What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder, Everyday Life In Nazi German

Description: Hundreds of Germans and German Jews have recalled, often for the first time, their experiences of Nazi Germany in horrifying, moving and compellingly honest accounts. Jews have spoken about the harassment and countervailing support of their ordinary German neighbours; of going into hiding, being deported, and harrowing journeys by train to concentration camps. An extraordinary number of ordinary Germans have admitted to knowing about the murder of Jews and, even now, many confess that they admired Hitler and believed in the Nazi movement. It is essential that the reasons for such support are understood and remembered - this groundbreaking research marks a comprehensive shift in Holocaust studies.

Review: 'Hypnotic oral history ...This is not an enjoyable story but one that should be told'. -- Western Daily Press 20050219 'A necessary, careful and highly systematic addition to the Holocaust history, compiled by experts' -- Good Book Guide 20050301 'Johnson and Reuband present an unique and important work of oral history' -- Publishing News 20050520 'This is a splendid conribution to many of the questions asked by historians of the 21st century about daily life, complicity, and dissent in Germany between 1933 and 1945.' -- History Today 20050501 'Fascinating ... The strength of What We Knew is its diversity, its vivid detail and extraordinary memories' -- Independent 'The gripping immediacy of the interviews, laced as they are with anger, guilt, sadness and, still among some Christian Germans, pride, carry the book' -- Publishers Weekly 'Vast, truthful, compassionate and illuminating, the most comprehensive study of this kind ... a thorough and worthwhile investigation, substantially gleaned from the words of those who were the participants, observers, and survivors' -- Jewish Telegraph 'Joltingly vivid testimonies open a shocking window on the mentality of the time' -- Scotsman 'Makes hypnotic and uncomfortable reading' -- Western Daily Press 'A very important book' -- Max Arthur 'Horrifying and moving ... a major oral history of the Third Reich' -- Publishing News 'What We Knew" seeks to address outstanding questions ... The results are fascinating' -- BBC History



Author Biography: Eric Johnson is professor of History at Central Michigan University, a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and a Fellow of The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences. He is the author of various books, most recently The Nazi Terror: Gestapo, Jews & Ordinary Germans. Karl-Heinz Reuband is professor of Sociology at the University of Dusseldorf and a former visiting scholar at Harvard University's Center for European Studies. He is an expert in opinion research methods.