In a
differentway
confusionmay be the resultof readingthe much more demandingsecondbooktobereviewedhere.
Nolte - The Nazi State and the New Religions- Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity
?
?
The Nazi State and the New Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity by Christine E.
King; Towards the Holocaust: The Social and Economic Collapse of the Weimar Republic by Michael N.
Dobkowski; Isidor Wallimann
Review by: Ernst Nolte
The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Mar. , 1985), pp. 174-176
Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/1898976 .
Accessed: 14/11/2014 03:32
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www. jstor. org/page/info/about/policies/terms. jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor. org.
.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? http://www. jstor. org
The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Modern History.
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
? ? 174 Book Reviews
SuchapragmaticexplanationoftheSS maywellbethebestwecanexpect. For,as Hanna Arendthas shown,in ourbureaucratic,technologicalworldwe mustbepreparedtoconfronthesimple,mind-numbin"gbanalityofevil. " And yetone keeps searchingforsomethingmore,a deeper,moreholisticsolutionto theriddleoftheSS. Perhapsbecauseofthis,theblack-coatedmembersofHitler's eliteguardcan indeedbe said tohavebecome,intheportentioujsargonofthe Nazis, Geheimnistrager.
Indiana University
JAMES M. DIEHL
The Nazi State and theNew Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity. ByChristineE. King.
New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1982. Pp. xvi+ 312. $39. 95.
Towards the Holocaust: The Social and Economic Collapse of the Weimar Republic. EditedbyMichael N. DobkowskiandIsidor Wallimann.
Westport,Conn. : GreenwoodPress, 1983. Pp. viii+ 422. $29. 95.
As ChristineKing rightlystates,muchhas been said so faraboutthe"Kirchen- kampf"duringtheThirdReich,littlehoweveraboutthesmallreligiouscom- munitiesuchas thesectsandtheFreeChurches. Thereasonsareobvious,itis true,butwe mustagainagreewithKingwhenshemaintainsthatfurtheresearch inthisfieldis a desideratum. The authorselectsfivesectsandmakesthemthe objectofa comparativpeortrayalt:heFirstChurchofChrist,Scientistt;heChurch of JesusChristof theLatter-DaySaints; theSeventh-DayAdventists;theNew ApostolicChurch;and Jehovah'sWitnesses. The emergingpictureis veryvaried, although,due totheparamountimportanceoftheOld Testamentforall ofthem, theycould easily appear as pro-Jewish. But the authordoubts whetherit is admissibleto speak merelyof differen"tsurvivaltactics. " The Mormonsrather demonstrateda considerableamountofsympathyforthenationalsocialists,and theytherefore"faredwellundertheNazis" (p. 59). AlsotheAdventistsproved verysusceptibleto manynationalsocialist ideas as, forexample, thatof the "Fiihrertum,"and "theywelcomedeach stageofGermany'sexpansionforLe- bensraum,"beginningwiththe "Anschluss" of Austria. Thereforeno public statementfsromtheirsides can be tracedto condemn"euthanasiaand sterilisation programmes. S"tillmorestrikinwgerethe"pro-Naziviews"oftheNewApostolic Churchwhichhad prayersof thankssaid on theoccasion of theAnschlussand afterthe"invasionofCzechoslovakia"(p. 129). EventheFirstChurchofChrist, Scientist,"kept a low profile"and constitutedno challengeto theauthorities. The authorsees thereasonforthefailureofthefoursectsinthefactthattheir membersthroughoutwere "conservativeand loyal Germancitizens" and did notdifferfromCatholicsandProtestantisnsofaras theywere"nationalist,con- servative,frightenedofCommunism"andtherefordeuringthewar"bore arms willinglyforGermany"(p. 15ff. )OnlyJehovah'sWitnessespresentanentirely differenpticture:as earlyas November1933theyrefusedtotakepartinelections; aftertheintroductionof universalconscriptiontheyrefusedarmedservice;they conductedan activepropagandacampaignagainstthenationalsocialist"Realm ofSatan," andintheconcentrationcampsfaceddeathwithoutlament. All sym- pathiesoftheauthorseemtogo tothissect;butshealso feelscompelledtosay
thateven Jehovah'sWitnessestriedto engage in a "policy of appeasement"
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
? ? Book Reviews 175
towardtheregimeinthefirstmonthsof1933-that they,too,were"notrevo- lutionaries. , . . butconservatives,implepeople" (p. 178), andthatoccasionally theycondemnedtheJewsas themurdererosfChrist. Thus,inthefinalanalysis, thestructuraslimilaritywiththenationalsocialists weighsheavierforherthan theantithesisb:othwere"non-democratica,ntiliberal,uncompromisinbgodies" withmillenaryideas(p. 176)andthesamelikenesshasduringthepostwarperiod led to thepersecutionof theWitnessesin theSovietUnionand in othercommunist states. Thereforei,ntheend,thereaderfacesconfusionratherthanclarityregarding thegeneralevaluation,and concerningtheresultsof theresearchwe can hardly suppressa doubtwhetherinthechaptersabouttheWitnessesithas gonea step beyondtheonesofFriedrichZipfelandMichaelKater.
