ABOUT the Flew

Unit II: READING #22 ABOUT THE flEW Adolf Hitler he Jewish people, despite all apparent as soon as a favorable medium invites him. And the T intellectual qualities, is without any true effect of his existence is also like that of spongers: culture, and especially without any culture of its own. wherever he appears, the host people dies out after a For what sham culture the Jew today possesses is the shorter or longer period. property of other peoples, and for the most part it is Thus, the Jew of all times has lived in the states ruined in his bands. of other peoples, and there formed his own state, Thus, the Jew lacks those qualities which which, to be sure, habitually sailed under the distinguish the races that are creative and hence disguise of “religious community” as long as outward culturally blessed. circumstances made a complete revelation of his The Jew never possessed a state with definite nature seem inadvisable. But as soon as he felt strong territorial limits and therefore never called a culture enough to do without the protective cloak, he always his own... dropped the veil and suddenly became what so many He is, and remains, the typical parasite, a of the others previously did not want to believe and sponger who like a noxious bacillus keeps spreading see: the Jew. DISCUSSION/QUESTIONS 222 Learn about Hitler and his theories. The last document writen by the Fuhrer just before his death was a plea to the German people to carry on the “struggle” against the Jews. The document that brought his philospophy to the attention of the world twenty years earlier. Mein Kampf (my Struggle), also uses that term in its title. Why did Hitler view the world in terms of struggle? What does that suggest about the individual? What were his racial theories? How did he become convinced that the Jews were the source of all evil? Relate these theories to the concept of scapegoating. What events in Hitler’s own life may have created the need for a scapegoat? Source: Chartock, Rose lIe and Jack Spencer Eds. The Holocaust Years: Society on Trial. New York: Bantam Books, 1978. New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education Unit III: READING #21 V\/ I lAf THE NAZIS BELIEi ED What was so attractive about Nazism? Before answering that, we must first understand what the Nazis believed. As one author has stated, “Nazism is an attitude towards life.” 1. The Nazis valued the community rather than the individual. A. The overall goal was unity; as Hitler stated: “the preservation and fostering of living beings who are physically and mentally alike.” B. As befits the term “totalitarian,” the state would largely control the life of the citizen. As Robert Ley put it, “our state never releases the human being from the cradle to the grave.” Individuals were to be measured by their usefulness to the state. C. These values were supported by the words of others in German history. The philosopher Hegel had said, “Everything that man is, he owes to the state ... all value which man has, all spiritual reality, he only has through the state.” II. The Nazis valued authority and order. A. Democracy as a workable system was dead. The people needed a mystical savior to lead them. Hitler was their charismatic salvation. He was “Der Fuhrer.” B. When the Nazis went to the people, they gave “the whole people an opportunity to demonstrate and proclaim its support of an aim announced by the Fuhrer.” The Fuhrer was infallible. He gave the laws to Germany. C. As one Nazi stated, “The National Socialists believe in Hitler who embodies their will...Only what 315 Adolf Hitler, our Fuhrer, allows or does not allow is our conscience.” “In thy service is perfect freedom D. The Nazis quoted the German writer Goethe, “I would rather commit an injustice than endure disorder.” Thus, the emphasis was placed on order, control, discipline, duty, and sacrifice. “Through the door of death we enter the door of true life.... He who does not risk his life to gain it ever anew is already dead, though he still breathes, eats, and drinks. Death is only a departure for the sake of a higher life. We are born to die for Germany.” E. To justify Hitler’s decision making, the Nazis quoted Gerhart Hauptmann. “If only life would demand no more solutions from us,” Since people did not want to make decisions. Hitler would do it for them. Ill. The Nazis valued the concept of a select race. A. The Germans were a superior race, a group they called the Aryan race. B. Germany was destined to lead the world. Nature and fate would produce events to make this happen. The Aryan people would need more territory in which to grow. This desire to expand German boundaries was called Lebensraum, C. Only those of true German blood could be citizens. The Nazis called them the Volk. Concern for the Volk lead to a glorification of German “ancestry.” Great Germans of the past, from Beethoven to Wagner, were honored. The Nazis studied Teutonic mythology and took pride in the heroic exploits of their ancestors. Praising the past led to an admiration for the medieval peasant. The