The Third Reich History Podcast

The opening of Enemies of the People: Hitler's Critics and the Gestapo as read by the author.

The concentration camps symbolize the Holocaust. But the twisted road to Auschwitz was only one path in a wider system of terror. How did the concentration camp system change from 1935 to 1938? Who was in charge? How did the camps go from shrinking to expanding? What was the SS camp culture? What was life like for the prisoners? Join us for part two of our series on the evolution of the concentration camp system. In this episode, Chris and Ryan examine the expansion and experience of the pre-war camps up to Kristallnacht. Sources: Nick Wachsmann,Christopher Dillon, Eugen Kogon, Stanislav Zamecknik, Shlomo Aronson

How did the Accountant of Auschwitz end up before a court at 93 years of age? Who bears responsibility for genocide? What justice can there be for crimes committed a lifetime ago? Join us for a conversation with Ricki Gurwitz about the thorny moral issues raised by her new documentary. The news this week recounts the experiences of one survivor who appeared for the prosecution against Gröning before a forty minute discussion of the film.

Who defended Nazi war criminals after 1945? What limited prosecution and how did the German public think about post-war justice? Tune in to our interview with Craig Sorvillo about his research on Rudolf Aschenauer to find out! Get a hold of us on twitter @staxomatix or through email to [email protected]

How did life change for slave labour after Stalingrad? How did the German way of irregular warfare shape their experience as a vital yet dangerous resource in Nazi eyes? In part two, Chris begins by briefly describing the foreign worker program and the functions of work education camps before discussing life under the bombs as a foreign worker. He then reveals how German counterinsurgency doctrine, and Allied agitpropaganda, shaped the use of violence to maintain control.

How did an oppressive system become a murderous one? How was the Nazi foreign worker program built upon colonial precedents? In our latest episode, Ryan interviews Chris about his freshly defended dissertation on forced labour under Nazism. In part one, Chris tells us why he became a historian before outlining his main arguments and explaining their significance. A lively digression about the difficulties of working with court records and oral sources ensues. Then, Chris outlines the German theory and practice of forced labour over the long term from Southwest Africa up to the fall of the Nazis.

Chris is back! In his triumphant return, we discuss how the Reich Ministry of the Interior functioned as the war turned against Germany. What changed after Himmler took control? Who was Wilhelm Stuckart? What was the SS theory of government administration? Tune in to find out!

Where did the Nazi idea of a Judeo Bolshevik Conspiracy come from? How were modern anti-Semitic tropes woven into a narrative of Jewish puppet masters? In the first half of a two part Roots of Nazism episode, join Ryan for a whirlwind overview of modern anti-Semitism from the Enlightenment to the end of the First World War.

How did a democratic police force transform into the Gestapo in three short years? Tune in to find out and bear in mind the words of Martin Luther King Jr. “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”

How do historians come up with questions and find sources with answers? What are the ins and outs of working in an archive? In an episode chock full of resources, Ryan waxes poetic about overcoming the obstacles of taking research from conception to completion. Links: Klaus Gietinger on Wolfgang Niess, Die Revolution von 1918/19: Der wahre Beginn unserer Demokratie and Joachim Käppner, 1918 – Aufstand für die Freiheit: Die Revolution der Besonnenen. https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/rezbuecher-28872 Archivportal www.archivportal-d.de Center for Research Libraries http://www.crl.edu/ Worldcat (for all your ILL needs) https://www.worldcat.org/ NARA Captured German Records https://www.archives.gov/research/captured-german-records Digitized Finding Aids for the Records of Reich Leader SS and Chief of German Police https://www.archives.gov/files/research/microfilm/t175-1.pdf https://www.archives.gov/files/research/microfilm/t175-2.pdf https://www.archives.gov/files/research/microfilm/t175-3.pdf

How do authoritarians silence dissent? How were libel laws used to criminalize criticism? What punishments awaited those who spoke out against Hitler? Find out in the latest Roots of Nazism episode as Ryan traces the development of Orwellian speech laws governing private conversation.

