Vertigo: The Rise and Fall of Weimar Germany by Harald Jähner
Weimar Germany was eerily like the modern United States. Germany was arguably the most intellectually advanced country in the world. The military was also among the best. Many people felt that they were not defeated during World War I so much as given up by their leaders. Germany was tasked with paying huge reparations. To support this, they printed more money. This led to a hyperinflation and a shuffling of the economy, with the "responsible" savers being hurt, while the reckless borrowers did well. Eventually the government dictated a new currency value and brought an end to hyperinflation.
In spite of reparation payments, the German economy boomed. Money was obtained (often from America) and many manufacturing operations were set up. Germany was the center of technology. Liberal social ideals were also in place. Women's rights and LGBT acceptance were on the rise. The human body was now an object for study and art in its native form, with sports such as boxing and gymnastics important. There were also significant architecture and art movements, with some interesting political overtones. (Roof shape became incredibly political.)
The culture veered to the left, opening up politics that veered to the right. The National Socialist party admitted that it would use legal means to come into power, and then ditch legality once the power was in place. They were not the first to use some of the "emergency" powers. Other governments had done so shortly before they did. Part of their rise to power was a result of decadence and falling of German values that they had seen in society. They scapegoated certain groups, especially Jews.
And today? We have had a period of higher inflation. Liberal culture and values has enraged the right. The loss of national pride has allowed the rise of Trump. He has shown callous disregard for laws, but has also followed some of the same shortcuts that were followed by previous administration. Both the left and right have got carried away in the moras. The economy seems to be humming along well now, but what happens when it falls apart? Will we learn the lessons from Weimar Germany?
Hitler gradually came into power in Germany. The atrocities of the holocaust were also not something that happened all at once. Jews were and other minorities were treated moderately well at first. When some were attacked, the SS perpetrators were condemned. They were seen as bad individual actors, or possible the opposing party masquerading as national socialists. Dachau was a prison camp that still followed the law. However, the bad apples gradually gained more power. Josef Hartinger tried to expose and stop the bad behavior. Alas, his efforts failed and are fairly forgotten from history.
In German Universities from two centuries ago, students paid tuition directly to their professors. Just imagine how different things would be today.
I had initially thought this was a fictional work. The "a novel" subtitle was misleading. This is a mostly factual work about the life of Josef Mengele in South America after World War II. He comes across as a mostly sympathetic old man. He is living a new life in South America. When questioned about past experiences, he talked about just doing his duty. He sees the work he did in concentration camps as work to "help" allow the most people to live. (Very little is discussed about the actual work he did.) However, just when you are feeling sympathetic, he lets an anti-Semitic rant out that lets you realize he might not be as innocent as he comes across. He is rather successful in medical and business endeavors, but has to flee to Paraguay and assume a false identity when the Nazi hunters start tracking him. He dies a rather anonymous death. He continues to be hunted down before people get proof that he is actually dead.
Wages of Destruction analyzes the rise and fall of Nazism from an economic perspective. Some of the seemingly nonsensical behaviors of the Nazi Germany do start to make a little more sense when looked at that one. Germany was suffering after World War 2. Even with some clever management, reparations took a toll on the economy. There was a significant portion of the country still working in agriculture, yet the country had trouble feeding itself. There was a shortage of available labor.
Mother Night tells the fictional story of Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a "spy" during World War II who spread Nazi propaganda. He was born in America, but lived in Germany. He took advantage of situations given him and ended up aligning with the Nazis. Afterwards, he left and tried to pass himself off as just a regular America. However, Israel wanted to try him as a war criminal. He was able to receive assistance from various neo-Nazi type groups to help escape when things got tough. He didn't seem to like those groups or really sympathize with Nazis. He did feel guilt for what he did and eventually tried to turn himself in. The book presents some interesting challenges in differentiating between right and wrong.
This was one of Kurt Cobain's favorite novels. The story centers around a man with a great sense of smell living in 18th century France. He is orphaned at a young age and notices his gift for smell at a relatively young age. He smells a girl and murders her so that nobody else could have her smell. He realizes his great olfactory ability and apprentices himself to a perfumist. He also realizes that he does not have a smell. Later he decides to create a perfect smell. He kills a couple dozen girls to get what is needed. The people are distraught by the murders and eventually capture him. His execution is to be a great spectacle. He unleashes his "perfect smell" and everyone feels he is innocent as they get wrapped up in a hedonistic orgy. He finds this unfulfilling and decides to unleash his smell as he is walking among some low-life. They rip him apart, ending his life.
In On War Clausewitz analyses warfare in general, with a special focus on recent history (the time of Napoleon.) War is not a means by itself. Instead, it is an extension of politics and diplomacy when needed. Aspects of battle and retreat are analyzed. There seem to be a lot of parts covered, but not much pontificating on the best ways to do things.
At first I was unclear whether Red Pill was a memoir. It seemed to be told from the point of view of the author. However, it gradually becomes clearer that it is a work of fiction. The narrator gets a chance to work for 3 months in a German institute to focus on his work. However, he discovers that there is an expectation of communal work rather than privacy. He gradually gets to know some of the people in the town and gets exposed to an extreme right-wing police show "Blue Lives". The novel is filled with ironic contrasts. (One academic goes in a tirade against privace - after the narrator discovers that IT is watching him via a hidden camera in his room.) He drifts to the negative view of society where the masses are nothing more than drones. The novel ends with the "bleakness" of a Trump election.
Liesel Meminger is a "book thief". She lives as a foster girl n Nazi Germany at the outbreak of World War 2. She remembers "communist" being spoken at her parents home. She lives with poor faster parents. She picks up a grave diggers instruction book at a funeral. She later steals a book from a Nazi bonfire. She loves to read, but her poor foster family can barely make out a meager existence. The father has painted Jewish houses. (He had served with a Jew in World War I). He has trouble getting membership in the Nazi party. The mother washes clothes, but sees that business gradually dry up. The girl spends time with her friend, a fast runner, who wants to be a Jesse Owens. They end up resorting to stealing food from farms and other areas.