Bite-sized book reviews
Bite-sized book reviews
Read For Fun
This book was written by Milton Mayer, an American journalist, about ten years after WWII. Mayer was Jewish, and yet he went to Germany with genuine curiosity and a desire to understand why ordinary people had joined the Nazi movement. He ended up befriending ten former Nazis and spent hours upon hours listening to their stories and getting to know the culture of the time.
What struck me most is how Mayer wrote from a place of humility. He managed to set aside his own ego enough to let their voices come through, and that kind of honesty had to be incredibly hard to pull off.
Even though it was published in 1955, it feels so relevant right now. It is a chilling reminder of how everyday people can get pulled into dangerous systems, and a call to pay attention so that we do not repeat the same mistakes. Would highly recommend this one.