The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower: Complicity and Conflict on American Campuses

This is the first systematic exploration of the nature and extent of sympathy for Nazi Germany at American universities during the 1930s. Universities were highly influential in shaping public opinion and many of the nation's most prominent university administrators refused to take a principled stand against the Hitler regime. Universities welcomed Nazi officials to campus and participated enthusiastically in student exchange programs with Nazified universities in Germany. American educators helped Nazi Germany improve its image in the West as it intensified its persecution of the Jews and strengthened its armed forces. The study contrasts the significant American grass-roots protest against Nazism that emerged as soon as Hitler assumed power with campus quiescence, and administrators' frequently harsh treatment of those students and professors who challenged their determination to maintain friendly relations with Nazi Germany.

Author: Stephen H. Norwood
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 05/25/2009
Pages: 339
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.36lbs
Size: 9.89h x 5.22w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780521762434
Award: National Jewish Book Award - Finalist

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 06/01/2009 pg. 109
Choice 04/01/2010

About the Author
Norwood, Stephen H.: - Stephen H. Norwood, who holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, is Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. His two-volume Encyclopedia of American Jewish History, co-edited with Eunice G. Pollack (2008), received the Booklist Editor's Choice Award. He is also the author of three other books on American history, the winner of the Herbert G. Gutman Award in American Social History and the co-winner of the Macmillan/SABR Award in Baseball History. His articles have appeared in anthologies and numerous journals, including American Jewish History, Modern Judaism and the Journal of Social History.