In this powerful book, Sebastian Hafner details his experiences in Germany during Hitler's rise to power and World War Two
Defying Hitler
Sebastian Haffner’s Defying Hitler presents the story of an ordinary citizen living in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power. The author’s vivid prose and candor really draw the reader in, as do his keen observations and all-too-accurate predictions of the coming war. His position as a middle-class German during this chaotic period of history allows readers to get a good sense of what it felt like to experience defeat, economic depression, and personal loss firsthand. Also, Haffner was among a small minority who opposed the Nazis but were mostly powerless to stop them, and he presents a very informative account of Nazi indoctrination and ideology that one might not get from a less personal account.
Hitler's Rise to Power
Beginning with his childhood, the author wastes no time in describing his views toward World War I. Largely reflecting the views of the majority of Germans during the early years of the war, he claims, “For a schoolboy in Berlin, the war was something very unreal; it was like a game.”[1] Counting the casualties became a favorite pastime of his while he basked in the glory of German nationalism as a young boy of eleven. After the defeat of Germany and the devastating impact of the Treaty of Versailles, Haffner and his family could feel the despair in the hearts of their fellow Germans. Describing his own feelings, he states, “The fact that such a thing could happen to “us”, not as an isolated incident but as the final result of victory upon victory, just would not fit in my head”[2]
The Origins of Totalitarianism
“Real ideas must as a rule be simplified to the level of a child’s understanding if they are to arouse the masses to historic actions.”[3] Such was the case in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power as his party gained increasing support from the troubled people. Haffner describes this phenomenon in great detail, noting the slow inroads made by the Nazis and the ever-increasing anti-Semitism which results. Reflecting in 1939 on his views only six years earlier, he claims, “There are few things as comic as the calm, superior indifference with which I and those like me watched the beginnings of the Nazi revolution in Germany, as if from a box at the theater.[4]”
The Jewish Question
Yet as his own life began to be affected by Nazi politics, his view shifted from this curious detachment to a sense of urgent concern. Since his girlfriend and many of his closest friends were Jewish, he saw firsthand the increased racism as he travelled with them through the city, drawing harsh stares and cries of “Juda verrecke (Jews perish)!” from Nazi sympathizers. Haffner’s cosmopolitan views stand in stark contrast to those of the majority of his fellow citizens, and he yearns for the diversity found in cities like Paris, exclaiming, “How much more interesting, more beautiful, and richer it made life that the world was not peopled exclusively by Germans!”[5]
National Socialism's Slow March
Perhaps the most lasting theme one takes away from Defying Hitler is the sense of hopelessness that Haffner and his like-minded friends felt during the Nazi takeover. What was once a mere curiosity for them slowly became a ruthless regime backed by almost the entire German people. This theme of popular complicity runs throughout Haffner’s memoirs, and at one point he states, “The most powerful dictators, ministers, and generals are powerless against the mass decisions taken individually and almost unconsciously by the population at large.”[6]
How to Resist Hitler?
His own options were severely limited, as even expatriation was a burden due to the difficulties and expenses of continuing his studies abroad. His career choices were also directly affected by the Nazis, and his stories of courtroom drama only add to the sense of a society completely infiltrated by Nazi ideology. Haffner describes this phenomenon best in claiming, “[The Nazi revolution] took place not only in the sphere of politics, but also in each individual private life; it seeped through the walls like a poison gas.[7]”
The Lure of Nazism
The book abruptly ends in one of its most disturbing chapters, which involves Haffner’s paramilitary training, courtesy of the SA, in which he finds that even he is unable to completely avoid indoctrination. In one of the most ridiculous, yet telling passages, Haffner finds himself cheering with his warmongering comrades, shouting for the defeat of France in the coming years for their ‘unfair’ victory at the Marne in the First World War. As the author reflects, “It dawned on me that I had already relinquished and lost everything.”[8]
[1] Sebastian Haffner. Defying Hitler, translated from the German by Oliver Pretzel. (New York: Picador, 2000) 14.
[2] Ibid., 27.
[3] Ibid. 16.
[4] Ibid. 104.
[5] Ibid. 79.
[6] Ibid 183.
[7] Ibid. 219.
[8] Ibid. 280.
