Confronting Hitler

The stories of the individual men and women who led German Social Democracy's failed efforts to fend off the Nazi onslaught in 1933 have largely been lost in the wake of the cataclysmic war, the Holocaust, and the division of Europe that followed Hitler's victory. Confronting Hitler recovers their stories and places them at center stage. In a series of biographical essays focusing on the experiences of ten leading Social Democratic activists, Smaldone examines their defeat in 1933 from the perspective of individuals enmeshed in political struggle. This study reveals what aspects of these activists' lives were most important in shaping their political outlook during the republic's final crisis and it illustrates the key factors that guided their actions in the effort to keep the republic alive. In addition, the biographies raise the important issue of the degree to which the defeat of German Social Democracy in 1933 is comparable to the experiences of other democratic socialist movements in the twentieth century.

These biographical accounts are in themselves informative and help to illuminate the political thinking and behavior, not only of these leaders, but of much of the party during the final years of the Weimar Republic., Using an engaging biographical approach, William Smaldone examines the rise of Nazism from the perspective of their most important opponents. Adding considerably to the knowledge of the downfall of the Weimar Republic, Confronting Hitler reconsiders the quandary of committed democrats fighting for civility and social justice in the face of ruthless and violent enemies.

William Smaldone is professor of history at Willamette University in Oregon and author of Rudolf Hilferding: The Tragedy of a German Social Democrat.