A random conversation at a party or a chance encounter on an aeroplane has led to a remarkable diary or a clutch of revealing letters. In my own case, a number of my most rewarding finds have been the result of sheer luck. While it is reassuring for those of us who care about such things to know that so much grass-roots history survives, the problem remains of how to track it down. The importance of these records lies not in the quality of the writing nor the author’s brilliant perception, but in the fact that they were written there and then, without benefit of hindsight. When I was researching Travellers in the Third Reich, one ninety-seven year old lady I interviewed recalled being overwhelmed by the stench of ‘sweat, feet and high leather boots’ as she made her way through crowds of swastika-waving Hitler supporters in Bayreuth. While such material is unlikely to cast light on international treaties or government policy, it does give the would-be time traveller an unrivalled sense of the period in question, its mood and vision, humour and touch – even smell.

Tucked away in the manuscript collections of countless libraries and public record offices – and quite possibly in your own attic – there exists a wealth of this raw, unfiltered history waiting to be uncovered. If you want to know what it was really like to live in a period of history other than your own, there is surely no better way than to immerse yourself in the letters, diaries and memoirs of that time – particularly those written with no thought of publication or posterity. This is how the author explained her book: It was also a decade for old soldiers to visit and to try to keep the peace, or alternatively, to honor the rise of fascism in Germany. These visitors came to learn about the new regime and to remember and honor German culture and its accomplishments over the decades. This was different from Soviet Russia, and more like Communist China. “Without the benefit of hindsight, how do you interpret what is right in front of your eyes?”Ī very impressive book published in 2017 by Julia Boyd provides a way to put the reader inside the evolution of the 1930s in Germany via providing interpretations year by year of the 1930s by a wide range of travelers to the Third Reich.Ī much ignored aspect of life during the Reich was that foreign visitors often came to visit. We are clearly going through a profound historical change that could turn out in many different ways.Ī good reminder is to read history without the benefit of interpretating the options without having those judgements dominated by the benefit of hindsight. This certainly applies to current history.

It was once said that without background music it is hard to know what is happening right now in your life.

Travellers to the third reich