In a differentway confusionmay be the resultof readingthe much more demandingsecondbooktobereviewedhere. AstheeditorsM,ichaelN. Dobkowski and Isidor Wallimann,statein theirintroductiont,hetwenty-twcoontributors wanttosetforth"factorsresultingfromthesocioeconomic(structuralp)roblems andcontradictionosfWeimarsociety"so farneglectedinthehistoriographoyf theWeimarRepublic,andsomeofthemwanttodo this"froma Marxistper- spective" (p. 15). Thus ReinhardKuhnl deals withthe "Rise of Fascism in GermanyandItsCauses," PeterD. Stachurawith"The NSDAP andtheGerman WorkingClass," JamesC. Huntwiththe"CatholicsintheWeimarRepublic," RichardBreitmanwith"Nazism in theEyes of GermanSocial Democracy," AtinaGrossmannwith"Mass Working-ClassSex ReformOrganizationsin the WeimarRepublic. " Someoftheessayscontainveryinterestingdetailedspeci- ficationsandusefulbibliographicinformationA. llauthorsmoreorlessagree withthe"middleclass thesis"andthe"clean-sweepideal," thuswiththeconviction that"Fascism" (or "Nazism" or "National Socialism") was essentiallya phe- nomenonofthemiddleclasses, andthattheWeimarRepubliccouldhaveescaped its downfallif it had in due timeeliminated"the generals,cartel-bosses,and East-Elbian landlords" (p. 11) fromtheirpowerfulpositions, thereby(as is implied)bringingthemiddlestratumundertheleadershipof "theworkingclass. " Forthisreasonmostoftheauthorssee theworldofWeimarclearlydividedinto "progressives"and"reactionaries,"butinsomecontributionwseafterall come acrossa fewobservationswhichdo notquitefitintothissimplisticviewofthe world. AccordingtoJohnNagle, nationalsocialismsucceededinincorporating a greatnumberof"anti-unionworkers"intoitsmassbasis; PeterStachuracon- siderablymodifiesthe"middleclass thesis"byusingadjectivessuchas "rural" and "Protestant,"andRichardBreitmandoes notso muchsee theguiltofthe SPD inits"anti-Communismb"utexactlyinthedeterminismofits(stillMarxist) WeltanschauungT. husthecomplexityoftherealsituationunmistakablsyometimes comestolightdespitethefascinationcausedbyintellectualsimplification.
The mainquestion,however,is whytheseessays on thehistoryoftheWeimar Republic bear the title "Towards the Holocaust. " It is certainlytruethatthe historyoftheWeimarRepublicinall itsaspectsbelongstothehistoryofthe Holocaust, but thenWalterRathenauas an influentialrepresentativeof the "bourgeoisfantasy"ofa returntoa naturalorder(RobertA. Pis) also belongs totheprehistoryoftheHolocaust,andthesameis true-mutatis mutandi-sfor Bismarckand FredericktheGreat. Seen fromthisperspectivethebook could merelybe a modificationoftheold thesisoftheguiltofGermanhistory"from LuthertoHitler. "ButpreciselytheMarxistandquasi-Marxistclass analysesof "Fascism" andtheiremphasisontheroleofthe"workingclass" donotknow
theHolocaustas a maintopic,andReinhardKuhnlinvoluntarilpyrovidesfurther
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
? ? 176 Book Reviews
proofforthiswhenhe maintainsthat"only later,afterthebeginningof World WarII, didJewsincreasinglybecomethemainvictimsoffascistterror"(p. 110). The one essay whichdeals directlywitha Jewishsubject(StephenE.
AschheimaboutWeimarcultureandtheEast EuropeanJews)does notconstitute a counterweightI. fthereasonforthetitleis notsolelya commercialone, then itcan onlybe understandablbeyacceptingthethesisthattheHolocaustrepresents nothingbutthelogical climaxofcapitalismwithitstransformationfall things andmenintocommodities. Andindeed,theintroductioncomestothisassertion: "The Nazi eliteactedupontheassumptionthattheJewsandgypsieswere. . .
a surpluscommodity"(p. 29) and "the industrialand corporateuse of slave laborin theconcentrationcampsand ghettoestookthisstructuraplropensityof capitalismtoitsfinalconclusion"(p. 32).
