Rumours of Retaliation: Anti-Semitism, Dark Prophecies and Nazi Propaganda Seminar

How did “ordinary Germans” communicate under the specific conditions of war and dictatorship, how did they make sense of information beyond the official news or spread rumours? A history of informal communication offers a multi-layered perspective on the social and cultural history of National Socialism and German wartime society. Rumours were not only a product of crisis and uncertainty, they can also reveal social functions as forms of hearing and speaking in a society at war. The gathering, constructing, and communicating of information "from below" - just as the so called "rumour-mongering" - was a factor to constitute a society on a situational level. This could go hand in hand with the Nazi propaganda "from above," but also challenge and oppose the regime's monopoly of information.

About the Speaker
Felix Berge studied History and Philosophy at Bielefeld University in Germany and the National University of Ireland in Maynooth. After completing his studies in Modern European History at Bielefeld University, he became a Doctoral Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History in Munich. As part of the INFOCOM project ("Informal Communication and Information 'From Below' in Nazi Europe"), his PhD project examines the role of informal communication in the German society during the Second World War.

This seminar will be chaired by Professor Neil Gregor.