Nazi Wives
My favorite genre is historical fiction, and my favorite time period to read about is WWII. Therefore, I’ve read and digested a lot of fiction, nonfiction, biographies, ect. in order to learn as much as I can. This was my first time reading a book strictly dedicated to the lives of the wives of the men and officers that made up Hitler’s inner circle..
Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Hess, Bormann—names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margarete, Lina, Ilse and Gerda...
These are the women behind the infamous men—complex individuals with distinctive personalities who were captivated by Hitler and whose everyday lives were governed by Nazi ideology. Throughout the rise and fall of Nazism these women loved and lost, raised families and quarreled with their husbands and each other, all the while jostling for position with the Fuhrer himself. Until now, they have been treated as minor characters, their significance ignored, as if they were unaware of their husbands' murderous acts, despite the evidence that was all around them: the stolen art on their walls, the slave labor in their homes, and the produce grown in concentration camps on their tables.
Can one say they enjoyed reading about the depravity, selfishness and ignorance of others without feeling guilty? Maybe I should say that I was captivated by James Wyllie’s ability and dedication to research as he told the story of each wife. I had already known quite a bit about Magda Goebbels and her ruthlessness in the way she used her own power and that of her husband’s to get not only what she wanted, but to advance what the party and Hitler wanted for the future of Germany. The other women were all brand new to me, and I definitely learned a lot about them and their roles and views. These women were not victims of circumstance as their husbands began to wield their power to further unimaginable horrors and then inflict them upon the world. Each woman was a dedicated Nazi, anti-Semitic, who was beyond enthusiastic about Hitler’s rise to power.
What truly stuck out to me (and where I found myself most captivated) were the post war stories. Even as the war came to its close, and the unfathomable atrocities were laid at their doorstep, these women were still faithful and dedicated not only to their husbands but to the Nazi party itself. Even more is divulged in this book about their disgusting actions after the war, but you are going to have to read it to find out and educate yourself further.
