This is a good book to read in explaining how a democratic society became totalitarian in a span of six months. THe author Allen explains it using the small town of Northeim in Hanover. Northeim was a typical town that weathered the turmoil of the twenties and thirties. In 1932, 66% percent of the population voted for the Nazis. In 1933, the Nazis took over the town administration and basically wiped out any opposition by the SPD or Nationalists. This book explains how the Nazis did it on a small scale. Initial violence, concentration camps, firing of those who held opposite political views, and police raids silenced the opposition. They were so silenced that the town did not get back its freedom till 1945.
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