Language:
English
Year of publication:
1988
Titel der Quelle:
Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
3,2 (1988) 197-208
Keywords:
Holocaust (Jewish theology)
Abstract:
A paper presented at the "Remembering for the Future" conference, Oxford, July 1988. Discusses why the Nazis decided to exterminate the Jews and why they carried out that decision, continuing even when the Reich was about to fall. "Positivist" historical explanations (e.g. resentment caused by defeat, and economic distress which seeks traditional scapegoats) may explain the Nazis' rise to power but not the Holocaust. Other explanations look at the subjective motivations of the perpetrators. However, the Holocaust was not the consequence of a rational decision by one person, but rather an "insane" one by many. Examines Hitler's ideology as described by Jäckel, in which antisemitism is the key, and proposes to view it not merely as an ideology but as a "Weltanschauung" - a total cosmic principle, with internal coherence characterized by deep commitment of the believer. This "Weltanschauung" explains Hitler's hold on the German public, and the Nazis' determination to carry out their program to the end.
Note:
Appeared also in "Remembering for the Future" (1989) 1850-1862, in his "Jewish Philosophers and Jewish Philosophy" (1996) 146-158, and in "The Holocaust; Readings & Interpretations" (2001) 47-55.
URL:
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