The Nazi Impact On A German Village

“A vivid & sensitive portrait of a small, tradition-bound community coming to terms with modernity under the most adverse of conditions.” —Observer Review Many scholars have tried to assess Adolf Hitler’s influence on the German people, usually focusing on university towns and industrial communities, most of them predominately Protestant or religiously mixed. This work by Walter Rinderle and Bernard Norling, however, deals with the impact of the Nazis on Oberschopfheim, a small, rural, overwhelmingly Catholic village in Baden-Wuerttemberg in southwestern Germany. This incisively written book raises fundamental questions about the nature of the Third Reich. The authors portray the Nazi regime as considerably less “totalitarian” than is commonly assumed, hardly an exemplar of the efficiency for which Germany is known, and neither revered nor condemned by most of its inhabitants. The authors suggest that Oberschopfheim merely accepted Nazi rule with the same resignation with which so many ordinary people have regarded their governments throughout history. Based on village and county records and on the direct testimony of Oberschopfheimers, this book will interest anyone concerned with contemporary Germany as a growing economic power and will appeal to the descendants of German immigrants to the United States because of its depiction of several generations of life in a German village. “An excellent study. Describes in rich detail the political, economic, and social structures of a village in southwestern Germany from the turn of the century to the present.” —Publishers Weekly “A lively, informative treatise that puts a human face on history.” —South Bend Tribune “This very readable story emphasizes continuities within change in German historical development during the twentieth century.” —American Historical Review

Documents the propaganda and politics that brought Naziism to power in one German town where the population was predominately Lutheran and the largest local employer was the Civil Service.

In her study of Oberammergau, the Bavarian village famous for its decennial passion play, Helena Waddy argues against the traditional image of the village as a Nazi stronghold. She uses Oberammergau's unique history to explain why and how genuinely some villagers chose to become Nazis, while others rejected Party membership and defended their Catholic lifestyle. She explores the reasons for which both local Nazis and their opponents fought to protect the village's cherished identity against the Third Reich's many intrusive demands. She also shows that the play mirrored the Gospel-based anti-Semitism endemic to Western culture.

How effective are election campaign posters? Providing a unique political history, this book traces the impact that these posters - as well as broadsides, banners, and billboards - have had around the world over the last two centuries. It focuses on the use of this campaign material in the United States, as well as in France, Great Britain, Germany, South Africa, Japan, Mexico, and many other countries. The book examines how posters evolved and discusses their changing role in the twentieth century and thereafter; how technology, education, legislation, artistic movements, advertising, and political systems effected changes in election posters and other campaign media, and how they were employed around the world. This comprehensive and original overview of this campaign material includes the first extensive review of the research literature on the topic. Posters, Propaganda, and Persuasion will be useful to scholars and students interested in communications, politics, history, advertising and marketing, art history, and graphic design.