Homecomings: Returning POWs and the Legacies of Defeat in Postwar Germany
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.35 (627 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0691143145 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-05-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
These former prisoners made up a unique segment of German society. They were both soldiers in the war of racial annihilation on the Eastern front and then suffered extensive hardship and deprivation themselves as prisoners of war. The book examines the lingering consequences of the soldiers' return and explores returnees' own responses to a radically changed and divided homeland. Based on a wide array of primary and secondary sources, Homecomings combines the political history of reconstruction with the social history of returnees and the cultural history of war memories and gender identities. By exploring returnees' troubled adjustment to the more private spheres of the workplace and the family, the book stresses the limitations of these East and West German attempts to move beyond the war. It unearths important structural and functional similarities between German postwar societies, which remained infused with the aftereffe
One Star The author's opinions are presented as facts and conclusions are based on these "facts".. Bud_ebReview of Homecomings The very large bibliography indicates a sincere effort at exhaustive research by the author. These were however, only minimally supported with views, conclusions, and authoritative observations regarding this material. I missed that in such a comprehensive work. I would have enjoyed reading these.Very tedious reading at times due to a stilted english phraseology (authors native language was apparently not english) and use of uncommon english words. For example, I never came across the word "elided" until this publication. The use . said Review of Homecomings. The very large bibliography indicates a sincere effort at exhaustive research by the author. These were however, only minimally supported with views, conclusions, and authoritative observations regarding this material. I missed that in such a comprehensive work. I would have enjoyed reading these.Very tedious reading at times due to a stilted english phraseology (authors native language was apparently not english) and use of uncommon english words. For example, I never came across the word "elided" until this publication. The use . Jon W said not bad. I disagree with the Saudi. This isn't some Zionist conspiracy book looking to (god forbid) blame Germans for supporting Nazism when it suited them. It's a well researched monograph that touches on the major aspects of the homeward return of German soldiers. He DOES talk about their deaths in the Soviet camps, as he attributes the poor condition of Soviet captives as being just as much due to the Soviets as it was due to the documented lack of supplies getting out to the eastern front to the Nazi soldiers before they were captured.
It represents the best of recent historiographical trends and is the result of wide-ranging and creative use of archival resources."--Robert D. Crew, Central European History"Biess's study is based on extensive primary research, and he negotiates his varied secondary sources with an impressive intellectual ease. Billinger, Jr., German Studies Review"Frank Biess excellent book shows why it is important to understand not only what post-war Germans remembered about World War II but also how these memories affected their behavior. This book is highly recommended to those interested in postwar Germany in parti
Frank Biess is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego.