Out of Darkness

After the end of World War II, Germany was completely destroyed – both physically and morally. In the following eighty years, the country went through a difficult path of division, external administration, forced displacements of people, trials of criminals, reparations, and acknowledgment of guilt. By 2022, however, Germany managed to build a completely different society that rejects military aggression and is ready to accept millions of refugees. How did a country whose citizens welcomed Hitler manage to rethink itself so profoundly? And how sincere was this rethinking? In his book “Out of Darkness. Germans, 1942–2022,” British historian of German descent Frank Trentmann attempts to answer these challenging questions by delving into the personal stories of people, exploring the evolution of values, and ultimately painting a complex and contradictory portrait of a people who have managed to overcome their past.