The resistance of one individual to Nazi evil, and his description of how the German people became susceptible to propaganda.
Justice Inspector Friedrich Kellner was determined to leave evidence of the thoughtless servility of his contemporaries who were ready and eager to succumb to National Socialist totalitarianism. From 1939 to 1945, he wrote down his criticism of the Nazi regime on an almost daily basis, documenting the many crimes of the Nazi dictatorship, both large and small.
These diaries belie the excuses given by the Germans after the war that they new nothing about the atrocities being committed in their names.
Kellner's text is a unique source giving us a completely new insight into daily life in the Third Reich. He criticizes the army reports, radio broadcasts, and the news media mercilessly. The diary includes over five hundred newspaper clippings and are subject to Kellner's meticulous analysis; he clearly exposes the blatant lies in the Nazi press. By juxtaposing the newspaper articles next to his comments, Friedrich Kellner finds a highly effective method that makes his diary one of the most significant primary source documents of the Nazi period.