TODAY'S VIEW OF THE THIRD REICH AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN GERMAN HISTORIOGRAPHICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

This review summarises the current state of knowledge and present trends in German historiography on the Third Reich. In Germany, assessment of the Nazi past has moved first from silence, and then from an emotionally charged engagement, to the more critical analyses of today. There has been a closer examination of the involvement of particular professional groups during the Nazi era, such as historians and lawyers. The ideological background of Hitler and the Nazi elite are being examined closely. Particular interest has also been shown in the ordinary aspects of living and coping in Hitler's Germany, the daily struggle and the moral dilemmas. An enormous interest in the German opposition against Hitler continues. In unified Germany, the memory of the struggle of the German resistance is kept alive in public consciousness as a positive line of continuity.