Physics and Propaganda

Abstract

The majority of German scientists neither embraced National Socialism nor emigrated from it. They stayed and worked, either withdrawing as much as possible from the disturbing reality of the Third Reich—often called “inner emigration”—or actively participating in the National Socialist system. The latter individuals inevitably acted in an ambiguous and ambivalent manner. Enthusiastic National Socialists, opponents, opportunists, and the vast silent majority all worked within the system despite having very different motives. Thus different observers have often described the same activity by the same scientist either as collaboration or resistance. Both labels are problematic because they mirror the black-and-white juxtaposition of “Nazi” and “anti-Nazi.” For most scientists, the day-to-day reality lay in between.