Though three of his four grandparents were from America and the first language he learned at home was English, Baldur von Schirach became one of the Third Reich’s most influential individuals. He joined the Nazi Party as early as 1925 at the age of eighteen and three years later became a member of its National Leadership. He also married Henriette, the daughter of Hitler’s personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann.\nVon Schirach continued to rise through the ranks of the Nazi Party, reaching the rank of SA-Gruppenführer. It was as the leader of the Hitler Youth organization, however, for which von Schirach is best remembered, becoming Reichsführer of the Hitler Youth on 16 June 1932, and the following year was given responsibility for all youth organizations in Germany. He also became a member of the Reichstag as a representative of the Party.\nDespite his influential position, he was called up for military service and served in the French campaign of 1940. Following this he became Reich Governor and the Nazi’s Gauleiter Reichsstatthalter in Vienna – powerful positions he retained until the final collapse of the Third Reich in May 1945. His responsibilities as Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter included overseeing the deportation of Vienna’s Jews to ghettos and concentration camps in occupied Poland. Though a confirmed anti-Semite, later in the war he pleaded for a moderate treatment of the eastern European peoples and criticized the conditions in which Jews were being deported. This caused a breach with Hitler and the Nazi leadership, though he managed to retain his position in Vienna.\nFollowing his capture by US troops, von Schirach was among the major war criminals put on trial at Nuremburg. Found guilty of crimes against humanity on 1 October 1946, von Schirach was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. He served out his time in the company of Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer in Spandau prison. He admitted his crimes and his role in the deportations and in his autobiography, I Believed in Hitler, he explained how he was drawn into the world of the Nazis. He also said that his aim was destroy any belief in the rebirth of Nazism as well as blaming himself for not having done more to prevent the concentration camps.\nThis detailed and balanced analysis of Baldur von Schirach reveals the true and ambivalent nature of a complex and fascinating individual who played a key role in the events leading up to, and during, the Second World War.

Baldur von Schirach: Nazi Leader and Head of the Hitler Youth

Biographies & Memoirs

Rathkolb, Oliver

Leaders & Notable People

Frontline Books

The Paradoxical Republic: Austria 1945-2005

Austria, a small-state society with barely eight million inhabitants differs from the rest of Europe in that it displays various paradoxical developments in its political culture, social life, and economy. First, most Austrians are the descendents of immigrants from all parts of the Habsburg Monarchy due to intensive migration occurring before 1913. Yet contemporary election campaigns and domestic and international politics have been dominated by xenophobic anti-migration slogans, especially since 1989. Without migration, the country's population would be in serious decline. Second, the Austrians have profited enormously from EU membership and EU enlargement but are stubbornly opposed to EU institutions, and there is little evidence of any EU hyphenated identities. Last, attitudes to historical events are equally contradictory: even though up to 600,000 Austrians were members of the Nazi Party, often holding prominent positions (Adolf Hitler himself), the German Reich has been regarded as solely responsible for the Holocaust. These and a number of other paradoxical perceptions are explored and interpreted in this fascinating and wide-ranging work by one of Austria's leading historians.

History

Europe

Berghahn Books

The Paradoxical Republic: Austria 1945–2020

From its emergence out of the ashes of World War II through to the economic and political challenges of today, Austria has embodied many of the contradictions of recent European history. Written by one of the nation's leading historians, this account of postwar Austria explores the tensions that have defined it for over seven decades, whether in its overlapping policies of engagement and isolationism, its grandiose visions and persistent sense of inferiority, or its position as a model social democracy that has suffered recurrent bouts of xenophobic nationalism. This newly revised edition also addresses the major developments since 2005, including a resurgent far right, economic instability, and the potential fracturing of the European Union.

Austria, a small-state society with barely eight million inhabitants differs from the rest of Europe in that it displays various paradoxical developments in its political culture, social life, and economy. First, most Austrians are the descendents of immigrants from all parts of the Habsburg Monarchy due to intensive migration occurring before 1913. Yet contemporary election campaigns and domestic and international politics have been dominated by xenophobic anti-migration slogans, especially since 1989. Without migration, the country’s population would be in serious decline. Second, the Austrians have profited enormously from EU membership and EU enlargement but are stubbornly opposed to EU institutions, and there is little evidence of any EU hyphenated identities. Last, attitudes to historical events are equally contradictory: even though up to 600,000 Austrians were members of the Nazi Party, often holding prominent positions (Adolf Hitler himself), the German Reich has been regarded as solely responsible for the Holocaust. These and a number of other paradoxical perceptions are explored and interpreted in this fascinating and wide-ranging work by one of Austria’s leading historians.

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Books by Rathkolb, Oliver

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rathkolb, Oliver. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Baldur von Schirach: Nazi Leader and Head of the Hitler Youth

The Paradoxical Republic: Austria 1945-2005

The Paradoxical Republic: Austria 1945–2020

The Paradoxical Republic: Austria 1945–2020

The Paradoxical Republic: Austria 1945-2005