Where can historians find sources? What questions can different archives answer? What is there to do when you aren’t digging through a heap of dusty documents? In a new series that is part travel log and part research report, Ryan reminisces of archives he has known. This week, lazing on the banks of the Rhine and toiling in the North Rhine Westphalian State Archive.

The concentration camps symbolize the Holocaust. But the twisted road to Auschwitz was only one path in a wider system of terror. Where did the camps come from? How did their purpose change over time? What was life like in the different types of camps? Join us for a new series exploring the complex and dynamic evolution of concentration camp system. In this episode, Chris and Ryan provide a broad overview and discuss the early years.

Was Hildegaard Beetz a lovestruck secretary or international woman of mystery spying for the Nazis? How did the Gestapo police women for political offences? In a grab bag episode, Jim Retallack tells us how his new book about political culture in the Kaiserreich suggests 1933 as a vanishing point and we conclude our discussion with Katrin Pahler about intelligence in the Third Reich. H-net News: Janosch Steuwer reviews Andre Postert’s Hitlerjunge Schall https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/rezbuecher-26789 Call for papers on industrial vigilantism, strikebreaking, and patterns of anti-labour violence 1890s-1930s in comparative and transnational perspective https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/termine-37331

How do historians write history? How do they approach sources and tease out insights lurking between the lines? How do they deal with biases when writing about ideologies like Nazism? Most importantly, what undiscovered gems are hidden in the archives? Katrin Paehler joins Chris and Ryan to chat about her new book and the fine art of source critique. http://newbooksnetwork.com/katrin-paehler-the-third-reichs-intelligence-service-the-career-of-walter-shellenberg-cambridge-university-press-2017/

What would you do if a cherished family member had been a Nazi? How would you make sense of the silences that had held an uncomfortable reality at bay? Roger Frie joins us to discuss the process of forgetting, remembering, and his intensely personal confrontation with the Nazi past chronicled in his award winning new book NOT IN MY FAMILY.

How did Nazi Jewish policy escalate into the Holocaust? What role did security policy in occupied territories and the SS Einsatzgruppen play? What was the Final Solution decided at the Wannsee Conference? Was the man who oversaw it all a careerist or a true believer? This week, Chris and Ryan trace the career of Reinhard Heydrich from the invasion of the USSR to his assassination in Prague. Join us for part two of a two-part discussion about the head of the Reich Security Main Office and architect of genocide, SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.

The Reich Security Main Office orchestrated the worst crimes of Nazi Germany. The RSHA was in charge of the Gestapo, the concentration camp system, security in occupied Europe, the murderous Einsatzgruppen, and the Holocaust. But who was in charge of the RSHA? Who was Reinhard Heydrich? How did he come to power? What did the man who oversaw the Holocaust believe? This week Chris and Ryan present the first installment of a new series of political biographies about leading Nazis. Join us for episode one in two-part discussion about the life and crimes of the Chief of the Security Police and Security Service, Leader of the RSHA, Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and architect of the Final Solution, SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.

Why did Hitler back down in some situations and not others? Why did some protests work and others fail? What do popular reactions to evacuations, euthanasia, and Jewish policy reveal about the nature of popular opposition? Nathan Stoltzfus joins us for another fascinating discussion about his work on the Rosenstrasse Protest and compromise in Nazi Germany. H-Net News: Matthias Schneider's review of Herr Hitler, ihre Zeit ist Um! Widerstand an der Saar, 1935-1945 https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/rezbuecher-26632

How did Hitler and Stalin rule? Does the theory of totalitarianism clarify or confuse? Working Toward the Führer opened a broader discussion about the nature of dictatorships. Tune in for the full conversation. H-net News: Conference report by Katrin Auer and Martin Hagmayr on Forced Labour in Europe under National Socialist Rule