by: Carole Novielli

Oxford Scholarship Online describes a chapter in Robert Gellately’s book, Backing Hitler entitled, Concentration Camps in Public Spaces, this way:

This chapter discusses how concentration camps became firmly established in the public mind. As the war dragged on, the camp world invaded everyday life as never before, and confronted citizens with the cruellest sides of the dictatorship. Camp prisoners and slave workers appeared in public spaces all over Germany, from factories to city streets, and became impossible to overlook. By and large, Germans regarded the prisoners in their telltale camp garb and often in wooden shoes in terms they had come to accept from pre-war propaganda. Although there are stories from survivors of the help and comfort they received, the overwhelming impression is that Germans were at best indifferent and fearful, and at worst they shared the guards’ scorn, hostility, and hatred.

This, my friends…