LEADER 03906cam a2200409Ia 4500001 70555 005 20240621172626.0 008 020410s2000 xx rb 000 0 eng d 035 (OCoLC)ocm49693605 035 70555 049 LHMA 040 LHM |beng |erda |cLHM 090 HQ799.G32 |bB47 2000 100 1 Redding, Kimberly Ann. 245 10 We wanted to be young : |bHitler's youth in post-war Berlin / |cby Kimberly Ann Redding. 264 1 [Place of publication not identified] : |b[publisher not identified], |c2000. 300 382 pages 336 text |btxt |2rdacontent 337 unmediated |bn |2rdamedia 338 volume |bnc |2rdacarrier 502 Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001. 504 Includes bibliographical references (pages 356-382). 520 Images of youth and youthfulness constituted a central element of National Socialism, and Hitler's exploitation of attitudes of and about young people has long interested scholars. While this interest has produced a diverse literature exploring youth experience during the Nazi period, there have been surprisingly few attempts to analyze how young Germans coped with the demise and consequences of the Third Reich. My work explores Nazism's immediate and longterm influence on German youth by examining young Berliners' lives during and after World War II. I argue that wartime experiences prepared youths quite effectively-if inadvertently-for life under quadripartite occupation. Although frequently described as disinterested and immoral, these young people seized new opportunities for autonomy and self-definition in the early postwar years. Using archival and oral sources, the dissertation concentrates on experiences and memories of Berliners born between 1926 and 1933. The Introduction discusses methodology and analysis within the context of past approaches to the study of youth. Chapter Two explores cohort members' early memories, asking how Nazism shaped children's lives between 1933 and 1943. Chapter Three focuses on key experiences near the end of World War II that are recalled as crucial turning points in personal narratives and unifying features of cohort identity. Furthering this discussion, Chapter Four explores how the Hunger Years, although defined by hardship, nonetheless constitute a meaningful period of self-determination, while Chapter Five discusses (re)constructions of an aura of normalcy in the early 1950s. The Interludes draw attention to three groups deemed especially problematic by post-war authorities. Finally, Chapter Six offers a broader discussion of the constructed nature of both memory and youth.By exploring Berliners' recollections of youth, my work uncovers personal and collective initiative among a cohort widely considered apathetic, and argues that, despite decades of enforced separation, shared experiences of the 1940s similarly inform the self-perceptions of both East and West Berliners. It integrates oral and archival sources to explore how Nazism, division and reunification have shaped the contemporary identities of a generation of Germans. 530 Electronic version(s) |bavailable internally at USHMM. 533 Photocopy. |bAnn Arbor, Mich. : |cUMI Disseration Services, |d2002. |e22 cm. 590 Dissertations and Theses 591 Record updated by Marcive processing 21 June 2024 650 0 Youth |zGermany |zBerlin. 650 0 Fascism and youth |zGermany |zBerlin. 650 0 Urban youth |zGermany |zBerlin. 650 7 Youth. |2homoit 856 41 |uhttp://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=728503731&sid=95&Fmt=6&clientId=54617&RQT=309&VName=PQD |zElectronic version from ProQuest 956 41 |u http://dc.ushmm.org/library/bib70555/3007871.pdf |z Hosted by USHMM. 994 E0 |bLHM 852 0 |bstacks |hHQ799.G32 |iB47 2000 852 |bwww 852 0 |bebook