Family Punishment in Nazi Germany

In the Third Reich, political dissidents were not the only ones liable to be punished for their crimes. Their parents, siblings and relatives also risked reprisals. This concept - known as Sippenhaft – was based in ideas of blood and purity. This definitive study surveys the threats, fears and infliction of this part of the Nazi system of terror.

"This book aims to show the contribution that Sippenhaft or family liability punishment made to the Nazi system of terror. Loeffel argues convincingly that part of the effectiveness of the punishment was its lack of codification. Overall, this book contributes much to our understanding of state power and terror in the Third Reich. Loeffel ably demonstrates how, at all levels, the punishment of Sippenhaft was used 'to instill fear and maintain compliance among German citizens'." - Lisa Pine, London South Bank University, German History

"This new and original study goes a very long way to clarifying just what Sippenhaft in Nazi Germany was and how it was applied. It makes it clear that there was much more to the practice of Sippenhaft in Nazi Germany than the arrest of the family members of the conspirators involved in the 20 July 1944 plot on Hitler's life. Overall, this is an impressive piece of work which opens the way for comparative studies of Sippenhaft in other regimes." - Australian Journal of Politics and History

"Punishment of family members, with its emphasis on blood, was ideologically appealing to the regime and terrifying to any family man. This excellent and impressively supported book . . . ties Nazi family punishment to the "consent-coercion" debate, which reveals that the balance between dictatorial control and public enthusiasm tips increasingly toward the public. Recommended." Professor Arnold Krammer, Texas A&M University, Choice

"Robert Loeffel's new book examines the Nazi use of Sippenhaft, or family punishment, as a lens through which to view the broader implementation of terror in German society . . . Loeffel's book draws attention to an understudied area and contributes to ongoing historiographical debates about Nazi efforts to control German society and the military during World War Two." - Michelle Mouton, University of Wisconsin, American Historical Review

"Loeffel has struggled mightily with the tendency of his evidentiary problems to produce a compilation of individual cases rather than a historical analysis. He has been extraordinarily assiduous in collecting evidence about families, especially from surviving members. He is consistently careful not to overgeneralize from possibly idiosyncratic cases, and to offer alternative explanations for the seemingly arbitrary uses of Sippenhaft." - European History Quarterly

DR ROBERT LOEFFEL was born in Sydney, Australia. He studied and taught at the University of New South Wales, where he holds a Visiting Research Fellowship. His research is focussed on German and Australian contemporary history. He has published in various journals including Contemporary European History and German History.