The common thread that runs through the essayistic texts presented here lies above all in the terms that recur. What are the "Nuremberg Laws" and what is a "Mischling of the first degree," what is a "Geltungsjudin," what is a "privileged mixed marriage"; and what does "volkisch," "German-Christian," or "God-believing" mean? And what does "inner emigration" mean? In order to clarify these terms, which are generally important for understanding the Third Reich, the author examines contemporary testimonies, novels and messages, ...
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The common thread that runs through the essayistic texts presented here lies above all in the terms that recur. What are the "Nuremberg Laws" and what is a "Mischling of the first degree," what is a "Geltungsjudin," what is a "privileged mixed marriage"; and what does "volkisch," "German-Christian," or "God-believing" mean? And what does "inner emigration" mean? In order to clarify these terms, which are generally important for understanding the Third Reich, the author examines contemporary testimonies, novels and messages, and investigates interviews and reports: Victor Klemperer's diary, Bergengruen's novel "Groatyrann," Wiechert's volkisch novel "Einfaches Leben" and Feuchtwanger's call for resistance are as much the subject here as the report of an escape attempt before deportation to Auschwitz or Artur Dinter's pamphletic novel "Die Sunde wider das Blut" (The Sin Against Blood) from 1917, which had an impact right up to Hitler's "Nuremberg Laws."
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