Prevail until the Bitter End

In Prevail until the Bitter End, Alexandra Lohse explores the gossip and innuendo, the dissonant reactions and perceptions, of Germans to the violent dissolution of the Third Reich. Mobilized for total war, soldiers and citizens alike experienced an unprecedented convergence of military, economic, social, and political crises. But even in retreat, the militarized national community unleashed ferocious energies, staving off defeat for over two years and continuing a systematic murder campaign against European Jews and others. Was its faith in the F hrer never shaken by the prospect of ultimate defeat?

Lohse uncovers how Germans experienced life and death, investigates how mounting emergency conditions impacted their understanding of the nature and purpose of the conflagration, and shows how these factors impacted people's relationship with the Nazi