The final months of the Nazi regime are usually described in terms of apocalyptic chaos. A society in catastrophe. A spiral of violence. A state of confusion tinged with security paranoia that allowed individual actors to wield unchecked power over life and death. In this episode, Gerhard Paul’s chapter on executions in the Endphase outlines explanations for the escalation of violence and provides a great jumping off point for discussion. Chris and Ryan make the case that, rather than being swept away by crisis, the state’s use of violence shows a deliberate and structured response intended to master the situation.

H-net News: A review of James W. Whitman, Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law