Against All Odds

This study comprises an analysis of public spheres in National Socialist Germany. It investigates where and under what circumstances resistance to Hitler’s regime was possible. The author focuses on the space of the crypto-public – defined as a politicized private sphere – as a potential realm for anti-state activism. Based on the activities of four organizations operating in Germany between 1933 and 1944 – the Jewish Cultural Association Berlin, the Kreisau Circle, the White Rose, and the Schulze-Boysen/Harnack Organization – she analyzes how this social locus functioned to foster resistance to National Socialism. She examines the artifacts of these groups – leaflets, pamphlets, politico-economic treatises, and theater performances – in order to establish models of crypto-public spaces and evaluate their possibilities and limitations as sites of resistance.