Aftermath

Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945-1955

By: Harald Jähner, Shaun Whiteside - translator

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

How does a nation recover from fascism and turn toward a free society once more? This internationally acclaimed revelatory history of the transformational decade that followed World War II illustrates how Germany raised itself out of the ashes of defeat and reckoned with the corruption of its soul and the horrors of the Holocaust.

The years 1945 to 1955 were a raw, wild decade that found many Germans politically, economically, and morally bankrupt. Victorious Allied forces occupied the four zones that make up present-day Germany. More than half the population was displaced; 10 million newly released forced laborers and several million prisoners of war returned to an uncertain existence. Cities lay in ruins—no mail, no trains, no traffic—with bodies yet to be found beneath the towering rubble.

Aftermath received wide acclaim and spent forty-eight weeks on the best-seller list in Germany when it was published there in 2019. It is the first history of Germany's national mentality in the immediate postwar years. Using major global political developments as a backdrop, Harald Jähner weaves a series of life stories into a nuanced panorama of a nation undergoing monumental change. Poised between two eras, this decade is portrayed by Jähner as a period that proved decisive for Germany's future—and one starkly different from how most of us imagine it today.

The human side of reconstruction

Great book about what the average German and unsettled person experienced post war. The book is not overly technical and describes board events. Overall good read.

learned a lot

I learned a lot from this book. It answered some of my questions, but I still have more.

Ought to be required reading!

I was absolutely shocked to learn of the struggles of the German people after world war 2. So often, the American image of Germany is one of hyper efficiency and of engineering marvels.
The suffering, cleanup, self evaluation and reemergence of the German people was eye opening and emotional to read of.

An Ambitious Work on a Largely Untold Story

We know lots about the build-up to WWII and the war itself. We know little of how the German people moved forward following their defeat. This book delves into the psychology of Germans climbing out of the rubble, and addressing—or perhaps better put, not addressing—the moral plague of 1933 to 1945. The book includes numerous anecdotes supporting the author’s views.

This is an important chapter of 20th century history, and I applaud the author for his excellent reporting. I found a chapter on post-war modern art not particularly relevant and somewhat out-of-place, but with that one exception, I really enjoyed Aftermath. We need more books like this that cut new ground!

Very informative essential reading

This book is essential those who want to understand how modern Germany was born. The anger, the hatred, the need for revenge, the need for justice, the broken men, the pillaged women, the killers, the merciful, the gangsters, the black market dealers, the liars and the redeemed, it is all here they are all here, and the world is both lucky and glad the democratic government made it through the Aftermath.