Not one word is said about the Soviet Union and the "Gulag Archipelago," anditis difficulntottogaintheimpressionthattheHolocaustis totaketheplace ofVietnam,nowno longeravailable,as themaintargetforattacking"capitalism," "imperialism,"and inevitably"America. " The questionis indispensablewhether by such instrumentalizatiotnheHolocaust is notbeingdegradedmostdeeply.
Itis truethatDobkowskiandWallimannatthesametimealso speakof"Western culture"and of "value-freeuse ofknowledgeand science," so thatthepolitical tendencyseems notto be absolute. This pointof view comes plainlyto thefore in themostinterestingand importantcontributionof thebook, thatof George KrenandLeon Rappoportabout"FailuresofThoughtinHolocaustInterpretation. " Here it is emphaticallythe "Enlightenmentidea of progress"to whichin the finalanalysistheresponsibilityfortheHolocaust is beingcontributeda,nd cap- italismand "real socialism," as is well known,have equal sharesin thisidea. The "modernstate" as suchbased on the"Enlightenmenitdeal ofmaterialand moralprogressvia science and technology"withits bureaucratic,hierarchic, and rationalizedstructurehas provedto be an incomparable"engine of human destruction"andthattothisday(p. 397ff. ). ItscreatorisneitherHitlernor LeninnorBismarckbutDescartes,whohastobe stoodonhisheadifa wayout oftheimpasseofmoderncivilizationis tobe found. Thereforeall modernap- proachesof thinkingfail to recognizethetruesignificanceof theHolocaust, the Marxistas wellas theFreudian,andthisnolessthantheliberaleclectic. Practically all othercontributionosfthiscollectionofessaysfallunderthisverdict. To the authorsthe "metaphysicalapproach" seems to be themoreappropriate,which theyexemplifymainlywiththe books by Fackenheimand Rubenstein. That already in the early sixties the Holocaust was interpretedin anthropological categoriessuchas "transcendence"seemstobe unknowntotheauthors. (Only MichaelMeyermentionsthisinhiscontributionw,ellworthreading,"Music
on theEve oftheThirdReich" [p. 330]. ) Thattheydo nottakeseriouslyHitler's self-interpretatioisnunderstandablet:heHolocaustas a servicetohumanityby annihilation,at the last moment,of the "Jewish" revolutionaryabstractness (i. e. , theimpasseofmoderncivilization);butthattheydonotevenoncemention it is extremelyquestionable.
Both books are printedin typewritecrharactersand are thereforedifficulto read. Both books establishso close a relationshipof nationalsocialism withso manyimportanpthenomenathattheexcessiveuseoftheterm"Nazism" appears likeanunnecessaryrelicoftheepochofcontemporarypolemicsandespecially of warpropaganda.
Free UniversityofBerlin
ERNST NOLTE
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
?
In a differentway confusionmay be the resultof readingthe much more demandingsecondbooktobereviewedhere. AstheeditorsM,ichaelN. Dobkowski and Isidor Wallimann,statein theirintroductiont,hetwenty-twcoontributors wanttosetforth"factorsresultingfromthesocioeconomic(structuralp)roblems andcontradictionosfWeimarsociety"so farneglectedinthehistoriographoyf theWeimarRepublic,andsomeofthemwanttodo this"froma Marxistper- spective" (p. 15). Thus ReinhardKuhnl deals withthe "Rise of Fascism in GermanyandItsCauses," PeterD. Stachurawith"The NSDAP andtheGerman WorkingClass," JamesC. Huntwiththe"CatholicsintheWeimarRepublic," RichardBreitmanwith"Nazism in theEyes of GermanSocial Democracy," AtinaGrossmannwith"Mass Working-ClassSex ReformOrganizationsin the WeimarRepublic. " Someoftheessayscontainveryinterestingdetailedspeci- ficationsandusefulbibliographicinformationA. llauthorsmoreorlessagree withthe"middleclass thesis"andthe"clean-sweepideal," thuswiththeconviction that"Fascism" (or "Nazism" or "National Socialism") was essentiallya phe- nomenonofthemiddleclasses, andthattheWeimarRepubliccouldhaveescaped its downfallif it had in due timeeliminated"the generals,cartel-bosses,and East-Elbian landlords" (p. 11) fromtheirpowerfulpositions, thereby(as is implied)bringingthemiddlestratumundertheleadershipof "theworkingclass. " Forthisreasonmostoftheauthorssee theworldofWeimarclearlydividedinto "progressives"and"reactionaries,"butinsomecontributionwseafterall come acrossa fewobservationswhichdo notquitefitintothissimplisticviewofthe world. AccordingtoJohnNagle, nationalsocialismsucceededinincorporating a greatnumberof"anti-unionworkers"intoitsmassbasis; PeterStachuracon- siderablymodifiesthe"middleclass thesis"byusingadjectivessuchas "rural" and "Protestant,"andRichardBreitmandoes notso muchsee theguiltofthe SPD inits"anti-Communismb"utexactlyinthedeterminismofits(stillMarxist) WeltanschauungT. husthecomplexityoftherealsituationunmistakablsyometimes comestolightdespitethefascinationcausedbyintellectualsimplification.
