Just what drove the Nazis to start

Just what drove the Nazis to start 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 many people in it upper classes aid the German elite - to go along with Hitler's mad plans of genocide, and to sometimes fanatically embrace them as their own? These are the queries that author Jonathan Maxwell attempts to answer in his excellent and very well researched book, Murderous Intellectuals: The german language Elites and the Nazi SS.

Despite the fact it's difficult for any one guide to fully attempt to explain such a complex topic, Maxwell's book does a excellent job of highlighting many of the factors that may have been behind why a lot of Germany's intellectuals and elites proceeded to go along with and participated in the Holocaust. May very good book I'd recommend to be able to anyone who likes to read about history and who has always wondered what could have induced an entire nation to seem to have dropped under Hitler's spell.

I won't enter great detail about the book aid I don't want to spoil the particular enjoyment of reading it for others instant but I'll touch on some of the reason why the author mentions which others came up with over the years as possible explanations regarding 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 may have titles like: "Personal Reasons, " "Sadism, " "Racism and Ethnic Hatred, " "The Autocratic Characteristics 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 value to the individual recruit. " These materials of "great value" could contain "something material, such as good garments or a job with substantial pay out. It could also be something intangible, for instance a sense of security or belonging. " We can all understand such a rationale - sometimes, to improve one's interpersonal and/or economic standing, a person definitely will join an organization that he/she otherwise might not join, like the Nazi party. If everyone around you is a member of the corporation, and the only way you won't end up being ostracized (or potentially beaten, or perhaps wind up in a concentration camp) is to as well become a member, personal reasons can be a powerful motivating factor.

"Sadism" and "Racism and Ethnic Hatred" are self-explanatory, though what could have caused individuals to be, as some were, so stuffed with a loathing of Jews about want to kill them on vision is something people have always pondered about. The Jews became typically the scapegoats of not only Germany, nonetheless of France, and many other European nations around the world, who would rather blame their economical and other problems on people in addition to themselves. Though Germany had normally had a segment of its population (like most other countries have, including the Combined States) who were anti-Semetic, Hitler's in addition to Himmler's hatred of the Jews has infected an entire nation, who adored its leaders and thought they could do no wrong.

This qualified prospects into the theory that people were coerced or led into doing what they'd ordinarily ecigarette not consider doing because of "The Autocratic Nature involving German Society" ("I was only following orders. "). In fact, this particular theory is discussed and shown int many courses in Psychology even today. Germany, the author points out, was initially:

... a militaristic nation obsessed with legislation and order. German leaders assume 'regular' citizens to be compliant in addition to submissive. 'Regular' Germans essentially carry out what their government tells them to do. Therefore, when the Nazi plan 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 really interesting reading. The "Human Genetics" you asks: "Is violence in our family genes? Are human beings 'wired' to dislike one another? " Also, the book gives background on historical occurrences that led up to Hitler's entering power, and I read a few problems that I had either never heard of prior to, or had forgotten about, including the fact that gas chambers were 1st used on Germany's own citizens : those who were considered to be "undesirables, " who were mentally or physically deficient, or who were hopeless alcoholics.

Possibly besides the racial and ethnic hatred of many Germans towards the Jews, another one of the main reasons people had for callously knowing about and often participating in the killing of their fellow human beings is that they were trying to create a perfect population. In their minds, to their twisted points of views, this meant that they would have to remove anyone who might be, to them, not worth being a member of the "utopia" we were holding trying to establish.

There is no one reason, idea, or explanation why Germany's intellectual plus elites joined the Nazi party, why some of its doctors engaged in gruesome "experiments" and dissections upon living people, and why it is industries went along with Hitler's strategies (though cheap slave labor had been one big motivation). Maxwell doesn'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 racks of anyone who enjoys reading about WWII. Also, if we don't learn from the past, we're condemned to do it again, and sadly, there have been other mass 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 particular Holocaust and genocides since then is certainly well worth reading and considering.

Homicidal ? bloodthirsty Intellectuals

By: Jonathan Maxwell

Millennial Mind Publishing

ISBN 10: 1-58982-563-2

Paperback

--Douglas R. Cobb--