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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 9
Page 29
... response . As Christian slaughtered Christian , further misery was the lot of the remnants of the Jewish community . Now little more than vagabonds seeking sanctuary wherever they could , the Jews were driven into the ghettos , there to ...
... response . As Christian slaughtered Christian , further misery was the lot of the remnants of the Jewish community . Now little more than vagabonds seeking sanctuary wherever they could , the Jews were driven into the ghettos , there to ...
Page 211
... response to requests from industrialists , the army forcibly deported 66,000 Belgian workers to Germany . Some 30,000 eastern Jews , fleeing pogroms , were forced to work in war indus- tries . For the right , bolshevism was a front for ...
... response to requests from industrialists , the army forcibly deported 66,000 Belgian workers to Germany . Some 30,000 eastern Jews , fleeing pogroms , were forced to work in war indus- tries . For the right , bolshevism was a front for ...
Page 313
... response , about one - third of Evangelical pastors formed a " Confessing Church " to protect the church . Led by Pastor Mar- tin Niemoeller , they decried attempts to drive out baptized Jews — yet even he said of Jewry in 1935 ...
... response , about one - third of Evangelical pastors formed a " Confessing Church " to protect the church . Led by Pastor Mar- tin Niemoeller , they decried attempts to drive out baptized Jews — yet even he said of Jewry in 1935 ...
Contents
The Christian Legacy | 3 |
Luther and the Reformation | 20 |
The Enlightenment | 36 |
Copyright | |
24 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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