How a Holocaust Happens

No, you just aren't going back far enough.

Oh where should we start then? Malthus? How about Amalek?

I'm well aware of the history of the eugenics movement. It may explain why the Germans had no qualms about exterminating classes of people (such as the mentally or physically non-productive), but it doesn't explain Germany's direction of that philosophy toward exterminating Jews.

Of course Germans fell into Hitler's arms, but one of the reasons they did so was because of his views on the "Master Race", an extension of eugenics theories.

Allow me to quote you again: He is missing a whole lot of the background which helped to cause the Holocaust.

At which point you expounded upon eugenics. I did not dispute those facts, nor the role that the Darwinist philosophy that precipitated eugenics played in permitting the extermination of classes of people. I merely pointed out that you were "missing a whole lot of the background which helped to cause the Holocaust." You missed the reason that the philosophy which justified the means (genocide) had the end of exterminating Jews in particular.

No, you just aren't going back far enough. The intelligentsia of the late 19th and early 20th century took the idea of Survival of the Fittest (no, this is not a discussion of Darwin) and embraced it.

The great German/Jewish poet Heine said that it is Christianity which is the bulwark of justice, freedom and tolerance. He predicted the Holocaust and other disasters.

When people stop to sing carols they will sing The Internationale or Horst Wessel Lied. The actual first step (presumably favority of NYT guys) is Lennon's Imagine.

"The concluding passage of [Heine's] Religion and Philosophy in Germany [1832] is one of the most remarkable prophesies in all literature. [...]

Christianity -- and that is its greatest merit -- has somewhat mitigated that brutal German love of war, but it could not destroy it. Should that subduing talisman, the cross, be shattered, the frenzied madness of the ancient warriors, that insane Berserk rage of which Nordic bards have spoken and sung so often, will once more burst into flame. ... The old stone gods will then rise from long ruins and rub the dust of a thousand years from their eyes, and Thor will leap to life with his giant hammer and smash the Gothic cathedrals. ...

Do not smile at my advice -- the advice of a dreamer who warns you against Kantians, Fichteans, and philosophers of nature. Do not smile at the visionary who anticipates the same revolution in the realm of the visible as has taken place in the spiritual. Thought precedes action as lightning precedes thunder. German thunder ... comes rolling somewhat slowly, but .. its crash ... will be unlike anything before in the history of the world. ... At that uproar the eagles of the air will drop dead, and lions in farthest Africa will draw in their tails and slink away. ... A play will be performed in Germany which will make the French Revolution look like an innocent idyll.

[Philip Kossoff, Valiant Heart: A Biography of Heinrich HeineCornwall Books, NJ and London, 1983]

"I merely pointed out that you were 'missing a whole lot of the background which helped to cause the Holocaust.'"

I didn't mean to imply that eugenics was the sole cause. It was a major contributor, though.

But I'm not just focusing so much on what Germany did with the idea of eugenics, I'm focusing in a larger sense on what the rest of the world thought about it. The rest of the world pretty much accepted eugenics so it was easy for them to ignore the use of it in Germany -- until they actually saw the magnitude and the horrors of the Holocaust.

"but it doesn't explain Germany's direction of that philosophy toward exterminating Jews."

Germany exterminated more than just Jews in the 30's; certainly Jews became the focus but initially the idea was to exterminate the unfit in general. The concept of removing those who were unfit was already in place when Hitler began to demonize the Jews. AFAIK, no one really knows why Hitler chose to try and wipe out the Jews.

Germany exterminated more than just Jews in the 30's; certainly Jews became the focus but initially the idea was to exterminate the unfit in general.

Jews were exterminated more as a threat than merely "unfit" in the Darwinian sense.

Germany exterminated more than just Jews in the 30's; certainly Jews became the focus but initially the idea was to exterminate the unfit in general.

In the list of leaders of the Spartakusbund you'll find a substantial number of Poles as well.

AFAIK, no one really knows why Hitler chose to try and wipe out the Jews.

Well then by all means don't learn more about the Spartakusbund by availing yourself of the link I provided you.

At that time, it was not uncommon to regard communism as a Jewish plot. Fascism was being sold across Europe as a defense against anarchy and communism. Interstingly, the capitalist role in fomenting soviet style communism as a fascist foil (the Popular Front) was made abundantly clear in the Spanish Civil War when the Stalinists did more to defeat the Spanish anarchists than Franco's fascists did.

I live in Georgia, and if there is a KKK, it must have a minuscule membership. The KKK was a huge force in the country (not just the South) during the 20s. During the 60s it was a rather modest sized group of extremists that the FBI infiltrated and effectively destroyed. There are probably a few extremist bigots running around in their stupid robes, but you would never know it here in Georgia.

By the way, in case you haven't heard, the USA has the Bill of Rights, that allows provides for the individual right of expression.

" Jews were exterminated more as a threat than merely "unfit" in the Darwinian sense."

It was both. Later on it was played up more as a threat. In the earlier part of the century they were seen as mentally unfit.

" Well then by all means don't learn more about the Spartakusbund by availing yourself of the link I provided you."

