Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism Through the Eyes of Everyday People

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The book has a wide range of viewpoints; academics, oversea students, members of the British aristocracy, diplomats, journalists, politicians, and ordinary travellers, are all represented. There are those who, like Unity Mitford, staked out Hitler and infiltrated his inner circle out of fanaticism, through Virginia and Leonard Woolf, who were unimpressed, to those who immediately spotted the danger of the emerging National Socialist Party and those who, without the benefit of hindsight, were unquestioning and uncritical - even when visiting book burnings and labour camps. Persuasive propaganda and the distortion of truth, or simple politeness, led to some visitors remaining uncritical of a country not their own. In the 1930s the most cultured and technologically advanced country in Europe tumbled into the abyss. In this deeply researched book Julia Boyd lets us view Germany's astonishing fall through foreign eyes. Her vivid tapestry of human stories is a delightful, often moving read. It also offers sobering lessons for our own day when strong leaders are again all the rage” -- Professor David Reynolds, author of The Long Shadow: The Great War and the 20th Century

We all know hindsight is 20/20. It’s always been a mystery post WWII why intelligent people could not grasp the threat that NAZI’s posed to the world. Boyd’s book does not give a definitive answer to the question but lays out massive amounts of first person books, letters, diaries and speeches reported by people, primarily British and American, who traveled in Germany beginning just after WWI through the beginning of WWII. Keliautojai buvo itin subtiliai įtraukiami į propogandos mašiną. Kokia Vokietija didinga ir nuostabi, kokie sveiki žmonės, kultūra ir kaip viskam trukdo žydai. For the most part I found this an interesting read. The book is well-researched and delves into many aspects of life during the Third Reich, showing how the government pervaded every part of one’s daily activities. I liked that the chapters were organized thematically rather than chronologically, which made it easier to follow. A compelling historical narrative … both flatters and challenges our hindsight. [Boyd] lets her voices, skilfully orchestrated, speak for themselves, which they do with great eloquence."Oberstdorf is one of the most famous places in Bavaria owing to ski jumping competitions and magnificent scenery for tourists to admire both in summer and winter. Ms Boyd's idea to describe life in a village during the inter-war period sounds interesting as most of the books cover towns or cities whereas countrylife is rather obscure. A revealing and original account. Some of Adolf Hitler's fellow travellers, lulled by self-deception, gulled by propaganda, deluded themselves about Nazi Germany as they deceived others”– Sir John Tusa A Village In The Third Reich is a fascinating and often very sad portait of forty years in the life of the Bavarian village Oberstdorf from 1915 to 1955. Nestled in the Alps, Oberstdorf was a burgeoning tourist town, relatively cosmopolitan and affluent enough, and yet like all of German slowly got swamped by the rise of National Socialism. Boyd and Patel have done a very deep dive on what seems to be a hugely comprehensive archive to tell the story of how the village adapted and changed, but also to follow the villagers as they themselves escaped, got sent to camps or went to war. There are a lot of tragic stories here, though there are reconstructions of the willing Nazi's there are also big questions about Good Germans and perhaps the unthinkable, Good Nazis.

Their experiences create a remarkable three-dimensional picture of Germany under Hitler - one so palpable that the reader will feel, hear, even breathe the atmosphere. Dachau was to the north of the Oberstdorf, but the villages were already aware of some of the Nazi round-ups of its citizens, especially the Jews. By 1941 most were well aware of the roundups that had been undertaken in the East in their name. This leaked out via the Feldpost, or when soldiers were on leave at home. Congratulations to Julia Boyd whose Travellers in the Third Reich was a Spectator Book of the Year this week. Knygoje rasit visko. Paprasti turistai, menininkai, mokslininkai, politikai, studentai, kvakeriai, rašytotojai. Vieni labai stipriai prijaučiantys kiti bandantys nesivelti į poliką ir naiviomis akimis ignoruojantys kas ne taip. Remiamasi laiškais, dienoraščių įrašais, straipsniais kurie parašyti aplankius Vokietiją.

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With an almost novelistic touch, [Boyd] presents a range of stories of human interest ... The uncomfortable moral of Travellers in the Third Reich is that people see and hear only what they already want to see and hear” -- David Pryce-Jones, Standpoint