"Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself": The Mass Suicide of Ordinary Germans in 1945

by Huber, Florian
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ISBN: 9780316534307
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Overview

By the end of April 1945 in Germany, the Third Reich had fallen and invasion was inevitable. As the Russian army advanced, horrifying stories spread about the depravity of Red Army soldiers. For many German people, there seemed to be nothing left but shame, guilt, and fear. For tens of thousands of them, the only option was to choose death for themselves, and for their children. Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself recounts this little known mass event.
Using diaries, letters, and memoirs, historian and film-maker Florian Huber traces the euphoria of many ordinary Germans as Hitler restored national pride; their indifference as the F hrer's political enemies, Jews, and other minorities began to suffer; and the descent into despair as the war took its terrible toll, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Above all, he investigates how suicide became a contagious epidemic as the country collapsed.
Drawing on eyewitness accounts and other primary sources, Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself presents a riveting portrait of a nation in crisis, and sheds light on a dramatic yet largely unknown episode of postwar Germany.
  • Format: Hardcover
  • Author: Huber, Florian
  • ISBN: 9780316534307
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 9.30 x 1.20
  • Number Of Pages: 304
  • Publication Year: 2020

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