Review of Hitler’s Geographies: The Spatialities of the Third Reich

Abstract

The Nazi regime imagined, developed, executed, and justified its imperialist expansion and genocidal practices through the incorporation and elaboration of geographical concepts and spatial theories. Many of these concepts appeared in Mein Kampf, including Lebensraum and Groraum (the entitlement of "legitimate" Germans to "living space" and "greater space") and Entfernung (the "expulsion" of "undesirables" to create empty space in the East for German resettlement). This collection considers the many ways in which spatial theory evolved into practice under the Third Reich. It consists of eleven new and six classic essays on topics ranging from Nazi spatial imaginations to the role of geography and planning in shaping those imaginations to the geopolitical outcomes and the many manifestations of Hitler's "dark geographies," including the Final Solution and the implications of industrial extermination. In addition to presenting key concepts, thinkers, and theories, the collection explores the link between biopolitical power and social and spatial expansion and exclusion.