The German Catastrophe: Reflections and Recollections

Friedrich Meinecke (1862–1954), a prominent German historian of his time, feels pain for his country and regrets that the catastrophe could not be prevented. He reflects on the causes of what happened and how the Germans could climb out of the abyss they found themselves in 1945. Unlike his compatriot Karl Jaspers, who focused on the question of guilt and responsibility, Meinecke asks other questions. Was Hitler's rise to power accidental or inevitable? Does the Third Reich have deep roots in Germany's past? Is Nazism dead, or is there a risk of its return to the historical stage? And finally, amid the devastation and humiliation, do Germans have any hope for a better life?
These issues concerned educated Germans in the first post-war months and years. That is why Meinecke's book, published in 1946, became a bestseller, going through several editions in a row.

Friedrich Meinecke. The German Catastrophe. Reflections and Recollections / Translated from German by Nikolai Vlasov. Editor Irina Kravtsova. — St. Petersburg: Ivan Limbach Publishing House, 2024.