About this deal
Many, such as Dr Otto Reh, Chairman of the local Fishing Society, resigned when it was proposed that Jewish members should be banned – even though there were none. It brings the human stories of the inhabitants of Oberstdof in the Bavarian Alps to the fore, while setting them firmly in their social and political context. One of the major philosophical and moral questions linked to Nazi Germany is how much ordinary people were aware of the injustices suffered by Jews and minorities at the hands of the regime.
And, coming from a country where the war always seems to have been won by English speaking people, it was refreshing to see how the French (aided by the Moroccans) liberated the village. A remarkable moral drama, a miniature epic that is subtle in characterization, gripping in detail, and shocking in its brutal ordinariness. The local newspaper, for example, does not even mention NSDAP until the 1932 election that led to Hitler becoming the chancellor. The prize is awarded alternately to a Dutch and a Flemish author), to mandatory membership of the Hitlerjugend and the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel - that would give its members free cinema tickets, outdoor sports, horseback riding and mountaineering !Self-interest clearly featured in Fink’s rescue of his son, but many of his other actions were remarkably selfless.
Those who had joined out of a sense of victimhood, particularly in the early years of The Party, were utterly committed to the persecution of those they saw as persecuting themselves, and were furiously opposed to those, often more senior than them, who seemed to have other things to care about!Both were studies of medieval villages meticulously reconstructing the lives of ordinary people within the limited space of one small place. Of course the Third Reich is most infamous for its discrimination against the Jews, which ultimately led to mass murder and genocide on an industrial scale. Still, for such a rural community the inhabitants were outward-looking and knew that their prosperity depended upon strangers.