The mainquestion,however,is whytheseessays on thehistoryoftheWeimar Republic bear the title "Towards the Holocaust. " It is certainlytruethatthe historyoftheWeimarRepublicinall itsaspectsbelongstothehistoryofthe Holocaust, but thenWalterRathenauas an influentialrepresentativeof the "bourgeoisfantasy"ofa returntoa naturalorder(RobertA. Pis) also belongs totheprehistoryoftheHolocaust,andthesameis true-mutatis mutandi-sfor Bismarckand FredericktheGreat. Seen fromthisperspectivethebook could merelybe a modificationoftheold thesisoftheguiltofGermanhistory"from LuthertoHitler. "ButpreciselytheMarxistandquasi-Marxistclass analysesof "Fascism" andtheiremphasisontheroleofthe"workingclass" donotknow
theHolocaustas a maintopic,andReinhardKuhnlinvoluntarilpyrovidesfurther
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
? ? 176 Book Reviews
proofforthiswhenhe maintainsthat"only later,afterthebeginningof World WarII, didJewsincreasinglybecomethemainvictimsoffascistterror"(p. 110). The one essay whichdeals directlywitha Jewishsubject(StephenE.
AschheimaboutWeimarcultureandtheEast EuropeanJews)does notconstitute a counterweightI. fthereasonforthetitleis notsolelya commercialone, then itcan onlybe understandablbeyacceptingthethesisthattheHolocaustrepresents nothingbutthelogical climaxofcapitalismwithitstransformationfall things andmenintocommodities. Andindeed,theintroductioncomestothisassertion: "The Nazi eliteactedupontheassumptionthattheJewsandgypsieswere. . .
a surpluscommodity"(p. 29) and "the industrialand corporateuse of slave laborin theconcentrationcampsand ghettoestookthisstructuraplropensityof capitalismtoitsfinalconclusion"(p. 32).
Not one word is said about the Soviet Union and the "Gulag Archipelago," anditis difficulntottogaintheimpressionthattheHolocaustis totaketheplace ofVietnam,nowno longeravailable,as themaintargetforattacking"capitalism," "imperialism,"and inevitably"America. " The questionis indispensablewhether by such instrumentalizatiotnheHolocaust is notbeingdegradedmostdeeply.
Itis truethatDobkowskiandWallimannatthesametimealso speakof"Western culture"and of "value-freeuse ofknowledgeand science," so thatthepolitical tendencyseems notto be absolute. This pointof view comes plainlyto thefore in themostinterestingand importantcontributionof thebook, thatof George KrenandLeon Rappoportabout"FailuresofThoughtinHolocaustInterpretation. " Here it is emphaticallythe "Enlightenmentidea of progress"to whichin the finalanalysistheresponsibilityfortheHolocaust is beingcontributeda,nd cap- italismand "real socialism," as is well known,have equal sharesin thisidea. The "modernstate" as suchbased on the"Enlightenmenitdeal ofmaterialand moralprogressvia science and technology"withits bureaucratic,hierarchic, and rationalizedstructurehas provedto be an incomparable"engine of human destruction"andthattothisday(p. 397ff. ). ItscreatorisneitherHitlernor LeninnorBismarckbutDescartes,whohastobe stoodonhisheadifa wayout oftheimpasseofmoderncivilizationis tobe found. Thereforeall modernap- proachesof thinkingfail to recognizethetruesignificanceof theHolocaust, the Marxistas wellas theFreudian,andthisnolessthantheliberaleclectic. Practically all othercontributionosfthiscollectionofessaysfallunderthisverdict. To the authorsthe "metaphysicalapproach" seems to be themoreappropriate,which theyexemplifymainlywiththe books by Fackenheimand Rubenstein. That already in the early sixties the Holocaust was interpretedin anthropological categoriessuchas "transcendence"seemstobe unknowntotheauthors. (Only MichaelMeyermentionsthisinhiscontributionw,ellworthreading,"Music
on theEve oftheThirdReich" [p. 330]. ) Thattheydo nottakeseriouslyHitler's self-interpretatioisnunderstandablet:heHolocaustas a servicetohumanityby annihilation,at the last moment,of the "Jewish" revolutionaryabstractness (i. e. , theimpasseofmoderncivilization);butthattheydonotevenoncemention it is extremelyquestionable.
Both books are printedin typewritecrharactersand are thereforedifficulto read. Both books establishso close a relationshipof nationalsocialism withso manyimportanpthenomenathattheexcessiveuseoftheterm"Nazism" appears likeanunnecessaryrelicoftheepochofcontemporarypolemicsandespecially of warpropaganda.
