A-Infos (en) France, Monde Libertaire - History Pages No. 106 Germany, Nazism, and Its Memory (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The recent publication of several books provides an opportunity to 
revisit Nazism, its history, and its legacy. An excellent synthesis has 
been produced thanks to the work of historian Marie Moutier-Bitan and 
graphic designer Nicolas Guillerat. They present Nazism in maps, graphs, 
and charts-if one can describe it that way-in a collection called 
"Infographics." The task was no easy feat. The educational aspect is 
evident and proves particularly useful. The chosen structure is 
chronological. They first address the rise to power, then study German 
society under the Third Reich, and finally examine the war years. The 
book begins with an assessment of the First World War, showing the 
social and political upheavals that swept through Germany and the main 
sites of political violence. They also present the structure of German 
society and the methods of accessing power. They analyze the spatial 
spread of Nazism, starting with Hitler's networks in Bavaria. They also 
offer an analysis of the dissemination of Hitler's works, particularly 
Mein Kampf. The second part focuses on describing German society under 
the Third Reich.

They show, for example, the means and structures by which the Nazis 
controlled society, adding a detailed list of symbols and organizational 
structures. Several diagrams explore propaganda structures, the methods 
used, such as cinema, and the designated targets: Jews, the "capitalist 
plutocracy," communists, socialists, and trade unionists. Finally, the 
third part is devoted to the war years. These begin in 1938 with the 
Anschluss and subsequent annexation of Czechoslovakia. The military 
dimension is also addressed. Finally, in several pages, they examine the 
Nazi policy of exterminating Jews and Roma on the one hand, and 
enslaving Slavs on the other. Through the example of a village in the 
Soviet Union in 1942, they illustrate the actions of mobile killing 
squads. Similarly, the graphic description of the Sobibor camp reveals 
the workings of extermination camps. Finally, the authors offer a rich 
perspective on the end of Nazism, the consequences of the war, and the 
different legal proceedings that took place in various parts of the world.

This book serves as an excellent introduction to William L. Shirer's 
classic work, *The Third Reich*, now reissued. The book provides a 
lively and compelling account of the history of Nazism, as observed by 
the American journalist while stationed in Berlin. He describes its 
rise, examines German society from within, and shows how a significant 
portion of the German population embraced Nazism. He also describes, 
based on his observations, the Nazis' mass rallies and their ability to 
mobilize crowds. The journalist also followed the major crises generated 
by this aggressive diplomacy and its expansionist projects. He was 
present at the Nuremberg Rally, in Austria during the Anschluss, then 
during the Munich Crisis, and in Berlin when war was declared. Forced to 
leave Germany in 1940, he returned to the United States, and Shirer kept 
a diary of his experiences. At the end of the war, he covered the 
Nuremberg trials for the American press, immersing himself in the 
archives to describe, day by day, what he had witnessed. This firsthand 
account is fascinating because it allows us to understand the mechanisms 
by which a society adheres to a totalitarian project.

These works can be complemented by Stéphan Füzesséry's monograph, *The 
Destruction of Berlin*. It also addresses this analysis of German 
society under the Third Reich. His study begins before the rise of 
Nazism, when the city was growing thanks to industrialization and rapid 
urbanization. It became one of the most important cities in Europe. In 
the mid-1930s, Hitler decided to transform the capital into a monumental 
city, whereas for a long time the Nazis had advocated for settlement in 
smaller towns. He studied how the architects of the Third Reich were 
attempting to transform the city based on a pharaonic-style project. The 
project was conceived under the name Germania. The city was intended to 
be simultaneously a center of power, a museum city, and a propaganda 
space. The city was partially remodeled. The war thwarted this project, 
and the destruction followed by the division of the city in two led to a 
further transformation of the city, which before 1933 had possessed the 
charm of a Central European city.

Finally, Frank Trentmann, a British academic, analyzes the 
transformations of Germany in a sweeping saga teeming with testimonies. 
The book is a vast oral history study of the Germans' relationship to 
their past. It seeks to show how German society, shaped by Nazism, 
divided in two, and traversed by a new totalitarianism, kept Nazism at 
bay for nearly five decades. While the GDR constructed an anti-fascist 
narrative in which all Nazis were in the West, the FRG pursued a policy 
of first marginalizing the main NSDAP leaders and then eventually 
granting them amnesty. Simultaneously, a civil society developed that 
abhorred the old regime and was steeped in guilt. The abandonment of 
history and the writing of a distorted version of it in the GDR largely 
explain the most contemporary developments and the growing success of 
those nostalgic for "Greater Germany." Finally, according to his 
analysis, while Germans had a sense of collective responsibility, few 
individually accepted it at the family level. This study highlights the 
dichotomy between these two aspects, as if memory were failing to 
provide lessons for the present.

* Infographics of Nazism
Marie Moutier-Bitan
Nicolas Guillerat
Passé Composés 2025 176 pages EUR29

* The Third Reich
William L. Shirer
Les Belles Lettres, 2025, 1302 pages EUR39

* The Destruction of Berlin
Stéphane Füzesséry
La Découverte 2025 376 pages EUR24

* The Germans: Emerging from the Darkness (1942-2002)
Frank Trentmann
Grasset 2025 1050 pages EUR39

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