The exhibition seeks answers to these questions by examining not only the phenomenon of Hitler, but also German society and its significance for the rule of National Socialism.
Hitler’s power cannot only be explained by his personal traits, but also by the political and social conditions and sensitivities of the German people at the time. The exhibition explores this idea, juxtaposing contemporary documents, pictures and everyday objects from the time with material showing the role of Hitler, the politics of the Nazi regime, and the involvement of German society. Assertions by the Nazi propaganda machine are offset by counter images, and picture walls shed light on the negative dynamics and ambivalence of the politics of the Nazi regime.
Stunningly displayed in the museum’s new 1050m2 exhibition hall designed by architect I.M. Pei, ‘Hitler and the Germans’ also describes the conditions leading up to the dictator’s accession to power, the politics of domination and annihilation practised by the National Socialists, and the post-war period after 1945.
Hitler and the Germans: Nation and Crime
I M Pei Exhibition Hall, German Historical Museum, Berlin
15th October 2010 – 6th February 2011
http://www.dhm.de/ENGLISH/ausstellungen/index.html