The novel "The Innocent" depicts German conditions and types from the pre-Hitler era. The characters chosen for this purpose are entirely apolitical; to the extent that they have any political ideas at all, they remain vague and nebulous. None of them is directly guilty of the Hitler catastrophe. Nevertheless, it is precisely this state of mind and spirit from which - as indeed happened - Nazism drew its true strength. Political indifference, in fact, is closely related to ethical perversion. Hermann Broch.