Free UniversityofBerlin
ERNST NOLTE
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
?
Review by: Ernst Nolte
The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Mar. , 1985), pp. 174-176
Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/1898976 .
Accessed: 14/11/2014 03:32
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www. jstor. org/page/info/about/policies/terms. jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor. org.
.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? http://www. jstor. org
The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Modern History.
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
? ? 174 Book Reviews
SuchapragmaticexplanationoftheSS maywellbethebestwecanexpect. For,as Hanna Arendthas shown,in ourbureaucratic,technologicalworldwe mustbepreparedtoconfronthesimple,mind-numbin"gbanalityofevil. " And yetone keeps searchingforsomethingmore,a deeper,moreholisticsolutionto theriddleoftheSS. Perhapsbecauseofthis,theblack-coatedmembersofHitler's eliteguardcan indeedbe said tohavebecome,intheportentioujsargonofthe Nazis, Geheimnistrager.
Indiana University
JAMES M. DIEHL
The Nazi State and theNew Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity. ByChristineE. King.
New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1982. Pp. xvi+ 312. $39. 95.
Towards the Holocaust: The Social and Economic Collapse of the Weimar Republic. EditedbyMichael N. DobkowskiandIsidor Wallimann.
Westport,Conn. : GreenwoodPress, 1983. Pp. viii+ 422. $29. 95.
As ChristineKing rightlystates,muchhas been said so faraboutthe"Kirchen- kampf"duringtheThirdReich,littlehoweveraboutthesmallreligiouscom- munitiesuchas thesectsandtheFreeChurches. Thereasonsareobvious,itis true,butwe mustagainagreewithKingwhenshemaintainsthatfurtheresearch inthisfieldis a desideratum. The authorselectsfivesectsandmakesthemthe objectofa comparativpeortrayalt:heFirstChurchofChrist,Scientistt;heChurch of JesusChristof theLatter-DaySaints; theSeventh-DayAdventists;theNew ApostolicChurch;and Jehovah'sWitnesses. The emergingpictureis veryvaried, although,due totheparamountimportanceoftheOld Testamentforall ofthem, theycould easily appear as pro-Jewish. But the authordoubts whetherit is admissibleto speak merelyof differen"tsurvivaltactics. " The Mormonsrather demonstrateda considerableamountofsympathyforthenationalsocialists,and theytherefore"faredwellundertheNazis" (p. 59). AlsotheAdventistsproved verysusceptibleto manynationalsocialist ideas as, forexample, thatof the "Fiihrertum,"and "theywelcomedeach stageofGermany'sexpansionforLe- bensraum,"beginningwiththe "Anschluss" of Austria. Thereforeno public statementfsromtheirsides can be tracedto condemn"euthanasiaand sterilisation programmes. S"tillmorestrikinwgerethe"pro-Naziviews"oftheNewApostolic Churchwhichhad prayersof thankssaid on theoccasion of theAnschlussand afterthe"invasionofCzechoslovakia"(p. 129). EventheFirstChurchofChrist, Scientist,"kept a low profile"and constitutedno challengeto theauthorities. The authorsees thereasonforthefailureofthefoursectsinthefactthattheir membersthroughoutwere "conservativeand loyal Germancitizens" and did notdifferfromCatholicsandProtestantisnsofaras theywere"nationalist,con- servative,frightenedofCommunism"andtherefordeuringthewar"bore arms willinglyforGermany"(p. 15ff. )OnlyJehovah'sWitnessespresentanentirely differenpticture:as earlyas November1933theyrefusedtotakepartinelections; aftertheintroductionof universalconscriptiontheyrefusedarmedservice;they conductedan activepropagandacampaignagainstthenationalsocialist"Realm ofSatan," andintheconcentrationcampsfaceddeathwithoutlament. All sym- pathiesoftheauthorseemtogo tothissect;butshealso feelscompelledtosay
thateven Jehovah'sWitnessestriedto engage in a "policy of appeasement"
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
? ? Book Reviews 175
towardtheregimeinthefirstmonthsof1933-that they,too,were"notrevo- lutionaries. , . . butconservatives,implepeople" (p. 178), andthatoccasionally theycondemnedtheJewsas themurdererosfChrist. Thus,inthefinalanalysis, thestructuraslimilaritywiththenationalsocialists weighsheavierforherthan theantithesisb:othwere"non-democratica,ntiliberal,uncompromisinbgodies" withmillenaryideas(p. 176)andthesamelikenesshasduringthepostwarperiod led to thepersecutionof theWitnessesin theSovietUnionand in othercommunist states. Thereforei,ntheend,thereaderfacesconfusionratherthanclarityregarding thegeneralevaluation,and concerningtheresultsof theresearchwe can hardly suppressa doubtwhetherinthechaptersabouttheWitnessesithas gonea step beyondtheonesofFriedrichZipfelandMichaelKater.
