The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1930-1935

Northeim was a small town (10,000 pop.) in the north of Germany. Allen's description of the Nazi's 1933 program of Gleichschaltung (coordination), by which they meant the transformation of every government and social organization into Nazi control, is breathtaking. They were methodical, relentless and ruthless, and they did the job in about six months (from Feb to August), after which any opportunity for resistance or even an untoward thought, was nearly impossible.