Wohlfahrt in der Diktatur

This book analyses how the German dictatorships of the 20th century created supposedly social welfare organisations to consolidate their power and establish their world view. Using the example of the National Socialist People’s Welfare Organisation and the People’s Solidarity (East Zone/GDR), it examines the role these organisations played in promoting the ideological concepts of community. Source criticism and comparative methodology are used to identify similarities and differences and to highlight the contemporary significance of ‘community’, including the associated mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. The study helps to close a research gap and is aimed at historians, social scientists and those interested in politics and history.