In a differentway confusionmay be the resultof readingthe much more demandingsecondbooktobereviewedhere. AstheeditorsM,ichaelN. Dobkowski and Isidor Wallimann,statein theirintroductiont,hetwenty-twcoontributors wanttosetforth"factorsresultingfromthesocioeconomic(structuralp)roblems andcontradictionosfWeimarsociety"so farneglectedinthehistoriographoyf theWeimarRepublic,andsomeofthemwanttodo this"froma Marxistper- spective" (p. 15). Thus ReinhardKuhnl deals withthe "Rise of Fascism in GermanyandItsCauses," PeterD. Stachurawith"The NSDAP andtheGerman WorkingClass," JamesC. Huntwiththe"CatholicsintheWeimarRepublic," RichardBreitmanwith"Nazism in theEyes of GermanSocial Democracy," AtinaGrossmannwith"Mass Working-ClassSex ReformOrganizationsin the WeimarRepublic. " Someoftheessayscontainveryinterestingdetailedspeci- ficationsandusefulbibliographicinformationA. llauthorsmoreorlessagree withthe"middleclass thesis"andthe"clean-sweepideal," thuswiththeconviction that"Fascism" (or "Nazism" or "National Socialism") was essentiallya phe- nomenonofthemiddleclasses, andthattheWeimarRepubliccouldhaveescaped its downfallif it had in due timeeliminated"the generals,cartel-bosses,and East-Elbian landlords" (p. 11) fromtheirpowerfulpositions, thereby(as is implied)bringingthemiddlestratumundertheleadershipof "theworkingclass. " Forthisreasonmostoftheauthorssee theworldofWeimarclearlydividedinto "progressives"and"reactionaries,"butinsomecontributionwseafterall come acrossa fewobservationswhichdo notquitefitintothissimplisticviewofthe world. AccordingtoJohnNagle, nationalsocialismsucceededinincorporating a greatnumberof"anti-unionworkers"intoitsmassbasis; PeterStachuracon- siderablymodifiesthe"middleclass thesis"byusingadjectivessuchas "rural" and "Protestant,"andRichardBreitmandoes notso muchsee theguiltofthe SPD inits"anti-Communismb"utexactlyinthedeterminismofits(stillMarxist) WeltanschauungT. husthecomplexityoftherealsituationunmistakablsyometimes comestolightdespitethefascinationcausedbyintellectualsimplification.
The mainquestion,however,is whytheseessays on thehistoryoftheWeimar Republic bear the title "Towards the Holocaust. " It is certainlytruethatthe historyoftheWeimarRepublicinall itsaspectsbelongstothehistoryofthe Holocaust, but thenWalterRathenauas an influentialrepresentativeof the "bourgeoisfantasy"ofa returntoa naturalorder(RobertA. Pis) also belongs totheprehistoryoftheHolocaust,andthesameis true-mutatis mutandi-sfor Bismarckand FredericktheGreat. Seen fromthisperspectivethebook could merelybe a modificationoftheold thesisoftheguiltofGermanhistory"from LuthertoHitler. "ButpreciselytheMarxistandquasi-Marxistclass analysesof "Fascism" andtheiremphasisontheroleofthe"workingclass" donotknow
theHolocaustas a maintopic,andReinhardKuhnlinvoluntarilpyrovidesfurther
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
? ? 176 Book Reviews
proofforthiswhenhe maintainsthat"only later,afterthebeginningof World WarII, didJewsincreasinglybecomethemainvictimsoffascistterror"(p. 110). The one essay whichdeals directlywitha Jewishsubject(StephenE.
AschheimaboutWeimarcultureandtheEast EuropeanJews)does notconstitute a counterweightI. fthereasonforthetitleis notsolelya commercialone, then itcan onlybe understandablbeyacceptingthethesisthattheHolocaustrepresents nothingbutthelogical climaxofcapitalismwithitstransformationfall things andmenintocommodities. Andindeed,theintroductioncomestothisassertion: "The Nazi eliteactedupontheassumptionthattheJewsandgypsieswere. . .
a surpluscommodity"(p. 29) and "the industrialand corporateuse of slave laborin theconcentrationcampsand ghettoestookthisstructuraplropensityof capitalismtoitsfinalconclusion"(p. 32).
Not one word is said about the Soviet Union and the "Gulag Archipelago," anditis difficulntottogaintheimpressionthattheHolocaustis totaketheplace ofVietnam,nowno longeravailable,as themaintargetforattacking"capitalism," "imperialism,"and inevitably"America. " The questionis indispensablewhether by such instrumentalizatiotnheHolocaust is notbeingdegradedmostdeeply.
