Leseprobe

101 war reached the homeland, it confined all of German society to base- ments and reduced most else to rubble—a fate that had previously only been known in areas targeted by the bombing campaign. In such a setting, survival hinged more and more on the ability to improvise and organise. This required widespread individualisation. Surviving and “pulling through” were increasingly becoming the quintessential modes of existence during this period, on both the battlefield and the home front. Meanwhile, the trend toward individualisation was being spurred by the dissolution of existing social bonds, which were disrupted by military conscription, casualty rates, emigration and evacuation, including the evacuation of children into the countryside. As time passed, Germans began focusing exclusively on themselves and their immediate families. 5 Because the moral support of the masses for the Third Reich depended on its successes, and because the reigning ideology was fixated on attaining success through brute strength, these develop- ments thoroughly altered the nature and the role of the Nazi regime. The enormous fears of Soviet recrimination suggest that Germans were much more aware of Nazi crimes in Eastern Europe than most of them would admit. It is partially for this reason that many Germans in the last months of the conflict expressed hope that the Western Allies would occupy the country and end the war. France, the United Kingdom and the United States were viewed with a mixture of curios- ity and uncertainty. 6