The Jews in the Secret Nazi Reports on Popular Opinion in Germany, 1933-1945

From Hitler's rise to power in 1933 to the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945, the National Socialist regime conducted extensive surveillance in Germany, documenting not only Jewish activities and organizations, but also the attitudes of the non-jewish population toward the jews and toward Nazi anti-Jewish policy. This book, the first English edition of the secret reports, in the excellent translation of William Templer, presents 752 of the most significant documents, accompanied by substantial notes and commentaries. A CD contains the entire collection of the original reports---a total of 3,744 documents.

These sources open a new window on Germany in the Nazi era. Beneath the seemingly monolithic surface of the totalitarian regime, a more differentiated depiction of relations between the Jews and their non-Jewish environment comes to light. Despite mounting exclusion from society and the economy, Jewish life emerges in astonishing variety, vitality, and richness. The final chapters also contain reports on the systematic deportations of Jews. These documents reveal the surprising extent to which the population was informed about the fate of the deportees and the murder of European Jews in the occupied territories of the East. They also shed new light on a pivotal question: What did the German population want to see as a "solution to the Jewish Question"?

Indispensable for scholars as well as interested readers, this book deepens our understanding of the experience of the Jews under the Nazi regime.

Otto Dov Kulka is Rosenbloom Professor Emeritus of Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Eberhard Jackel is Professor Emeritus of History, University of Stuttgart.
William Templer is a widely published translator and is currently visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.