quick looks , by Terry Freedman
I’ve been asked to review this for Teach Secondary magazine, so I can only write a short account of it here. A full review will follow once my thoughts have been published in the magazine.
The book is more than a collection of the views and memories of some of the people who lived during the Nazi era, who were children at the time. Context is given regarding the manner in which the interviews were conducted, and there is a great deal of nuance regarding the concept of “bystanders” vs “perpetrators”. This, I feel, echoes Evans’ thesis about perpetrators and paladins.
Some of the quotes are chilling in my opinion. I think that the author, Stefanie Rauch, does an excellent job of providing context and commentary, such as in this passage:
“Despite the prevalent Nazi tendencies among many students in the ‘Third Reich’ and the educated backgrounds of high-ranking Nazis, there is a persistent belief that education insulated students from Nazi ideologies. Even today, education is often portrayed as a safeguard against extremism, antisemitism, and ‘thuggery’, often associated with less educated, lower socio-economic groups.”
It’s a pity that this book costs £45 on Amazon, which I should think limits its availability to a general audience. Fortunately, however, the book is available as an open source PDF at the UCL Press (the publisher) website: PDF version.
