Karl, Eva "Coburg voran!"

Mechanismen der Macht. Herrschen und Leben in der "ersten nationalsozialistischen Stadt Deutschlands"

This book is guided by two questions: How did it come about that the city of Coburgof all placesbecame Germanys "first National Socialist city" in 1929, thereby acting as a trailblazer for the Hitler regime? What impact did this development have on the city and its citizens, on municipal administration, on labor and the culture of public celebration during the 1930s and 1940s, and on the regional economyparticularly during the upheavals of the war years leading up to 1945? The study focuses on the overt and covert mechanisms of control employed by the Coburg NSDAP: its acts of repression and propaganda campaigns; its stifling of all freedom; the exclusion of entire population groupsforemost among them the Jewsfrom the so-called "national community" (*Volksgemeinschaft*); and its assaults on the lives and physical safety of political dissenters and those deemed "inferior." The book dissects an opaque stronghold that shaped everyday life down to the most intimate private spherea system that faced no effective resistance for nearly sixteen years. *Coburg voran!* presents research findings grounded in rigorous scholarly standards and the utmost objectivity. Full disclosure of sources allows every statement to be verified. Thus, the book serves not only as the first comprehensive account of this dark chapter in Coburgs history but also as a warning against the very real possibility of a resurgence of oppression through dictatorship and tyranny. The methods remain the same.