Just what drove the Nazis to embark

Just what drove the Nazis to embark on one of the cruelest mass murder sprees in history, the Holocaust? Also, what induced even the most brilliant of the Germans, some of the country's most renowned intellects, and several people in it upper classes aid the German elite - to go along with Hitler's mad plans of genocide, and to sometimes fanatically embrace these people as their own? These are the concerns that author Jonathan Maxwell attempts to answer in his excellent and very effectively researched book, Murderous Intellectuals: German born Elites and the Nazi SS.

Even though it's difficult for any one guide to fully attempt to explain such a difficult topic, Maxwell's book does a excellent job of highlighting many of the reasons that may have been behind why the majority of Germany's intellectuals and elites gone along with and participated in the Holocaust. From the very good book I'd recommend to be able to anyone who likes to read about history and who may have always wondered what could have brought on an entire nation to seem to have slipped under Hitler's spell.

I won't go into great detail about the book simple I don't want to spoil the enjoyment of reading it for others help but I'll touch on some of the issues the author mentions which others attended up with over the years as possible explanations for Germany's elites and intellectuals, by and large, to become Nazis and support Hitler, Nazism, and the Holocaust. The author provides an overview of the various possible reasons in some of the book's chapters, which have titles like: "Personal Reasons, inch "Sadism, " "Racism and Cultural Hatred, " "The Autocratic Nature of German Society" ("I was only following orders"), and "Human Genetics. "

The "Personal Reasons" theory is that, as Jonathan Maxwell writes, "each member joined the corporation because it offered something of great price to the individual recruit. " These things of "great value" could involve "something material, such as good clothing or a job with substantial fork out. It could also be something intangible, such as a sense of security or that belong. " We can all understand such a good reason - sometimes, to improve one's sociable and/or economic standing, a person will certainly join an organization that he/she or else might not join, like the Nazi celebration. If everyone around you is a member of the corporation, and the only way you won't be ostracized (or potentially beaten, or even wind up in a concentration camp) is to as well become a member, personal reasons can be a effective motivating factor.

"Sadism" and "Racism and Ethnic Hatred" are self-explanatory, though what could have caused visitors to be, as some were, so filled up with a loathing of Jews as to want to kill them on sight is something people have always wondered about. The Jews became the particular scapegoats of not only Germany, although of France, and many other European international locations, who would rather blame their monetary and other problems on people other than themselves. Though Germany had continually had a segment of its population (like most other countries have, including the Combined States) who were anti-Semetic, Hitler's and Himmler's hatred of the Jews has infected an entire nation, who revered its leaders and thought they are able to do no wrong.

This sales opportunities into the theory that people were coerced or led into doing what exactly they'd ordinarily not consider doing because of "The Autocratic Nature of German Society" ("I was simply following orders. "). In fact, this particular theory is discussed and provided int many courses in Mindset even today. Germany, the author points out, was basically:

... a militaristic nation obsessed with law and order. German leaders expect 'regular' citizens to be compliant in addition to submissive. 'Regular' Germans essentially do what their government tells those to do. Therefore, when the Nazi regime ordered the Fianl Solution, common Germans unblinkingly tried to comply with typically the order.

There are several other theories the author delves into, all of which make for very interesting reading. The "Human Genetics" 1 asks: "Is violence in our genes? Are human beings 'wired' to hate one another? " Also, the book gives background on historical gatherings that led up to Hitler's getting into power, and I read a few issues that I had either never heard of prior to, or had forgotten about, including the fact that gas chambers were first of all used on Germany's own citizens -- those who were considered to be "undesirables, " who were mentally or physically poor, or who were hopeless alcoholics.

Probably E-Lites coupon code besides the racial and ethnic hate of many Germans towards the Jews, another one of the main reasons people had for callously knowing about and often participating in the particular killing of their fellow human beings is that they were trying to create a perfect modern culture. In their minds, to their twisted viewpoints, this meant that they would have to eliminate anyone who might be, to them, not worth being a member of the "utopia" these were trying to establish.

There is no one reason, hypothesis, or explanation why Germany's intellectual and even elites joined the Nazi gathering, why some of its doctors engaged in gruesome "experiments" and dissections about living people, and why their industries went along with Hitler's plans (though cheap slave labor was one big motivation). Maxwell won't arrive at one answer, as there isn't a cut-and-dried one, but his examination of the various theories is very interesting and makes for a great addition to the shelf of anyone who enjoys reading concerning WWII. Also, if we don't learn from the past, we're condemned to do it again, and sadly, there have been other bulk genocides elsewhere in the world since WWII, such as in Czechoslovakia and in Darfur. Any book that causes us to take into account what drives man's inhumanity to be able to man and was behind the Holocaust and genocides since then will be well worth reading and considering.

Homicidal ? bloodthirsty Intellectuals

By: Jonathan Maxwell

Millennial Mind Publishing

ISBN 10: 1-58982-563-2

Paperback

--Douglas R. Cobb--