The Third Reich is a continued subject of fascination. Numerous documentaries, of widely varying quality, can be found on television every day; newspaper articles and stories feature stories relating to the Nazis on a weekly basis, and publishers are producing new books on the subject which appear on the shelves of the high street booksellers.However, most of these do not represent the personal angle of the period that Roger Moorhouse has cast light upon in The Third Reich in 100 Objects. Moorhouse has complied a widely diverse collection of items from Nazi Germany. Each item is pictured, and has a detailed description of its relevance to the German citizen, or indeed the German leadership in some cases.
The items included vary widely, from the 'celebrity items' which were presumably souvenirs taken by enthusiastic Allied soldiers - and then probably shown to friends and relatives, before eventually ending up in private collections or museums (Hitler's moustache brush, Eva Braun's lipstick case, Goring's cyanide capsule); to equipment and weapons used by the German military (the stick grenade, MP 40 submachine gun, the V-2 missile); items familiar to the German citizen (Nazi eagle, ration cards, Elastolin toy figures, Nazi Party Haustafel); to the shocking range of items linked with the Holocaust (Der Ewige Jude film poster, Treblinka brooch, Zyklon-B canister, and the Stolperstein - Stumbling Stone memorial - for Georg Elser, who attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1939, and who was executed at Dachau in 1945).
This is not an easy read but it is digestible and provides a fascinating insight, and therefore it is a valuable addition to the literature on this subject. For the reader, each object can be examined in isolation, which is probably the only way the book can be read. However, it is often uncomfortable to see how the Nazi regime implanted itself in every aspect of life, and how its impact on the world can continue to be felt even today.
Available from:
Greenhill Books
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