https://blog.georgefabish.com/tags/milton_mayer/ Recent content in Milton_mayer on George's Blog Hugo en-US Sun, 03 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.georgefabish.com/reviews/they-thought-they-were-free-the-germans-1933-45/ Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:32:35 -0500 https://blog.georgefabish.com/reviews/they-thought-they-were-free-the-germans-1933-45/ <p><strong>Summary</strong></p> <p>Mayer initially planned to go to Germany in 1935 to interview Hitler himself. He failed to secure an interview but discovered, to his horror, that the Nazi movement had more mass appeal than he had previously expected. He decided to switch tactics and focus on the experience of the man on the ground. How does a person, who in most other respects would be considered normal or even good, get swept up in a genocidal ideology? After the war he moved to a small town that had strong support for the NSDAP before, during, and after WW2. He made genuine relationships with 10 of the residents and engaged them in extended interviews. The first half of this book is essentially these interviews, organized into a clear timeline. The second half is Mayer attempting to psychoanalyze Germany as a whole based on what he had learned from these interviews.</p>