Chris Osmar and I have started a podcast featuring book reviews, discussion, interviews, news from the H-net Soz und Kult feed, and emerging research about Nazi Germany. The first project is to cover literature on the Gestapo in the Endphase. Discussions anchor each episode as we work through the book, pull information from our own research, and bounce around ideas.
I am a recently doctored Walbolt Fellow and Chris is a current Martin-Vegue Fellow from Florida State University where we worked with Robert Gellatley and Nathan Stoltzfus respectively.
If this sounds up your strasse you can subscribe through iTunes or input our RSS feed directly into your podcast app of choice: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheThirdReichHistoryPodcast
We hope you find it interesting and welcome feedback!
Third Reich History Podcast
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J. Ryan Stackhouse
- Member
- Posts: 15
- Joined: 28 Jul 2017, 20:48
- Location: Canada
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J. Ryan Stackhouse
- Member
- Posts: 15
- Joined: 28 Jul 2017, 20:48
- Location: Canada
Re: Third Reich History Podcast
Episode one and two are now live!
In episode one we discuss how Hitler's regime maintained control at the end. Ever wondered why Germans never turned on Hitler? Why didn’t the Nazis try to negotiate peace despite the hellish Allied bombing campaign and inexorable approach of defeat? We review Ian Kershaw’s The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany 1944-1945. Kershaw outlines what he calls structures and mentalities, the organizations and ideas, the Nazis relied on to maintain control of the country over the final 10 months of the war. Get the lowdown on social control, terror, and more during the Götterdämmerung of the Reich!
In episode two we discuss how underground networks survived in the ruins of Cologne. Did you know a thriving parallel society of youth gangs, deserters, delinquent foreign workers, and former communists emerged in the ruins of Cologne as the Allies crossed the border in fall 1944? Who were these people? How did they survive? Why did they live beyond the bounds of society? Were they a resistance movement or something else? Tune in for our discussion of Bernd-A. Rusinek’s Society in Catastrophe: Terror, Illegality, Resistance – Cologne 1944/1945. Rusinek argues the Gestapo mistook the businesslike connections between groups living in hiding as evidence of an organized uprising of German communists and Soviet foreign workers. Join us as we argue about the definition of resistance and find out what it was like to live in the ruins with the Gestapo hot on your heels.
In episode one we discuss how Hitler's regime maintained control at the end. Ever wondered why Germans never turned on Hitler? Why didn’t the Nazis try to negotiate peace despite the hellish Allied bombing campaign and inexorable approach of defeat? We review Ian Kershaw’s The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany 1944-1945. Kershaw outlines what he calls structures and mentalities, the organizations and ideas, the Nazis relied on to maintain control of the country over the final 10 months of the war. Get the lowdown on social control, terror, and more during the Götterdämmerung of the Reich!
In episode two we discuss how underground networks survived in the ruins of Cologne. Did you know a thriving parallel society of youth gangs, deserters, delinquent foreign workers, and former communists emerged in the ruins of Cologne as the Allies crossed the border in fall 1944? Who were these people? How did they survive? Why did they live beyond the bounds of society? Were they a resistance movement or something else? Tune in for our discussion of Bernd-A. Rusinek’s Society in Catastrophe: Terror, Illegality, Resistance – Cologne 1944/1945. Rusinek argues the Gestapo mistook the businesslike connections between groups living in hiding as evidence of an organized uprising of German communists and Soviet foreign workers. Join us as we argue about the definition of resistance and find out what it was like to live in the ruins with the Gestapo hot on your heels.
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J. Ryan Stackhouse
- Member
- Posts: 15
- Joined: 28 Jul 2017, 20:48
- Location: Canada
Re: Third Reich History Podcast
Episode three is now live!
In episode three we conclude our argument about whether delinquent foreign workers hiding out in the ruins of Cologne were resisting the Nazis or simply surviving. Why did foreign labourers choose to flee the work camps and live as outlaws? Does refusing to work in the arms factories qualify as resistance? Chris and Ryan also bounce around ideas about what the security services learned from the example of Cologne. Join us for a lively discussion about the motives of the foreign workers who left the job to live underground in the final months of the war!
In episode three we conclude our argument about whether delinquent foreign workers hiding out in the ruins of Cologne were resisting the Nazis or simply surviving. Why did foreign labourers choose to flee the work camps and live as outlaws? Does refusing to work in the arms factories qualify as resistance? Chris and Ryan also bounce around ideas about what the security services learned from the example of Cologne. Join us for a lively discussion about the motives of the foreign workers who left the job to live underground in the final months of the war!
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J. Ryan Stackhouse
- Member
- Posts: 15
- Joined: 28 Jul 2017, 20:48
- Location: Canada
Re: Third Reich History Podcast
Episodes four and five are now live!
