I SHALL BEAR WITNESS: THE DIARIES OF VICTOR KLEMPERER 1933-41

Victor Klemperer's diaries are very much a reminder about how life can change very quickly. Background is very reminiscent of politics today. Highly recommend! Warning:. These are very slow moving books, time frame is before television, they only had movies, books, newspapers and radio. Very interesting read to learn what daily life was like back in the 30s and later books in the 40s.

This is a gripping description of life within the Third Reich from the perspective of a non-practising Jew persecuted for his background and allowed to survive only because of his marriage to a non-Jewish wife. A deeply loyal German who had fought on the Western Front, he suffers progressive loss of job, liberty, home and income during the Hitler years 1933-1945. Had it not been for the devastation of Dresden by allied bombing one night in February 1945, allowing him and his wife to escape westward in the chaos, he would have been deported to certain death. An unremarkable man living through extraordinary times, having the courage to keep a record of his experiences throughout. Anyone trying to understand how an advanced society can slide into barbarism should read this book.

Illustrates in a day by day account how anti-Semitism and racism actually happened in pre-war Germany and how it was reinforced in the general population once open democracy was taken away. How a minority could then hold the remainder of the population imprisoned to that ideology. Fascinating and very readable despite the fact that we know what happened (and, indeed, that the Klemperers survived to 'Witness' it!).

The author was one of the few Jews who survived being in Germany during WWII. The series of books are his diaries, which on a day to day basis describe his experience as his world gets more and more prescibed and bizarre. He survives but most of those he knows do not. He does not konw that at first, but he gradually comes to understand the horrow he is living in. The writing is transparent. If anyone wants an insider's view of living in a monstosity, this is an excellent place to begin.

. We learn so much with reading this book. We are aware of how the nazis treated the Jews but this book really brings it home. The creeping dehumanisation of the European Jews feels more personal somehow.I'd definitely recommend this if you're interested in the history and personal experiences of folk living under the nazis.