Ronald Smelser - Böcker

From the 1950s onward, Americans were quite receptive to a view of World War II similar to the view held by many Germans and military personnel on how the war was fought on the Eastern Front in Russia. Through a network of formerly high-ranking Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr officers who had served on the Eastern Front, Germans were able to shape American opinions into an interpretation of World War II that left the Wehrmacht with a 'clean' reputation in World War II history. A positive view of German military conduct, opposed against a newly dismissive view of the Russian military in light of Cold War prejudices, was absorbed by many Americans during the 1950s, and continues to this day in a broad subculture of general readers, German military enthusiasts, war game aficionados, military paraphernalia collectors, and re-enactors who tend to romanticize the German army and its history.

From the 1950s onward, Americans were quite receptive to a view of World War II similar to the view held by many Germans and military personnel on how the war was fought on the Eastern Front in Russia. Through a network of formerly high-ranking Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr officers who had served on the Eastern Front, Germans were able to shape American opinions into an interpretation of World War II that left the Wehrmacht with a 'clean' reputation in World War II history. A positive view of German military conduct, opposed against a newly dismissive view of the Russian military in light of Cold War prejudices, was absorbed by many Americans during the 1950s, and continues to this day in a broad subculture of general readers, German military enthusiasts, war game aficionados, military paraphernalia collectors, and re-enactors who tend to romanticize the German army and its history.

Distinguished scholars explore historical context, perpetrators, the courts, and historical perspective as these relate to the complex topic of the Holocaust and justice. The Holocaust and justice: How can one link these terms, given the enormity of Nazi mass murder? Is justice possible for crimes of such magnitude? If so, what kind of justice? In the courts? Before the bar of history? Retrospective as well as contemporary? Divine? Weighing these questions and their considerable implications, a group of distinguished scholars attempt to untangle the complex and often contradictory relationship between the Holocaust and justice. What were the political, social, psychological, and ideological prerequisites for this tragedy? the contributors ask, seeking an historical context. What animated the murderers, and what agencies did they work through? Examining the courts and trials, from those during and immediately after the war to recent cases against aging perpetrators, the authors examine the legal mechanisms for trying to achieve justice, as well as the issues that complicate litigation, including the dimming effects of the passage of time. Their inquiry extends to questions about memory - how it is shaped and reshaped and whether it can be reliable - and about the recreation of the events of the Holocaust for a second generation: Does reassembling the evidence of the Holocaust through the lens of a later generation provide a deeper understanding, and does this understanding include a sense of justice accomplished? In raising and responding to these questions in a balanced, multifaceted, and informative way, this volume sharpens and deepens our understanding of a topic that has only become more perplexing and pressing with time.

The subject of bisexuality continues to divide the lesbian and gay community. At pride marches, in films such as Go Fish, at academic conferences, the role and status of bisexuals is hotly contested.Within lesbian communities, formed to support lesbians in a patriarchal and heterosexist society, bisexual women are often perceived as a threat or as a political weakness. Bisexual women feel that they are regarded with suspicion and distrust, if not openly scorned. Drawing on her research with over 400 bisexual and lesbian women, surveying the treatment of bisexuality in the lesbian and gay press, and examining the recent growth of a self-consciously political bisexual movement, Paula Rust addresses a range of questions pertaining to the political and social relationships between lesbians and bisexual women.By tracing the roots of the controversy over bisexuality among lesbians back to the early lesbian feminist debates of the 1970s, Rust argues that those debates created the circumstances in which bisexuality became an inevitable challenge to lesbian politics. She also traces it forward, predicting the future of sexual politics.

As neo-fascist rumblings are being felt again throughout Europe, it is proper to re-examine the development of the Third Reich and the philosophies of its leaders. The Nazi Elite presents twenty-two biographical sketches of some of the most notorious fascist leaders of the twentieth century: Joseph Goebbels, propagandist extraordinaire; Heinrich Himmler, the director of the infamous SS; Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi foreign minister; Rudolf Hess, considered by many to be deputy Fuehrer; Hermann Goerring, Hitler's right- hand man; Martin Bormann; Alfred Rosenberg; Otto Ohlendorf; Ernst Julius Rohm; and many others of the inner circle, including, of course, Adolf Hitler himself. In a series of highly readable essays, The Nazi Eliteexamines the personalities, histories, and philosophies of these men, dispels common stereotypes, and offers new perspectives. Composed by leading scholars in the U.S. and Europe, many of whom have written definitive full-length biographies on their subjects, these essays shed light on historical controversies, such as the role of modernization during the Third Reich and the basis of Hitler's power as dictator.The Nazi Elite is illuminating reading for every observer of extremist politics and for anyone interested in the history of our century.