Organized mass culture in the Third Reich

This chapter analyzes the impact of National Socialist ideology during the Third Reich, specifically the effects of the Nazi mass cultural organization Kraft durch Freude (KdF) on those who were not already convinced supporters. Using a single 1936 survey on how working women liked to spend their leisure time, Rabinbach finds that the majority of these women were remarkably unenthusiastic about the cultural activities offered by KdF and clearly preferred the private over the public organization of leisure time. Especially the displayed Lesehunger (desire for good reading material) illustrates this intense desire for a private depoliticized experience. This finding, according to Rabinbach, has important implications for the intersection of cultural and social history and sheds new light on the ambivalent ways in which ideology impacted individuals in National Socialism.