Description
Book SynopsisSurviving Hitler and Mussolini examines how far everyday life was possible in a situation of total war and brutal occupation. Its theme is the social experience of occupation in German- and Italian-occupied Europe, and in particular the strategies ordinary people developed in order to survive. Survival included meeting the challenges of shortage and hunger, of having to work for the enemy, of women entering into intimate relations with soldiers, of the preservation of culture in a fascist universe, of whether and how to resist, and the reaction of local communities to measures of reprisal taken in response to resistance. What emerges is that ordinary people were less heroes, villains or victims than inventive and resourceful individuals able to maintain courage and dignity despite the conditions they faced.The book adopts a comparative approach from Denmark and the Netherlands to Poland and Greece, and offers a fresh perspective on the Second World War.
Trade Review'These six chpters written by European scholars uncover revealing social details of everyday survival under primarily German but also Italian occupation.'Choice Magazine (Vol 44, No 11, August 2007)
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Surviving Hunger by Polymeris Voglis (University of Thessaly, Greece) 2. To Work or not to work by Robert Gildea (University of Oxford), Dirk Luyten (Centre d'Etudes et Documentation Guerre et Societes Contemporaines, Brussels) and Juliane Furst (University of Oxford) 3. Intimate and sexual relations by Anette Warring (University of Roskilde, Denmark) 4. The School as cultural interface by Pavla Vosahlikova (Institute of History of Academy of Science, Prague) Benedicte Rochet (Centre d'Etudes et Documentation Guerre et Societes Contemporaines, Brussels) and Fabrice Weiss (University of Metz) 5. Resistance from everyday life to counter-state by Olivier Wieviorka (Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan, Paris) and Jacek Tebinka (University of Gdansk, Poland) 6. Resistance and reprisals by Geraldien von Frijtag Drabbe Kunzel (University of Utrecht) Conclusion
