Experience Germany from 1918 to 1945 through the eyes of those who lived it. Join Jay Daniels as diaries, letters, and memoirs bring the Weimar Republic and Third Reich into homes, classrooms, cafés, and streets. From revolution and hardship to dictatorship and war, discover how ordinary people resisted, adapted, complied, and survived extraordinary times—and how a changing country transformed their daily lives.
https://ordinarylivesextraordinarytimes.blog/
Spring 1933. The Reichstag is destroyed. Those arrested in the resulting purges are thrown into makeshift jails to be beaten and humiliated. Lawyer, Sebastian Haffner, does his best to go about his life. Bella Fromm gets a surprise when a cadre of Brownshirts arrive at her home in the middle of hosting a society party. Fear and violence become a constant companion to people like them, Johannes Grote, Friedrich Haase, Lady Rumbold, and others while the Nazis consolidate absolute power with the Enabling Act.
4 Jul 2026
Fire in the Reichstag
The first days of Hitler's regime is oddly normal for most people. Most are still caught between the growing friction between the Communists and the Nazis, now with the full backing of the State. Thousands flock to Carnival to relax away from politics but the joys are cut short by the Reichstag Fire. Within hours, jackboots storm the streets and break down doors looking for conspirators and enemies.
Episode Art Credit: Bundesarchive. CC BY-SA 4.0. Unedited.
27 Jun 2026
Elections(3)
Germany: 1932. Unemployment, political violence, and growing despair pushed millions to question whether democracy could still solve their problems. Through the words of ordinary Germans, diplomats, and historians, we explore how faith in a system begins to collapse and what rushes in to replace it.
12 Jun 2026
The Battle for German Culture 1929-1930
Germany looked healed. Jobs returned. Berlin glittered with modern culture and confidence. Then came 1929!
In this episode of Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Times, we step into the final years before collapse as the Great Depression tears through Weimar Germany. Nazis and Communists gain mass support which inevitably will lead to conflict. The seeds are watered and extremism bears fruit.
Meet ordinary citizens who provide firsthand accounts as watch savings vanish, unemployment explode, families break under pressure.
Let's step back in time!
27 Mar 2026
Communists at the Cabaret
This episode explores the world the Nazis destroyed. The rise of the German Communist Party, subsidized theater, legal equality, religious tolerance, queer culture.
Let's step into history!
25 Feb 2026
A Time of Troubles
Germany in 1923 was not a pleasant place. It had its own trials and tribulations. Two contrasting characters emerge as the world collapses around them: Walter Rathenau and Adolf Hitler. Germans become enamored with each for very different reasons.
10 Feb 2026
Treaty of Discord
The final years of World War One brings revolution, insurrections, and hyperinflation to the German people. In this episode we look at Germany from 1918 to 1923.
6 Feb 2026
Introduction
Welcome to Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Times. We will take a street level look at life inside Germany between 1918 and 1945.
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