Brunhilde Pomsel described herself as an 'apolitical girl' and a 'figure
on the margins', but, employed as a stenographer during the Second World
War, she worked closely with one of the worst criminals in world
history: Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. She was one of the
oldest surviving eyewitnesses to the internal workings of the Nazi power
apparatus until her death in 2017.
Her biography, however, not only provides us with extraordinary new
insight into a seminal moment of history. Her life, mirroring all the
major breaks and continuities of the 20th century, also illustrates how
far-right politics, authoritarian regimes and dictatorships can rise and
what part political apathy and passivity of the masses can contribute to
democracy's erosion.
Compelling and unnerving, The Work I Did forces us to ask how we could
have acted in such a situation and leads to the disturbing and enduring
question: how reliable is our own moral compass?