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A review by lesserjoke
Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945–1955 by Harald Jähner
3.0
This historical account of Germany following World War II is detailed and well-researched, tracing how the country's population began transitioning from perpetrators, victims, and complicit bystanders of the Holocaust into participants in modern western democracy once more. But it's a bit dry and unfocused at times, drifting into discussions of topics like the contemporary abstract art movement that strike me as fairly irrelevant. In addition, author Harald Jähner makes several loaded claims that are just begging to be unpacked, explained, and defended at length, rather than mentioned off-hand as they are here -- such as his assertion that a reliance on post-war food stamps "infantilised" the starving Germans, or that women during the war "had cut Hitler Youth squad leaders down to size and done their best to drive from their sons' heads any fancy ideas they might have had of being members of a master race," as though there were no female Nazis fervently supporting the Party line instead.
The most striking part of this text is its coverage of the earliest turbulence in this period, which included roving bands of lawless children, widespread incidents of rape, and reunited spouses no longer recognizing one another after their respective ordeals, none of which I can remember ever learning about before. The budding divisions between the eastern and western territories are interesting, too. But as far as understanding the common mindsets of the time, I think I've gotten more out of Milton Sanford Mayer's They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45, a title looking back further yet written in the very era covered by this book.
[Content warning for racism.]
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The most striking part of this text is its coverage of the earliest turbulence in this period, which included roving bands of lawless children, widespread incidents of rape, and reunited spouses no longer recognizing one another after their respective ordeals, none of which I can remember ever learning about before. The budding divisions between the eastern and western territories are interesting, too. But as far as understanding the common mindsets of the time, I think I've gotten more out of Milton Sanford Mayer's They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45, a title looking back further yet written in the very era covered by this book.
[Content warning for racism.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog