Why did Hitler rise to power? This much-asked question was the title of a study conducted in 1934 with convinced Nazi supporters, whose autobiographies are the subject of the contributions in this volume. The self-testimonies of former National Socialists and expelled Germans are also used to trace individual and collective biographical processes. The authors address, for example, orientation mechanisms in national "we"-communities, motives for entry and strategies for exoneration. The contributors this indirectly and directly ask which research perspectives and knowledge potentials can be generated from the diverse manuscripts.weiterlesen