Language:
English
Year of publication:
2001
Titel der Quelle:
History of the Human Sciences
Angaben zur Quelle:
14,4 (2001) 87-110
Keywords:
Nolte, Ernst,
;
Habermas, Jürgen
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Historiography
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
Abstract:
Describes the historians' debate which erupted in West Germany in 1986, focusing on the views of its main protagonists. Ernst Nolte, Michael Stürmer, and Andreas Hillgruber tried to relativize the Holocaust and to see a "positive side" to the Third Reich, while Jürgen Habermas criticized their viewpoint. Remarkably, each side alleged that the other was driven by political motives rather than "wissenschaftliche" interests. Beginning with a demand to historicize Nazism and the Holocaust, Nolte implicitly declared the Nazi fear of "Jewish Bolshevism" not only as comprehensible ("verstehbar") but also justified. With his disregard of the irrational elements in Nazism, Nolte showed that his motives were far from being purely "wissenschaftlich". Doubts that the Holocaust can be attributed to a past which has passed, to become a subject of purely scientific research.
Note:
Focuses on Ernst Nolte and Jürgen Habermas.
DOI:
10.1177/095269510101400404
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink