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 76
... moved rapidly out of peddling and petty trade , as the philosophes had predicted . By the 1830s the son of a sec- ondhand clothes peddler might be a clothing salesman or a textile man- ufacturer , moneylenders might be bankers , and ...
... moved rapidly out of peddling and petty trade , as the philosophes had predicted . By the 1830s the son of a sec- ondhand clothes peddler might be a clothing salesman or a textile man- ufacturer , moneylenders might be bankers , and ...
Page 102
... moved from pub to pub and spoke at rural feast days , weddings , and county fair celebrations . Maintaining his pose as a simple peasant , he would arrive in full regalia on horseback surrounded by strong young peasants , budding ...
... moved from pub to pub and spoke at rural feast days , weddings , and county fair celebrations . Maintaining his pose as a simple peasant , he would arrive in full regalia on horseback surrounded by strong young peasants , budding ...
Page 285
... moved to Hitler were hardly driven by social despair or lack of sophistication . Nor was it impatient and youthful new voters who flocked to the Nazis , as used to be thought . Indeed , they gained their " greatest support among groups ...
... moved to Hitler were hardly driven by social despair or lack of sophistication . Nor was it impatient and youthful new voters who flocked to the Nazis , as used to be thought . Indeed , they gained their " greatest support among groups ...
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