The End is here
Following the publication of his new book, The End: Hitler’s Germany, 1944-1945, we asked Ian Kershaw about his long career studying Nazi Germany.
HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN STUDYING HITLER?
It was through the German language. I was originally a medieval historian, but I attended the Gotha Institute to learn German as a hobby and I had a wonderful teacher there. I then became intrigued by German history. The Germans are very much like us. Germany is a very civilised society. How could all these terrible things [in the Nazi period] have happened? I felt impelled to try and answer that question. I was encouraged by colleagues to apply for a new post teaching modern history at Manchester University. To my amazement, I was interviewed and offered the job. So without any background, I was suddenly given an opportunity to become a modern historian.
WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO WRITE A FULL BIOGRAPHY OF HITLER?
I specialised in the Third Reich and wrote a series of other books on different aspects of the subject, but I had no plans to write a Hitler biography. Penguin approached me to do so, but at first I turned them down. I changed my mind mainly because I realised there was space for a new biography. Alan Bulloch’s Hitler: a study in tyranny is in many ways an excellent study, but it was published in 1952 and it was, by Bulloch’s own admission and intention, very much a biography of the man rather than an account of the dictatorship. I wanted to show how Hitler was possible – that meant putting his life in its social, political, and military context.
THE BIOGRAPHY ENDED UP AS TWO FAT VOLUMES. WAS THIS ALWAYS THE PLAN?
The two volumes simply emerged. My technique lent itself to greater length because I was writing about society as well as Hitler. I thought Penguin would probably demand major cuts, but in fact it was they who originally suggested turning it into a two-volume study. When we got the first volume out, there was an avalanche of publicity I did not expect. I was trying to write the second volume at the same time, as well as continuing with my teaching and managerial duties at the university. It was very hard – not a period I look back on fondly.
WHAT ABOUT YOUR NEW BOOK? WAS ‘THE END’ NOT ADEQUATELY COVERED IN THE SECOND VOLUME OF THE HITLER BIOGRAPHY?
I worked on a couple of other books between completing the Hitler biography and writing The End. But there was an historical problem nagging at me. It had not really been answered in Nemesis, which was too much focused on Hitler himself. The question was: how had the regime survived so long after the war was obviously lost? This could only be answered by taking a wider canvas than just Hitler; it was necessary to look at the whole society in this period.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?
There is a lot of new research on the Third Reich that is providing more detail, especially about what was happening at a local level, but I don’t think there are big overall questions demanding interpretation. So I’m expecting to work on other subjects. Most immediately, I’m writing the 20th century volume of Penguin’s history of Europe. Retiring from Sheffield has freed me up in this respect.
HOW HAS YOUR CLOSE ENGAGEMENT WITH HITLER OVER SO MANY YEARS AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?
I don’t think it’s had a searing impact. It has sharpened my awareness of certain political and moral issues. I probably have a different attitude towards issues like racism and immigration than would have been the case had I remained a medieval historian. But I don’t think my personality has been affected. There has always been life beyond Hitler – sport, music, and especially my family, both children and now grandchildren.
WHAT, IN A FEW WORDS, IS YOUR VIEW OF HITLER?
Some people – not me – are able to see something positive in the achievements of 20th century figures like Stalin and Mao, even if they recognise the appalling crimes. But there was nothing whatsoever about the Nazi regime that we can hold in approval. It was an entirely negative historical experience.
Ian Kershaw is a British historian and leading expert on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.
