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destroyed resistance.

#3 Post war conditions here were almost as severe as those of the war itself.
Thousands of people poured in from bombed out cities or from lands controlled
by the Russians, poured into the small villages like Beutelsbach where bomb
damage was not severe. But Beutelsbach was already overcrowded by people
who had come from Stuttgart early in the war, and where could a town of
2000 find room for 30 people every day (who came in truckloads or an hour's notice)?
There was housing commission which, with police aid, made people give up rooms
to new arrivals, until several families would be sleeping together, often on the
floor. There were no clothes, very little to eat, and there were no goods in the
store to be bought. Three stoves would come from Waiblingen as aid gifts, and 50
families would beg to have them. One very dramatic incident marks a turning
point for these people - the Marshall plan gave (on April 29, 1946 and every German
knows the date by heart) to every man, woman and child in Germany a gift of
DM40 ($10). This money acted apparently as a catalyst for the recovery of the
economy and soon goods became available and the long road to recovery and
rebuilding began.

#4 One very important factor in understanding political life in modern Europe
is the realization that present national boundaries are very recent. We think
of America as a young nation - but most of Europe (Italy and Germany
being particularly important!) is younger. Thus this area of Baden-Württemberg
was a kingdom (several small ones actually) even after World War I. Many
people here are far more Schwäbisch (the folk culture of the area) than they
are "German", and many remember in their own lives the whole history of
the modern state of Germany. Consequently local areas are very important and
some of the lack of deep interest which observers see in German national
politics.

#5 One of first observation here was that Germans rarely talk politics, show no
particulart sign of interest in political matters. Naturally this was disturbing,
because it would seem to be just such disinterest that made Hitler possible. I
raised the question with the mayor, and he provided a somewhat different picture.
First of all, as a matter of information - virtually every home in Beutelsbach takes
a daily newspaper, many two; every family also has a radio, and this often runs
a good part of the day. A fact that will probably shock you, as it did me -
Beutelsbach (population 3100) there are 180-200 television sets!, virtually all
bought in the last 2-3 years! As to the political significance of this: the mayor says
that people read the paper carefully, thoroughly, and that they get a large amount of
news on radio or T.V. He says that all citizens - "peasant" farmers included - are
well informed on political matters - how well I don't know, but he himself certainly
is. So apparently people are interested and informed about political matters - why
then so little talk and activity? One important answer is that many people don't