Private struggle against Nazism
Defying Hitler
By Sebastian Haffner. Allen & Unwin. 259pp. $22.95.
Reviewer: CPL Alisha Welch

For people wishing to read a different and ultimately personal account of the rise of Nazism and Hitler’s Third Reich, this book will not let you down.

Written in 1939 and only recently published after the author’s death in 1999, Defying Hitler is a captivating memoir – refreshing in the fact that the author is aware of his own insignificance within the bigger picture.

Haffner wrote this book while in exile in England and readers will appreciate the blunt honesty and disbelief at how his fellow Germans allowed a madman to rise to absolute power.

It describes his life and the political events in Germany from 1914 until 1933. After readers get through the first few chapters where Haffner recalls his childhood infatuation with the “glory” of war, the book becomes very difficult to put down.

One particular paragraph enthralled me: “When I compare the deeper conclusions that Hitler and I drew from the same painful experience [Germany’s loss in World War I] – the one fury, defiance and the resolve to become a politician, the other doubt as to the validity of the rules of the game, and a horrified foreboding of the unpredictability of life – then I cannot help thinking that the reaction of the 11-year-old child was more mature than that of the 29-year-old adult.

Undoubtedly, at that moment it was written in the stars that I could never be on friendly terms with Hitler’s Reich.”
This extract is almost empowering and I admire the author – and his strength.

Hitler managed to bury himself deep within the German psyche to play on the humiliation of losing the Great War.

To be presented with the opportunity to read an account of one man’s struggle with the Nazi ideal – written at the time – is an honour and we should consider ourselves fortunate that we actually can.