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    Haffner/Defying Hitler

    Number of Pages: 3

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    A 3 page book review of Sebastian Haffner's Defying Hitler (2002). Written in 1939, this is the memoir of a middle-class German journalist who endeavors, through the examination of his own life and background, to understand the social mechanisms that led to Hitler's rise to power. The writer offers a synopsis of the major themes and recommends it as a primary source. No additional sources cited.

    Name of Research Paper File: D0_khhafner.rtf

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    so doing, the young man defied Hitler and the Nuremberg Laws, which did now allow the couple to marry in their native Germany. The young man changed his name to  "Sebastian Haffner," in order to protect his relatives still in Germany from Nazi retaliation. It is this act of defiance that provides the rationale for the title of Haffners memoir,  begun in 1939, Defying Hitler (2002). The title is something of a misnomer as the point of Haffners unfinished memoir was to seek, through examination of his own life and  background, to understand the social mechanisms that made Hitlers rise to power possible. As this indicates, this text is a first-person account by a native German who was neither  leftist nor Jewish and a solid member of the Germany middle class. It covers the years from 1914 to 1933. Haffner, with his background in journalism and a clear  gift for language, offers a clear-sighted account of what it was like to grow up, first of all, in Germany during World War I and then puts this background in  context with the assent of Hitler. In so doing, he provides the reader with remarkable insight into the German culture and social mentality of that time. Haffner, while just  as subject to social trends as his peers, recounts how he remained somewhat detached by not becoming a Nazi. Nevertheless, he also recalls how he and his peers were constantly  exposed to government propaganda during World War I about the promise of victory. When Germany was defeated, it was tremendous psychic jolt for middle class boys, such as himself. Haffner  relates a blow-by-blow description of how German culture fell apart in the aftermath of World War I and how the hyper economic inflation of the 1920s further altered the traditional 

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