Götz Aly: Wie konnte das geschehen? (Klartext)

Götz Aly has published important works on social policy and the history of National Socialism, including*Volk ohne Mitte*(2015). Most recently, he published his major study on the European history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust,*Europa gegen die Juden 1880–1945*(Europe Against theJews, 1880–1945), for which he received the Geschwister Scholl Prize in 2018.

In his latest work, he analyzes the methods of rule and the consolidation of National Socialism. He describes how promises of prosperity, political mobilization, and targeted control shaped a society that was ultimately drawn into war and mass crimes, and how consent, fear, and conformity allowed a “community of crime” to emerge. The book makes clear how domination, propaganda, and social dynamics interacted and why these mechanisms remain disturbingly relevant today.

Götz Aly, a multi-award-winning historian and journalist—writing for publications such as the *taz* and the *Berliner Zeitung*—served for several years as a visiting professor for interdisciplinary Holocaust research at the Fritz Bauer Institute in Frankfurt am Main. Today he works as a freelance author.

Moderator:
Frank Schäferlives in Braunschweig, where he works as an author and music and literary critic. He writes for publications including the *taz* and *Rolling Stone*.