"Anfälligkeit" der Angestellten - "Immunität" der Arbeiter? Mythen über die Wähler der NSDAP [1990]

Abstract

"This contribution challenges the often-cited middle-class thesis that concerns the idea of the NSDAP party being a movement mainly rooted in the German white-collar environment. According to this thesis, working-class members were rather immune to the ideas of National Socialism before 1933, whereas white-collar employers were attracted to it at a rate above average. The author rejects this notion as part of historical mythmaking and folk-pedagogical intentions. A critical reassessment of interpretations before and after 1945 concerning NSDAP electoral success shows a tendency to come to allegedly obvious conclusions without necessary empirical data. Examining the results of historical voter and election research, the author comes to the conclusion that the NSDAP was not a middle-class phenomenon, and that members of the working class were not at all as underrepresented among NSDAP voters as claimed by the middle-class thesis." (author's abstract)