German voices about the Nazi terror: late opponents and postwar critics

Of the dark passions that afflict mankind none has surpassed Nazism in its dimensions of evil. Descriptions of its terror abound, and many attempts have been made to understand what it was that drove an entire nation to serve an ideology of evil and madness. Many volumes have been written about the historical background of what occurred and about the socioeconomic factors that contributed to the rise of Nazism. Attempts have also been made to build psychodynamic underpinnings, so as to help us understand the inconceivable. I believe that we will never grasp it fully, yet there are sources that have remained underutilized, particularly on our side of the Atlantic. I am referring to books written by German authors. Some of them exist in English translation, most do not. For years I have read everything on the subject that came to my attention. I have been shaped by those events and cannot let go of them. So here is an occasion to share some of my thoughts with you.