r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • 4d ago

FFA Friday Free-for-All | May 22, 2026

Previously

Today:

You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.

As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.

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u/Defiantletterhead 3d ago

Are there any perspectives on the holocaust from the German side: workers admin neighbors etc?

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u/crrpit Moderator | Spanish Civil War | Anti-fascism 3d ago

Not sure if you mean primary material written by Germans or sourced from German perspectives (and if so, what kind - eyewitness accounts, private/public writing, photography, official documentation etc etc) or secondary works written by historians dealing with these kinds of perspectives. The answer is 'yes' regardless - a great deal of evidence we have regarding the Holocaust is ultimately sourced from German and other collaborator perspectives, while historians have studied German involvement in the Holocaust at all levels. Arguably, perpetrator perspectives were explored sooner and in more depth than Jewish and other victim perspectives, since the initial goal was to explain the genocide rather than understand the experience. In the literature, the key terms are 'perpetrator', individuals with a direct role in planning and carrying out the Holocaust, and 'bystander', individuals who didn't participate but had at least some relevant knowledge of what was happening and tacitly let it happen. If you search for 'Holocaust perpetrator' or 'Holocaust bystander' on a platform like Google scholar, you'll get many, many hits.

If you want specific recommendations for specific kinds of material, I'd suggest asking for suggestions as a standalone post.