Book Defying Hitler by Sebastian Haffner

Defying Hitler by Sebastian Haffner

Reflecting back on World War II, it is impossible to think that one man had rallied a nation to exterminate an entire race of human beings, in a systematic, diabolical and deliberate way. Though, Sebastian Haffner's book, "Defying Hitler," written before World War II even began, provides a rather interesting perspective on the psychological foundation that brought the Germans, a rather civilized nation, to accept a racist nazi socialist regime. When exploring this deeper, it would roughly equivalent to the U.S. transforming rapidly and systematically eliminating a minority group- for instance, all of the Chinese-Americans, the African-Americans, or another racial group because the President said so.

In his book, Haffner captures the "big picture" in Germany while also illuminating the individual in this big picture. The book also does an excellent job of setting up how the rise of Hitler came about by starting in 1914 to 1933 (in the prologue), covering important events and how they affected Germany including the First World War, the 1918 Revolution, the hyperinflation of 1923, the sports craze and leaders that emerged. The perspective of Haffner's ordinary citizen status while also being a referendar in the German Courts was a different perspective. Haffner's position was able to highlight the breakdown of basic human rights and the extreme prejudice of the law. Furthermore, the extreme changes that were occurring in society where also captured by the changing deterioration of relationship that Haffner had with his friends.

I enjoyed the book and felt as if it was different from anything I had ever read before because of it's different perspective- that from a German entrenched in the environment of Nazi Germany. Many of the narratives that society reads and uses to understand World War II and the actions of the Nazi's are from the victim's perspective and although very valuable, it is important to also understand the other side of the story. History is a two-sided story and in order to truly understand the nuances of any event or account of history, it is important to get both sides. That being said, Haffner observes and accounts the German side of things through the lens of a German- understanding and observing the changes of the psychology, the relationships and the mentality that Germans made in light of the socialist leader coming to power. Also, with his Jewish girlfriend and him being a German it was an extremely interesting perspective to evaluate the War from- would Haffner fall to the bandwagon of Nazi-ism and follow some of his law clerk friends that had become Nazi's, as Haffner is after all, a German or would he continue to support his girlfriend who is Jewish? Being at the fence in light of all that was going on around Haffner is different- it provides a perspective that is individual and ordinary yet extraordinary at the same time.

Haffner, unlike many other accounts of this time period in history, comes from a position where he is directly observing the judicial system at the time which is important to understanding the governmental implications of what was being done and how it was effecting society. Being in a position of power and education, and not being just an ordinary German citizen, Haffner's insight and observations of what is going on around him are fascinating and detailed. While Haffner wrote he was observing, not providing his account after the war had been done, and that in of itself is fascinating- it is almost as if being on the ground in Germany, as German who is expected to become a Nazi and just observing what is going on. Haffner is able to capture the different situations that he encountered as a protected citizen of Nazi Germany.