Ideology of Death: Why the Holocaust Happened in GermanyIn many nations throughout history, the Jews have been reviled and persecuted, regarded as cunning heretics and destructive social parasites. But only in Germany did racist stereotypes evolve into a popular ideology of such lethal force that it ended in the horror of the death camps. Despite a vast literature about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, we do not yet understand why the destruction of the Jews was conceived and implemented by the Germans. Ideology of Death supplies this understanding in a stunning and disturbing narrative history. Exploring the unique nature of the German experience as well as the annals of anti-Semitism, Mr. Weiss rejects the notion that the Holocaust was a product of Nazi fanaticism. He shows instead how racist ideas ingrained in German culture led to the unthinkable. Tracing the culture of racism and anti-Semitism among powerful elites and ordinary Germans, Mr. Weiss shows how it grew rapidly during the Napoleonic era, became a forceful popular ideology in the 1870s, and in the 1890s gained the dedicated support of the generation that eventually brought Hitler to power. "German Jews became the victims of a uniquely powerful culture of racism", he writes. "Without this historical base, anti-Semitism would not have exploded with such fury after 1918, producing hundreds of thousands of followers whose ideas were no different from those of the Nazis". Drawing on the latest research, Mr. Weiss describes how the Nazis, building on traditional German anti-Semitism, adjusted their appeal to a wide variety of social groups that were crucial to their electoral success. The Nazis' extraordinary popularity "could not have occurred if Hitler's hatreds were unique", theauthor points out. Nor could the actions against the Jews, leading to their destruction. Most Germans saw nothing wrong with such actions. Mr. Weiss explains the specific complicities of various German groups and institutions in the Holocaust, and why they voluntarily cooperated with the Nazis. |
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Page 18
... century in an indescribably horrible manner . In art , literature , and pop- ular culture , the century is famous for its obsession with death and the imminent coming of the “ end of days , " usually accompanied by religious imagery and ...
... century in an indescribably horrible manner . In art , literature , and pop- ular culture , the century is famous for its obsession with death and the imminent coming of the “ end of days , " usually accompanied by religious imagery and ...
Page 33
... century the Order of Teutonic Knights crusaded against the Hungarians and the Prus- sians , a Baltic people . Roaming along the coast of the Baltic Sea amidst furious slaughters , the Knights seized Prussian lands and virtually ...
... century the Order of Teutonic Knights crusaded against the Hungarians and the Prus- sians , a Baltic people . Roaming along the coast of the Baltic Sea amidst furious slaughters , the Knights seized Prussian lands and virtually ...
Page 47
... century liberalism . Those who believed this could hardly denounce the Jews for excelling in commerce and trade . It would be the reactionaries of nineteenth - century Europe - enemies of Enlightenment thought— who would endlessly ...
... century liberalism . Those who believed this could hardly denounce the Jews for excelling in commerce and trade . It would be the reactionaries of nineteenth - century Europe - enemies of Enlightenment thought— who would endlessly ...
Contents
The Christian Legacy | 3 |
Luther and the Reformation | 20 |
The Enlightenment | 36 |
Copyright | |
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Allies anti anti-Semitism aristocrats army artisans Aryan attacked Auschwitz Austrian believed Berlin Bismarck blood Boeckel Bolsheviks businessmen campaign camps Caprivi Catholic century Christ Christian Social Christian Social party church clergy Conservative party culture Czechs death declared defeat demanded denounced destroy east economic elections elites empire enemies ethnic Europe faith famous feared forced France Freikorps French Gentile German Germany's Gestapo ghetto guilds Himmler Hindenburg Hitler Holocaust Ibid ideology industrialists insisted Jewish Jewry Jews joined Judaism Judeo-bolshevism kaiser Karl Lueger killing knew Kreuzzeitung Kristallnacht leaders leftists liberal Lueger Luther military millions moral murder Napoleon nation Nazis numbers officers pan-Germans peasants percent political pope popular priests princes Protestant Prussian race racial Racial Hygiene racist reactionary reforms regime Reich Reichstag religion religious republic revolution rural Schoenerer Semites Slavs Social Democrats socialists society Stoecker supported thousands tion Vienna Volk volkist votes Weimar Weimar Republic workers wrote