1. Hitlers Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial
War, and the Nazi Welfare State by
Gotz Aly
Hitler's Beneficiaries
A “provocative” account of great “intellectual significance,” illuminating the
economic workings of the Third Reich—and the reasons ordinary Germans
supported the Nazi state (The New York Times Book Review) In this
groundbreaking book, historian Götz Aly addresses one of modern
history’s greatest conundrums: How did Hitler win the allegiance of
ordinary Germans? The answer is as shocki ng as it is persuasive: by
engaging in a campaign of theft on an almost unimaginable scale —and by
channeling the proceeds into generous social programs—Hitler literally
“bought” his people’s consent.

2. Drawing on secret files and financial records, Aly shows that while Jews
and citizens of occupied lands suffered crippling taxation, mass looting,
enslavement, and destruction, most Germans enjoyed an improved
standard of living. Buoyed by millions of packages soldiers sent from the
front, Germans also benefited from the systematic plunder of Jewish
possessions. Any qualms were swept away by waves of tax breaks and
government handouts.
Hitler’s Beneficiaries has been hailed as “startling” by Richard Eva ns, and
as “fascinating and important” by Christopher Browning. Above all, as
Omer Bartov testifies, this remarkable book “irreversibly transforms our
understanding of the Third Reich.”
Features:
* ISBN13: 9780805087260
* Condition: NEW
* Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Personal Review: Hitlers Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and
the Nazi Welfare State by Gotz Aly
Recently, several new studies have emerged on Nazi Germany and the
second war which disregard the military aspects of the conflict, and ins tead
enrich our understanding by focusing upon the economic dimensions of
the Hitler regime. One such book is Adam Tooze's "Wages of
Destruction"; this is a second example. The author's thesis is articulated in
the book's subtitle: "Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State."
What does the author mean by the term "Nazi Welfare State"?; I have not
seen that one before.
For Gotz Aly, the Nazis recognized the chaos and near successful
Communist/Socialist revolution (Rosa Luxemberg and the Spartakists) that
Germany experienced in the final stages of WWI and briefly thereafter,
when for example Berlin looked like a scene from "All Quiet on the
Western Front." The German civil population had suffered mightily during
the war, coming close to starvation due to the allied blockade. As a result,
the Nazi leadership determined that it would do everything possible to
keep the civilian population happy and contented during the second war:
low taxes; plenty of food; replacement of apartments and their contents
lost due to allied bombing; and lots of financial goodies. The only problem
with this tactic was how to finance it all. The answer was easy for the
leadership--steal literally everything of value from Jews in Germany,
captured areas, and even those resident in allies like Italy. In addition,
force captured nations to subjugate their economies in order to make
payments to Germany, as well as willingly allow their own consumer goods
to be gobbled up by German soldiers who paid with makeshift currency
that only led to inflation and near disaster for these economies, and
wreaked privation upon civil populations.

3. So, in short, for the author the German population was not cowed into
submission by fear of the Nazi tyranny--rather it was bribed with the
proceeds of what can only be described as plundering theft on an
enormous scale, implemented by a well organized bureaucracy dedicated
to that purpose. This outstanding study documents this process in minute
detail--in fact, it is easy to get lost in hundreds of pages of economic data
and explanation, so skimming (unless you are a specialist in this area)
becomes essential. The key point is that it is all here, in as much detail as
the reader can absorb, and it is not a pretty picture. The book reminds us
that it takes more to understand military conflict and the oppression of a
segment of the population than to study guns and tanks--as usual, the best
advice is to "follow the money."
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