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," the author 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 59
As foreign governments fell before his cannons , Napoleon sought to gain the
loyalty and support of the peoples of the new French Empire by reforms
calculated to consolidate his power . The synergy of power and ideas accounts
for the ...
As foreign governments fell before his cannons , Napoleon sought to gain the
loyalty and support of the peoples of the new French Empire by reforms
calculated to consolidate his power . The synergy of power and ideas accounts
for the ...
Page 69
The philosophes used ideas as weapons for social reform and found a
resounding echo among the middle classes . ... Revolutionary reforms generated
a surge of national loyalty enabling Robespierre and Napoleon to conscript large
masses ...
The philosophes used ideas as weapons for social reform and found a
resounding echo among the middle classes . ... Revolutionary reforms generated
a surge of national loyalty enabling Robespierre and Napoleon to conscript large
masses ...
Page 70
Significantly , these reforms were not stimulated by the ideals that motivated the
revolutionaries of France . They were pushed by soldiers and bureaucrats to
increase Prussia ' s military strength . Demands for reforms from below had
renewed ...
Significantly , these reforms were not stimulated by the ideals that motivated the
revolutionaries of France . They were pushed by soldiers and bureaucrats to
increase Prussia ' s military strength . Demands for reforms from below had
renewed ...
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IDEOLOGY OF DEATH: Why the Holocaust Happened in Germany
User Review - KirkusWhy did the most savagely anti-Semitic regime in history gain power in Germany rather than, say, France (scene of the Dreyfus affair) or Russia (with its widespread pogroms)? Weiss (History/Lehman ... Read full review
Contents
The Christian Legacy | 3 |
Luther and the Reformation | 20 |
The Enlightenment | 36 |
Copyright | |
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