Genders and Sexualities in History

Family Life in Germany, 1939-48

By: Hester Vaizey

Write A Review

Paperback | 1 October 2010 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
268 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 13.97 x 1.42

Paperback

$84.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $21.25 with

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

This vivid recreation of family life as experienced in Nazi Germany during and after the Second World War tells the stories of mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, parents and children, in their own words. From desperate last letters sent to their loved ones by doomed soldiers at Stalingrad, to diaries kept by women trying to keep their families alive as the cities they lived in were devastated by constant bombing raids, this book presents a new and often unfamiliar account of family life under the most extreme conditions. Far from disintegrating under the strain, as many historians have argued, this book shows that the German family maintained and even strengthened the emotional bonds that tied its members together. Entering the war shaped, moulded and directed by the massive pressures brought to bear on it by Nazism's attempt to recast German society in its own image, the German family resisted these pressures and emerged at the end of the war in a new and stronger form, surviving the manifold problems of reunion and readjustment to the postwar, post-Nazi world with a surprising degree of resilience.

Industry Reviews

"Hester Vaizey investigates a side of the story that has been relatively neglected: the strength and durability of many German marriages under the severest of pressures...She is right to stress the debilitating effects of shortages, bombing and making do, leaving most women utterly exhausted. She uses a rich seam of diaries and letters between spouses to demonstrate both this and the longing on both sides in a marriage for "reunion" and a return to normality. The letters in particular are a most illuminating source...This is an engrossing study of real human beings, including children who sometimes reacted negatively when a father who had become a stranger returned from war or captivity and reclaimed his wife's affections...shows the fundamental importance of marital and family bonds to couples and children at a time when personal privacy was routinely violated and families torn apart.' Jill Stephenson, Times Higher Education Supplement

''[Vaizey] ... brings a welcome breath of objectivity to a subject that has long been dominated by ideologically driven theorising. Her case is helped by her evident ease as a writer. Throughout the book she weaves context, analysis and first-hand testimony with considerable skill, producing a text which flows as well as it informs.'

Roger Moorhouse, History Today

" intriguing " - The Scotsman

'...it provides a much-needed emphasis on ordinary human beings and on their struggle to sustain loving relationships amid unimaginable horror.' - Journal of Contemporary History

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $89.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction History Regional & National History European History Specific Events & Topics in History Geonocide & Ethnic Cleansing The Holocaust General & World History Social & Cultural History Sociology & Anthropology Sociology Sociology & Family & Relationships

Earliest Times to Present Day 20th Century History from 1900 to 2000 Warfare & Defence

Other Editions and Formats

Hardcover

Published: 15th December 2010

View Product

List of tables and graphs	p. ix
List of illustrations	p. x
Preface	p. xi
List of abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Family Life under National Socialism	p. 20
Destroying the private sphere?	p. 22
Racial demands	p. 29
Room for manoeuvre	p. 33
Staying in Touch	p. 36
Communication difficulties	p. 36
On the move	p. 50
Letter-writing	p. 54
Radio	p. 60
Staying in Love	p. 62
Separation	p. 62
Material shortages	p. 69
Endurance	p. 77
Empowerment or Endurance?	p. 93
The Hour of the Woman	p. 93
What remained	p. 98
Exhaustion	p. 101
Injured masculinity	p. 113
Parents and Children	p. 123
Motherhood on the home front	p. 124
Fatherhood from afar	p. 131
Reunion	p. 139
Conclusion	p. 150
Appendices	p. 156
Notes	p. 176
Bibliography	p. 212
Index	p. 247
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Genders and Sexualities in History

Family Life in Germany, 1939-48

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

Other Editions and Formats

Hardcover

More in Social & Cultural History

The Cats of Australia: From shipmates to soulmates - a complicated history of moggies Down Under, by Australia's only cat historian

From shipmates to soulmates and eco-villains - the complicated story of moggies Down Under

Manchester must dance

A life of music, madness and moving on up

Divide & Rule

Royal Women and their Battles

Luna Park

The extraordinary story of the showmen, shysters and schemers who built Sydney's famous fun park

Born in 1946? What else happened?

What else happened?

The Voynich Manuscript

Born in 1956? What else happened? 2024 edition

What else happened?

Women, Race & Class

Penguin Modern Classics

The Origins of Totalitarianism

Penguin Modern Classics

A World Appears

A Journey Into Consciousness

Raven Mother

War, Family and Inheritance: a Memoir

The Town Like No Other

A Story of Broken Hill

Australia: A History: by the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott with a foreword by Geoffrey Blainey

From convict colony to great democracy

Said the Dead

The new book from the award-winning author of A GHOST IN THE THROAT

The Dawn of Everything

A New History of Humanity

The Children of Ash and Elm

A History of the Vikings

The Master and His Emissary

The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Goliath's Curse

The History and Future of Societal Collapse

First Knowledges Politics

Philosophical Ordering by Country

Entitled

The Rise and Fall of the House of York

Super Nintendo

How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun

Blitzed

Drugs in Nazi Germany

The Breath of the Gods

The History and Future of the Wind

Hard Streets

Working-Class Lives in Charlie Chaplin's London

This product is categorised by