befriended ten 'ordinary' Germans and talked to them a lot. Discouragingly, he found all ten thought Hitler was a good thing for Germany, and even long after the war all still held that view except for one who changed his mind as
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to Hitler because of his getting into the War. Nor did they disapprove of Hitler's policy as to the Jews, although most felt that the evil done to the Jews was not known or approved by Hitler. But all or most approved of what was done against the Jews. This is what led me to read the book, to see what Germans thought after the war. But the book also spends a lot of time discussing American policy in regard to Germany after the war, most of which discussion did not excite my attention since it has been made obsolescent by events. The author of course had no idea that the USSR would fall and that Germany would be reunited without the USSR's approval. That part of the book is of only historical interest. I think this is Mayer's most famous book and it is the only book by him I've read. But in olden times I read many articles by him, including the article in 1941 in The SaturdayEvening Post entitled "I Think I Will Sit This One Out.," which I still remember and which I disagreed with when I read it at age 13 or so. Show Less
LibraryThing member marshapetry
Everyone should read this book!! Wars aren't cut and dry, and there are many signs that are missed. We look back at WWII and wonder how any one could have followed Hitler but, as this book will show, it was pretty darn easy. It's also super scary how this book reflects current life in US America.
LibraryThing member soraxtm
A profound experience. Opens up the experience of being a citizen and should be read by everyone. Who is responsible? How? If they aren't just exactly like us then what are they like? As much a book about America as it is about Germany. I would say it is critically important to read especially at
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this time so near to trump's presidency and the obvious split between what seems rational and what half the country professes to believe. If you haven't seen the red in the eyes of the people gathering in hate then perhaps this will help you to understand how little it seems to take to captivate a population. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
National Book Award (Finalist — Nonfiction — 1956)
Pages
384
ISBN
022652583X / 9780226525839