The work I did : a memoir of the secretary to Goebbels / Brunhilde Pomsel, Thore D. Hansen ; translated by Shaun Whiteside.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pomsel, Brunhilde, 1911-2017, author.

Hansen, Thore D., 1969- author.

Contributor:

Whiteside, Shaun, translator.

Standardized Title:

Deutsches Leben. English

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Pomsel, Brunhilde, 1911-2017.

Pomsel, Brunhilde.

Goebbels, Joseph, 1897-1945.

Goebbels, Joseph.

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei.

Germany--Politics and government--1933-1945.

Germany.

Politics and government.

Germany--Officials and employees--Biography.

Employees.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 212 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.

Language Note:

Translated from the German.

Summary:

'I know no one ever believes us nowadays: everyone thinks we knew everything. We knew nothing. It was all a well-kept secret. We believed it. We swallowed it. It seemed entirely plausible.' Brunhilde Pomsel described herself as an 'apolitical girl' and a 'figure on the margins'. How are we to reconcile this description with her chosen profession? Employed as a typist during the Second World War, she worked closely with one of the worst criminals in world history: Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. She was one of the oldest surviving eyewitnesses to the internal workings of the Nazi power apparatus until her death in 2017. Her life, mirroring all the major breaks and continuities of the twentieth century, illustrates how far-right politics, authoritarian regimes and dictatorships can rise, and how political apathy can erode democracy. Compelling and unnerving, The Work I Did gives us intimate insight into political complexity at society's highest levels at one of history's darkest moments.

Contents:

'We weren't interested in politics' Growing up in 1930s Berlin

'Hitler was simply just a new man' Joining the Reichsrundfunk

'It was a bit of an elite' Promotion to the Propaganda Ministry

'Loyal to the end' The last days in the Propaganda Ministry

'We knew nothing' Arrest and new beginning

'I wasn't guilty' The CV of a 103-year-old woman

What the story of Goebbels's secretary teaches us for the future / Thore D. Hansen.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [191]-201) and index.

ISBN:

1408894483

9781408894484

9781408894491

1408894491

OCLC:

1001924210