I see no reason for you to be a sarcastic jerk, especially since that link you provided had no specific information about why Hitler wanted to get rid of the Jews. Also, a casual reading of history and a search of the web shows that the reason for Hitler wanting to exterminate the Jews is still debated. Contrary to what you say there's no real consensus on why Hitler was so intent on their annihilation.

In the earlier part of the century they (Jews) were seen as mentally unfit.

Prove it, statistically; I don't buy it. The early exterminations were of the aged, insane, and those with serious birth defects.

I see no reason for you to be a sarcastic jerk, especially since that link you provided had no specific information about why Hitler wanted to get rid of the Jews.

Name calling already? You misread what I wrote in the first place, and condescendingly chose not to investigate it, taking the post as an attempt to refute the accuracy of the facts in your thesis rather than it's obviously erroneous claim to be the comprehensive cause. Your post implied that the sole reason a well-educated and industrial nation like the Germans were murdering Jewish doctors, lawyers, scientists, and technicians because they were considered "genetically inferior." That contention fails the test of simple logic.

Contrary to what you say there's no real consensus on why Hitler was so intent on their annihilation.

Of course not. Between Jewish victimhood and neo-NAZI apologists there never could be a consensus. There is more distorted information over this history than there is anything else (whether by commission or omission), scholarly research consisting mostly of work somebody will fund. It's easy to select facts to support a position. It's even easier to omit them, whether by intent or selective blindness.

That's enough for today. I have to help prepare our facility for a bar mitzvah.

"At that time, it was not uncommon to regard communism as a Jewish plot. Fascism was being sold across Europe as a defense against anarchy and communism. Interstingly, the capitalist role in fomenting soviet style communism as a fascist foil (the Popular Front) was made abundantly clear in the Spanish Civil War when the Stalinists did more to defeat the Spanish anarchists than Franco's fascists did."

This is spot on and explains how fascism was aided by anti-communists and by capitalists seeking to stop Bolshevism. There's another angle that created a perfect storm, which allowed fascism to become strong: in the early days, when leftists in the west were infatuated with the Soviet Union and the Soviets were in leagues with the Nazis for several years. These leftists were reluctant to criticize the Nazis, because, after all, friends of the Soviet Union (in their minds the true good guys) can't be all that bad.

It was only after the break up of Stalin and Hitler that the left became anti-Nazi. I'm sure in that incubation period enough of them picked up some nice anti-Semitic tendencies.

Moreover, it is often forgotten that Mussolinni was an express leftist early on and only became a fascist later.

At the end of the day, we have to keep reminding ourselves that there are really two camps: 1) those who believe in the historic freedoms and Christian culture of the West, and 2) those who love tyranny and seek to destroy 1.

The politics of a given era might well include some pretty awful alliances, just like WWII. But we can not forget the fundamentals.

Of course leftists in Europe (ie, 98% of all of Europe) are now reaping the whirlwind they have sown. They have successfully demolished freedom-enhancing Christian civilization in Europe, and in that vacuum the Muslims are rushing in. There will be temporary setbacks for the Muslum hordes, but unfortunately, that will come from fascist types who will seek not to restore Christian civilization, but, rather, to simply kick out the Muslims. Places like Denmark are not going to be able to offer up any alternative better than that. We might applaud these extremists on in the short term, but they are not our friends, either.

The survival of the west - indeed the Christian west - is the only hope for Jews, and for the rest of us, as well. It appears, though, that we are about 75 years away from losing it all. And Israel might go under sooner than that.

Thank you for the post. The handwriting was on the wall early on, to those familiar with the inner workings of Fabian socialism. As an example of such, a contemporary of the Huxleys, Wells, and others, here is a little quote written in 1938 from Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell:

In reality, it was the Communists above all others who prevented revolution in Spain. Later, when the Right Wing forces were in full control, the Communists showed themselves willing to go a great deal further than the Liberals in hunting down revolutionary leaders.
[Snip]
Between the Communists and those who claim to stand to the Left of them there is a real difference. The Communists hold that Fascism can be beaten by alliance with sections of the capitalist class (the Popular Front); their opponents hold that this maneuver simply gives Fascism new breeding-grounds. The question has got to be settled; to make the wrong decision may be to land ourselves in for centuries of semi-slavery.

At that time, Orwell did not yet understand the depth of unity behind "the right wing forces" and the Popular Front, but, given his connections in England, you can bet that by the time Animal Farm and 1984 were written, he did.

" Name calling already? "

'Jerk' is an appropriate word for people who are sarcastic with no reason. Your sarcasm was totally uncalled for. As I mentioned before, I didn't ignore any data you linked; there wasn't any data in that link about why Hitler wanted to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth.

"Your post implied that the sole reason a well-educated and industrial nation like the Germans were murdering Jewish doctors, lawyers, scientists, and technicians because they were considered "genetically inferior."

No, I implied no such thing. As I mentioned, Hitler specifically wanted to exterminate the Jews for some unknown reason.

I have better things to do than banter back and forth with you when you aren't even reading what I wrote.

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