I designed the book cover for the German edition of Milton S. Mayerâs âThey Thought They Were Freeâ published by BĂźchner Verlag. The author studied the lives of ordinary German citizens in the Third Reich and their mentalities towards the tyranny after its collapse.
My cover design shows a swastika being painted over. I wanted the cover to allude to the self-perception of the men who were interviewed in the book: looking back, they didnât see themselves as perpetrators of National Socialism.
The paint is applied thinly. Behind a superficial layer of white paint, a foundation of right-wing ideology remains.
Thanks to S. Manke and the BĂźchner team.