Itis truethatDobkowskiandWallimannatthesametimealso speakof"Western culture"and of "value-freeuse ofknowledgeand science," so thatthepolitical tendencyseems notto be absolute. This pointof view comes plainlyto thefore in themostinterestingand importantcontributionof thebook, thatof George KrenandLeon Rappoportabout"FailuresofThoughtinHolocaustInterpretation. " Here it is emphaticallythe "Enlightenmentidea of progress"to whichin the finalanalysistheresponsibilityfortheHolocaust is beingcontributeda,nd cap- italismand "real socialism," as is well known,have equal sharesin thisidea. The "modernstate" as suchbased on the"Enlightenmenitdeal ofmaterialand moralprogressvia science and technology"withits bureaucratic,hierarchic, and rationalizedstructurehas provedto be an incomparable"engine of human destruction"andthattothisday(p. 397ff. ). ItscreatorisneitherHitlernor LeninnorBismarckbutDescartes,whohastobe stoodonhisheadifa wayout oftheimpasseofmoderncivilizationis tobe found. Thereforeall modernap- proachesof thinkingfail to recognizethetruesignificanceof theHolocaust, the Marxistas wellas theFreudian,andthisnolessthantheliberaleclectic. Practically all othercontributionosfthiscollectionofessaysfallunderthisverdict. To the authorsthe "metaphysicalapproach" seems to be themoreappropriate,which theyexemplifymainlywiththe books by Fackenheimand Rubenstein. That already in the early sixties the Holocaust was interpretedin anthropological categoriessuchas "transcendence"seemstobe unknowntotheauthors. (Only MichaelMeyermentionsthisinhiscontributionw,ellworthreading,"Music
on theEve oftheThirdReich" [p. 330]. ) Thattheydo nottakeseriouslyHitler's self-interpretatioisnunderstandablet:heHolocaustas a servicetohumanityby annihilation,at the last moment,of the "Jewish" revolutionaryabstractness (i. e. , theimpasseofmoderncivilization);butthattheydonotevenoncemention it is extremelyquestionable.
Both books are printedin typewritecrharactersand are thereforedifficulto read. Both books establishso close a relationshipof nationalsocialism withso manyimportanpthenomenathattheexcessiveuseoftheterm"Nazism" appears likeanunnecessaryrelicoftheepochofcontemporarypolemicsandespecially of warpropaganda.
Free UniversityofBerlin
ERNST NOLTE
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In a differentway confusionmay be the resultof readingthe much more demandingsecondbooktobereviewedhere. AstheeditorsM,ichaelN. Dobkowski and Isidor Wallimann,statein theirintroductiont,hetwenty-twcoontributors wanttosetforth"factorsresultingfromthesocioeconomic(structuralp)roblems andcontradictionosfWeimarsociety"so farneglectedinthehistoriographoyf theWeimarRepublic,andsomeofthemwanttodo this"froma Marxistper- spective" (p. 15). Thus ReinhardKuhnl deals withthe "Rise of Fascism in GermanyandItsCauses," PeterD. Stachurawith"The NSDAP andtheGerman WorkingClass," JamesC. Huntwiththe"CatholicsintheWeimarRepublic," RichardBreitmanwith"Nazism in theEyes of GermanSocial Democracy," AtinaGrossmannwith"Mass Working-ClassSex ReformOrganizationsin the WeimarRepublic. " Someoftheessayscontainveryinterestingdetailedspeci- ficationsandusefulbibliographicinformationA. llauthorsmoreorlessagree withthe"middleclass thesis"andthe"clean-sweepideal," thuswiththeconviction that"Fascism" (or "Nazism" or "National Socialism") was essentiallya phe- nomenonofthemiddleclasses, andthattheWeimarRepubliccouldhaveescaped its downfallif it had in due timeeliminated"the generals,cartel-bosses,and East-Elbian landlords" (p. 11) fromtheirpowerfulpositions, thereby(as is implied)bringingthemiddlestratumundertheleadershipof "theworkingclass. " Forthisreasonmostoftheauthorssee theworldofWeimarclearlydividedinto "progressives"and"reactionaries,"butinsomecontributionwseafterall come acrossa fewobservationswhichdo notquitefitintothissimplisticviewofthe world. AccordingtoJohnNagle, nationalsocialismsucceededinincorporating a greatnumberof"anti-unionworkers"intoitsmassbasis; PeterStachuracon- siderablymodifiesthe"middleclass thesis"byusingadjectivessuchas "rural" and "Protestant,"andRichardBreitmandoes notso muchsee theguiltofthe SPD inits"anti-Communismb"utexactlyinthedeterminismofits(stillMarxist) WeltanschauungT. husthecomplexityoftherealsituationunmistakablsyometimes comestolightdespitethefascinationcausedbyintellectualsimplification.