peasant virtues of simplicity, honesty, and physical labor were glorified. D. As a result, Nazi education emphasized German history, biology, and physical education. E. One of the favorite images of the Nazis was the German painter Albrecht Durer’s “The Knight, Source: Furman, Harry, Ed. The Holocaust and Genocide: A Search for Conscience—An Anthology for Students. New York: Anti-Defamation League, 1983. Unit III: READING #21 the Death, and The Devil.” The Nazis saw themselves as heroic, loyal, and racially pure knights of Round Table searching for the Holy Grail. which they called the “Third Reich.” The F. The Aryans would produce a Golden Age, a millennium under Otto First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire of Frederick Barbarossa, the Second Reich was von Bismarck. The Third Reich would last a thousand years. IV. The Nazis saw politics as a religion. A. Hitler was looked upon as someone greater than Jesus. B. Acts against the state would be immoral in almost a religious sense. nations, individuals, and states. The C. Nazism became a mission: “The Reich must direct the life of Reich signifies a mission.” V. The Nazis valued emotion more than reason. directly. A. Thinking was criticized. A person should act spontaneously and intellect,” “intelligent beasts with B. The Nazis referred to the educated middle class as “acrobats of the paralysis of the spine,” and “hothouse plants incapable of achievement.” Hitler called them “rejects “Intellectuals of nature.” An SS paper stated that l.Q. was inversely proportional to male fertility. validate their claim to existence within the community by a paucity of children.” important to develop the body to C. The Nazis emphasized physical force and strength. Sports were on the serve the state. As one Nazi stated, “A young man who works with a spade for six months western fortifications has done more for Germany than an intellectual has done during his whole life.” courage, and greatness. “The D. War was the ultimate expression of man’s capacity for sacrifice, measure of the strength of a people is always and exclusively its readiness for military conflict.” wrote, definite VI. The Nazis believed in the use of the “big lie” to manipulate people. As Hitler “A simplicity of factor in getting a lie believed is the size of the lie. The broad mass of the people, in the their hearts, more easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one.” 316 VII. The Nazis were strong nationalists. was a nation wronged by history. A. The Nazis used incited appeals to German patriotism. Germany of “morality” in international B. To return to its rightful place, Germany should disregard any sense of Nations. life. They opposed German participation in any peace organizations such as the League were -racial anti-types”; the C. The Nazis were critical of all people except those of the “Volk.” The Poles British were worshippers of Mammon. Of the United States, Hitler stated, “One Beethoven symphony contains more culture than America has produced in her whole history.” To Hitler, America was a Philistine, mongrelized community descended from convicts and the unwanted dregs of society. The Russians were just above the Jews. VIII. The Nazis had a strong belief in the traditional family. A. The family was “the germ cell of the state.” blessed with children. Women B. Women were not equal to men. Their purpose: Kindersagen, to be were encouraged not to wear make-up (which was considered a conspiracy of the Jews) or pants. contraceptives and their C. Women were encouraged to have many children. The display of advertisement would be banned, and birth control clinics would be closed. Abortions were called “acts of sabotage against Germany’s racial future,” and strict penalties would be given to doctors performing them. Men were encouraged to be adulterous if their wives were barren. in eugenics. To prevent the D. The Nazis, like many in the early twentieth century, were interested spread of “bad genes,” the Nazis would recommend the sterilization of those suffering from physical malformation, mental retardation, epilepsy, deafness, and blindness. Students. Source: Furman, Harry, Ed. The Holocaust and Genocide: A Search for Conscience—An Anthology for New York: Anti-Defamation League, 1983. New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education Unit III: READING #21 Advocated by Nazis Opposed by Nazis community democracy unity equality the fuhrer individual freedom mysticism Jews salvation thinking charisma peace order internationalism discipline Marxism/Communism duty rationalism sacrifice a passive Jesus conformity modernity Aryan birth control blood integration of races destiny conscience Volk intellectual Lebensraum inquiry physical labor abstract art heroism sense of mission strength war patriotism/nationalism Social Darwinism male dominance force/violence eugenics control QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: How do you feel about judging the value of someone by examining his or her usefulness to you? 2.

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