In episode four, Chris and Ryan review Michael McConnell's "The Situation is Once Again Quiet." We talk about the evacuation of the western bank of the Rhine in fall 1944, decentralization of the Gestapo, and influence of the partisan wars in Eastern Europe on domestic policing. A much clearer picture of when violence started to affected different groups emerges.
In episode five, Chris and Ryan discuss Gabriele Lotfi's Concentration Camps of the Gestapo: Work Education Camps in the Third Reich. Did you know the Nazis had more than one type of concentration camp? What role did camps play during the final months of the Third Reich? Ryan starts the episode off with a short overview of the development of the concentration camp system. The discussion then focuses on chapters about the final months of the war and Chris shares findings from his own research about the treatment of foreign workers. As usual, we get stuck into a meaty discussion about who faced the firing squads and who was spared in spring 1945 and toss around some ideas for consideration.
In episode four, Chris and Ryan review Michael McConnell's "The Situation is Once Again Quiet." We talk about the evacuation of the western bank of the Rhine in fall 1944, decentralization of the Gestapo, and influence of the partisan wars in Eastern Europe on domestic policing. A much clearer picture of when violence started to affected different groups emerges.
In episode five, Chris and Ryan discuss Gabriele Lotfi's Concentration Camps of the Gestapo: Work Education Camps in the Third Reich. Did you know the Nazis had more than one type of concentration camp? What role did camps play during the final months of the Third Reich? Ryan starts the episode off with a short overview of the development of the concentration camp system. The discussion then focuses on chapters about the final months of the war and Chris shares findings from his own research about the treatment of foreign workers. As usual, we get stuck into a meaty discussion about who faced the firing squads and who was spared in spring 1945 and toss around some ideas for consideration.
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J. Ryan Stackhouse
- Member
- Posts: 15
- Joined: 28 Jul 2017, 20:48
- Location: Canada
Re: Third Reich History Podcast
Episodes six and seven are now live!
Episode six is our first attempt to tackle key concepts that explain Nazism in The Roots of Nazism Part One - People's Community. How did polarized politics contribute to the rise of Nazism? How did Hitler's vision of community capture Germans' hopes and fears? In the first installment of a new series examining the roots of popular support for Nazism, we explore the ideology of the people's community.
Episode seven takes a closer look at the origins of genocide with the Diary of a Gestapo Executioner. How did a generation of Germany's best and brightest become mass murderers? How did Gestapo executioners process their atrocities and justify them to themselves? In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss Hans-Joachim Heuer's chapter Brutalization and Decivilization: On State Police Killing. A diary entry written by a Gestapo officer about his first execution puts us in the shoes of the perpetrator as Heuer helps us understand how normal people become accustomed to extreme violence.
Episode seven also contains our first stab at a news segment. We cover Emre Sencer's review of Attaturk in the Nazi Imagination, Michael Schneider's review of Work in National Socialism, and an obituary for Yisrael Kristal. There's also a call for articles about Close Encounters in Irregular and Asymmetrical Warfare which can be found here closeencountersinwar.com/index.php/call-for-papers
Let us know what you think! If you've listened to a few episodes and have any comments, we'd love to hear your feedback!
Episode six is our first attempt to tackle key concepts that explain Nazism in The Roots of Nazism Part One - People's Community. How did polarized politics contribute to the rise of Nazism? How did Hitler's vision of community capture Germans' hopes and fears? In the first installment of a new series examining the roots of popular support for Nazism, we explore the ideology of the people's community.
Episode seven takes a closer look at the origins of genocide with the Diary of a Gestapo Executioner. How did a generation of Germany's best and brightest become mass murderers? How did Gestapo executioners process their atrocities and justify them to themselves? In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss Hans-Joachim Heuer's chapter Brutalization and Decivilization: On State Police Killing. A diary entry written by a Gestapo officer about his first execution puts us in the shoes of the perpetrator as Heuer helps us understand how normal people become accustomed to extreme violence.
Episode seven also contains our first stab at a news segment. We cover Emre Sencer's review of Attaturk in the Nazi Imagination, Michael Schneider's review of Work in National Socialism, and an obituary for Yisrael Kristal. There's also a call for articles about Close Encounters in Irregular and Asymmetrical Warfare which can be found here closeencountersinwar.com/index.php/call-for-papers
Let us know what you think! If you've listened to a few episodes and have any comments, we'd love to hear your feedback!
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J. Ryan Stackhouse
- Member
- Posts: 15
- Joined: 28 Jul 2017, 20:48
- Location: Canada
Re: Third Reich History Podcast
More episodes are live!
The Roots of Nazism Part Two - The Hitler Myth is our second look at key concepts that explain the Third Reich. Why did Germans support Hitler? What did they see in the man? What was the source his charisma? How could someone who hated the Nazis remain loyal their leader? Join us for the latest installment of The Roots of Nazism to understand Germans' fierce, intensely personal, yet ultimately fragile devotion to the Hitler Myth.
