Excerpt from "They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45" by Milton Mayer
By
nataliste
The kind of bagel that ruins lesser bagels for you.
Summary
This excerpt from Milton Mayer's book "They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45" examines the psychological and social dynamics of ordinary Germans during the Nazi regime. The content focuses on how citizens gradually became complicit through incremental changes, the widening gap between government and people, and the mechanisms of societal control. It explores themes of conformity, the erosion of democratic principles, and how ordinary people can become participants in authoritarian systems without realizing the full implications until it's too late.
Key quotes
· 4 pulled"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after 1933, between the government and the people."
"Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider."
"You know, it doesn't make people close to their government to be told that this is a people's government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote."
"All this has little, really nothing, to do with knowing one is governing."
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