Download or read book German Intellectuals and the Nazi Past written by A. Dirk Moses and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-08-31 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines West German intellectual debates about the Nazi past by explaining why they were so relentlessly polarized. Germans argued about the viability of their very nationality: was it stigmatized, stained, or polluted by crimes of the Third Reich? Or was it really like any other nation? The book examines how German intellectuals either defended national traditions or condemned them and instead advocated alternative traditions. Although the book proceeds chronologically, it differs from other works, which are event-based narratives, by highlighting this underlying structure of identity and dispute.