Civil obedience in national socialist Germany (1933-1945): conditions to understand a complex social phenomenon

Authors

  • Ariel Alvéstegui Universidad de Chile

Abstract

The present article summarizes the results of a qualitative study aimed at understanding the conditions leading to civil obedience within dictatorial regimes and particularly during National Socialism in Germany. Civil obedience under dictatorial regimes has been an important issue discussed both in the philosophical and sociological literature on the Holocaust during the 20th Century. We address the question through the memory and experience of a number of German-Jewish immigrants who experienced Nazism in Germany (1933-1945), and escaped to Chile. In this study we conclude that civil obedience is a complex social phenomenon that arises from a number of historical and social interactions and conditions that allow us to understand the public and private acceptance of a dictatorial regime.

Keywords:

Obedience, Memory, Jewish immigrants, Holocaust, Dictatorial regimes