German Agencies at the Center and at the Periphery

doi:10.1017/9781108990158.007

4 - German Agencies at the Center and at the Periphery

from Part I - Structures, Players, and Processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 May 2025

Elizabeth Harvey

Edited by

Mary Fulbrook and

Jürgen Matthäus

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Mary Fulbrook: Affiliation:
University College London
Jürgen Matthäus: Affiliation:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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Summary

This chapter explains the basics of Nazi understanding of securing and legitimizing power, dynamics of the “normative/prerogative state” where applicable/useful; clarifies the institutional framework relevant for mass violence in the Reich and occupied regions (military/civil administrations, non-German collaborators/auxiliaries), the development of institutions and their interaction during war, the role of cultural-political perceptions of space (”Heimat,” “the East”) and “normalcy” for participation in violence against civilians

Keywords

Nazi power mass violence

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of the Holocaust , pp. 93 - 121

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108990158.007 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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