Charles S. Thomas – författare

The German navy’s experiences under the Third Reich are explored in depth in this comprehensive history (originally published in 1990) of the Kriegsmarine. The author draws on a wide range of sources to illuminate for the first time the crucial relationship between the naval officer corps, one of the traditional elites of Germany and the National Socialist Party. The book begins by describing the navy’s frustrating experiences in the First World War, when inactivity on the part of the surface fleet and poor communication with the other armed services led to a revolutionary atmosphere by 1918. It then analyses the navy’s often troubled relationship with the parties of the Weimar Republic and the admirals’ fear of subversion by the Germany Communist Party which contributed to their changing relationship with National Socialism before 1933. .

The German navy’s experiences under the Third Reich are explored in depth in this comprehensive history (originally published in 1990) of the Kriegsmarine. The author draws on a wide range of sources to illuminate for the first time the crucial relationship between the naval officer corps, one of the traditional elites of Germany and the National Socialist Party. The book begins by describing the navy’s frustrating experiences in the First World War, when inactivity on the part of the surface fleet and poor communication with the other armed services led to a revolutionary atmosphere by 1918. It then analyses the navy’s often troubled relationship with the parties of the Weimar Republic and the admirals’ fear of subversion by the Germany Communist Party which contributed to their changing relationship with National Socialism before 1933. .

Separated by Worlds is the family letters to Kurt Baum, provided in both the original German and in English translation. The letters recount the story of a middle-class Jewish family from Bamberg, Germany during the Nazi era. Josef and Marie Baum sent their seventeen-year-old son Kurt to begin a new life in America. The resulting separation, presented in a stream of letters between 1937 and 1941, was as emotional as it was physical. Kurt's struggles to adapt to his new circumstances—difficulties with his American sponsor, failure at a vocational school, and halting steps toward becoming a "normal" American—were met with little understanding from his parents, who were enduring a steadily worsening existence at the hands of the Nazis. His father's desperate pleas to Kurt prior to his forced deportation and murder constitute a final rupture in this poignant story. Richly illustrated, the letters are annotated and contextualized by several essays.