Hilmes illustrates how denunciation and state violence became mundane parts of daily life, emphasizing the "banality of evil" through chilling details, such as the Nazi state sending the family a bill for Kreiten's execution costs. Style and Impact
The book draws on diaries and letters from a wide spectrum of individuals, including propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, literature scholar Viktor Klemperer, and resistance fighters like the Scholls. Oliver Hilmes Schattenzeit rar
While cities lay in ruins and the "machinery of destruction" operated at full capacity, citizens still crowded into cinemas to watch Hans Albers in Münchhausen or distracted themselves in dance halls. Hilmes uses Kreiten’s story to weave together a
Hilmes uses Kreiten’s story to weave together a broader tapestry of German society in 1943—a year defined by the catastrophic defeat at Stalingrad and Joseph Goebbels’ call for "total war": (Days of Darkness)
In his acclaimed work, (Days of Darkness), historian Oliver Hilmes presents a chilling, mosaic-like portrait of life in Nazi Germany during a pivotal year of the Second World War. The Central Tragedy