The mainquestion,however,is whytheseessays on thehistoryoftheWeimar Republic bear the title "Towards the Holocaust. " It is certainlytruethatthe historyoftheWeimarRepublicinall itsaspectsbelongstothehistoryofthe Holocaust, but thenWalterRathenauas an influentialrepresentativeof the "bourgeoisfantasy"ofa returntoa naturalorder(RobertA. Pis) also belongs totheprehistoryoftheHolocaust,andthesameis true-mutatis mutandi-sfor Bismarckand FredericktheGreat. Seen fromthisperspectivethebook could merelybe a modificationoftheold thesisoftheguiltofGermanhistory"from LuthertoHitler. "ButpreciselytheMarxistandquasi-Marxistclass analysesof "Fascism" andtheiremphasisontheroleofthe"workingclass" donotknow
theHolocaustas a maintopic,andReinhardKuhnlinvoluntarilpyrovidesfurther
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? ? 176 Book Reviews
proofforthiswhenhe maintainsthat"only later,afterthebeginningof World WarII, didJewsincreasinglybecomethemainvictimsoffascistterror"(p. 110). The one essay whichdeals directlywitha Jewishsubject(StephenE.
AschheimaboutWeimarcultureandtheEast EuropeanJews)does notconstitute a counterweightI. fthereasonforthetitleis notsolelya commercialone, then itcan onlybe understandablbeyacceptingthethesisthattheHolocaustrepresents nothingbutthelogical climaxofcapitalismwithitstransformationfall things andmenintocommodities. Andindeed,theintroductioncomestothisassertion: "The Nazi eliteactedupontheassumptionthattheJewsandgypsieswere. . .
a surpluscommodity"(p. 29) and "the industrialand corporateuse of slave laborin theconcentrationcampsand ghettoestookthisstructuraplropensityof capitalismtoitsfinalconclusion"(p. 32).
Not one word is said about the Soviet Union and the "Gulag Archipelago," anditis difficulntottogaintheimpressionthattheHolocaustis totaketheplace ofVietnam,nowno longeravailable,as themaintargetforattacking"capitalism," "imperialism,"and inevitably"America. " The questionis indispensablewhether by such instrumentalizatiotnheHolocaust is notbeingdegradedmostdeeply.
Itis truethatDobkowskiandWallimannatthesametimealso speakof"Western culture"and of "value-freeuse ofknowledgeand science," so thatthepolitical tendencyseems notto be absolute. This pointof view comes plainlyto thefore in themostinterestingand importantcontributionof thebook, thatof George KrenandLeon Rappoportabout"FailuresofThoughtinHolocaustInterpretation. " Here it is emphaticallythe "Enlightenmentidea of progress"to whichin the finalanalysistheresponsibilityfortheHolocaust is beingcontributeda,nd cap- italismand "real socialism," as is well known,have equal sharesin thisidea. The "modernstate" as suchbased on the"Enlightenmenitdeal ofmaterialand moralprogressvia science and technology"withits bureaucratic,hierarchic, and rationalizedstructurehas provedto be an incomparable"engine of human destruction"andthattothisday(p. 397ff. ). ItscreatorisneitherHitlernor LeninnorBismarckbutDescartes,whohastobe stoodonhisheadifa wayout oftheimpasseofmoderncivilizationis tobe found. Thereforeall modernap- proachesof thinkingfail to recognizethetruesignificanceof theHolocaust, the Marxistas wellas theFreudian,andthisnolessthantheliberaleclectic. Practically all othercontributionosfthiscollectionofessaysfallunderthisverdict. To the authorsthe "metaphysicalapproach" seems to be themoreappropriate,which theyexemplifymainlywiththe books by Fackenheimand Rubenstein. That already in the early sixties the Holocaust was interpretedin anthropological categoriessuchas "transcendence"seemstobe unknowntotheauthors. (Only MichaelMeyermentionsthisinhiscontributionw,ellworthreading,"Music
on theEve oftheThirdReich" [p. 330]. ) Thattheydo nottakeseriouslyHitler's self-interpretatioisnunderstandablet:heHolocaustas a servicetohumanityby annihilation,at the last moment,of the "Jewish" revolutionaryabstractness (i. e. , theimpasseofmoderncivilization);butthattheydonotevenoncemention it is extremelyquestionable.
Both books are printedin typewritecrharactersand are thereforedifficulto read. Both books establishso close a relationshipof nationalsocialism withso manyimportanpthenomenathattheexcessiveuseoftheterm"Nazism" appears likeanunnecessaryrelicoftheepochofcontemporarypolemicsandespecially of warpropaganda.
Free UniversityofBerlin
ERNST NOLTE
? This content downloaded from 128. 135. 12. 127 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:32:04 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
?