The Gestapo: Myths and Realities looks at major discoveries about Hitler's political police since the 1980s. How did the Gestapo operate? What were the day-to-day routines of Hitler's political police? What have historians written and rewritten on the subject since 1945? Join us for a discussion about the latest research on Hitler's secret police! In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss Gerhard Paul's Continuity and Radicalization: Gestapo Station Würzburg. Paul provides a great overview and plenty of excuses to get into the detail about how political police functioned in Nazi Germany.
The Roots of Nazism Part Two - The Hitler Myth is our second look at key concepts that explain the Third Reich. Why did Germans support Hitler? What did they see in the man? What was the source his charisma? How could someone who hated the Nazis remain loyal their leader? Join us for the latest installment of The Roots of Nazism to understand Germans' fierce, intensely personal, yet ultimately fragile devotion to the Hitler Myth.
The Gestapo: Myths and Realities looks at major discoveries about Hitler's political police since the 1980s. How did the Gestapo operate? What were the day-to-day routines of Hitler's political police? What have historians written and rewritten on the subject since 1945? Join us for a discussion about the latest research on Hitler's secret police! In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss Gerhard Paul's Continuity and Radicalization: Gestapo Station Würzburg. Paul provides a great overview and plenty of excuses to get into the detail about how political police functioned in Nazi Germany.
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Michael Miller
- Forum Staff
- Posts: 9082
- Joined: 10 Mar 2002, 23:05
- Location: California
- Contact:
Re: Third Reich History Podcast
A belated welcome to AHF.
Thank you for sharing these. I'm listening to the first one now... the first of your series and the first podcast I've ever heard. Sounds great so far.
~ Mike
Thank you for sharing these. I'm listening to the first one now... the first of your series and the first podcast I've ever heard. Sounds great so far.
~ Mike
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J. Ryan Stackhouse
- Member
- Posts: 15
- Joined: 28 Jul 2017, 20:48
- Location: Canada
Re: Third Reich History Podcast
Hi Mike, thanks for the kind words and glad to hear you're enjoying the podcast so far! We'd love to hear from listeners. A mailbag section could be great fun if you ever have a question or some points for discussion.
On that note, episode 10 is now live!
Who was excluded from the Nazi “community of the people” in the final months of the war? What can post-war trials tell us about atrocities committed in the Endphase? In this episode, Chris and Ryan review Sven Keller’s chapter Crimes in the End Phase of the Second World War: Considerations on Exclusion, Methodology, and Source Critique. Join us for a discussion about the nature of terror at the end of the war, the motives of perpetrators, and changing expectations that that exposed new groups to the heavy hand of the state.
On that note, episode 10 is now live!
Who was excluded from the Nazi “community of the people” in the final months of the war? What can post-war trials tell us about atrocities committed in the Endphase? In this episode, Chris and Ryan review Sven Keller’s chapter Crimes in the End Phase of the Second World War: Considerations on Exclusion, Methodology, and Source Critique. Join us for a discussion about the nature of terror at the end of the war, the motives of perpetrators, and changing expectations that that exposed new groups to the heavy hand of the state.
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J. Ryan Stackhouse
- Member
- Posts: 15
- Joined: 28 Jul 2017, 20:48
- Location: Canada
Re: Third Reich History Podcast
We're back from the holiday break with another double dose and the first of the promised interviews!
In episode 11, Chris and Ryan discuss Ralf Blank's chapter on the Endphase in the Rhein and Ruhr. His focus of Allied bombing campaigns and Hitler's "Nero Order" to destroy all industry in danger of falling into enemy hands highlights aspects of everyday life that have fallen by the wayside in our focus on the Gestapo.
Episode 12 is the first of our long awaited interviews. How did the Nazi regime respond to protest? How did Hitler's desire for popular authority shape the relationship between state and society? Find in our conversation with Nathan Stoltzfus. Ryan chats with Nathan about his latest book "Hitler's Compromises: Coercion and Consensus in Nazi Germany" to find out what the Third Reich tells us about the nature of dictatorships.
In episode 11, Chris and Ryan discuss Ralf Blank's chapter on the Endphase in the Rhein and Ruhr. His focus of Allied bombing campaigns and Hitler's "Nero Order" to destroy all industry in danger of falling into enemy hands highlights aspects of everyday life that have fallen by the wayside in our focus on the Gestapo.
Episode 12 is the first of our long awaited interviews. How did the Nazi regime respond to protest? How did Hitler's desire for popular authority shape the relationship between state and society? Find in our conversation with Nathan Stoltzfus. Ryan chats with Nathan about his latest book "Hitler's Compromises: Coercion and Consensus in Nazi Germany" to find out what the Third Reich tells us about the nature of dictatorships.