Events

The Nazi mind: 12 warnings from history

Hosted by the Department of International History

Alumni Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building, United Kingdom

Speaker

Laurence Rees

Laurence Rees

Author, filmmaker, historian

Chair

Dr David Motadel

Dr David Motadel

Associate Professor, Department of International History, LSE

From the bestselling author of The Holocaust, a groundbreaking narrative history of the motivation and mentality behind the Nazis and their supporters.

How could the Nazis have committed the crimes they did? Why did the commandants of concentration and death camps willingly – often enthusiastically – oversee mass murder? How could ordinary Germans have tolerated the removal of the Jews?

In The Nazi Mind, bestselling author Laurence Rees combines history and the latest research in psychology to help answer some of the most perplexing questions surrounding the Second World War and the Holocaust.

Ultimately, he delves into the darkness to explain how and why these people were capable of committing the worst crime in the history of the world. Rees traces the rise and eventual fall of the Nazis through the lens of ‘twelve warnings’ – from talk about ‘them’ and ‘us’ to the escalation of racism – whilst also highlighting signs to look out for in present day leaders.

Rees uses previously unpublished testimony from former Nazis and those who grew up in the Nazi system, and in-depth psychological insights including cutting edge work on obedience, authority, and the brain. The Nazi Mind is a revelatory new way of understanding how so many people committed the most appalling crime of the 20th century.

About our speaker:

Laurence Rees is the author of several acclaimed books on the Second World War and is a former Head of BBC TV History programmes. His work includes the television series and bestselling books The Nazis: A Warning from History, Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution', World War II: Behind Closed Doors and The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler. In 2017, his The Holocaust: A New History, was a Sunday Times bestseller. Educated at Oxford University, Rees holds honorary doctorates from the University of Sheffield and the Open University. His many awards include a British Book Award, a BAFTA, a George Foster Peabody award, a Broadcasting Press Guild award, a Grierson award, a Broadcast award, two International Documentary awards and two Emmys.

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