The elasticity of morals | Eurozine

When the first volume of Adolf Hitler was published, my struggle When “” was released on July 18, 1925, the book market was in deep crisis, and publishers did not have high expectations. However, Hitler’s book sold more than 10 million copies in Germany alone and was a commercial success in other countries, including the United States. In 1947, the publisher reported that Hitler earned approximately 15 million Reichsmarks (approximately 67 million euros) from the book, of which 7 million Reichsmarks remained uncollected.

These facts were recorded in a 2011 study by Austrian historian Otmar Pleckinger. Geschichte eines Buches: Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (1922–1945). One of the myths that Pleckinger dispelled was that the book sold well, but was never actually read. Based on evidence from library data, Puckinger shows that: my struggle It was read, criticized, and even praised in some places.

The book was published by Franz Eher Verlag, a company run by Max Ammann, Hitler’s former World War I superior. It was originally published under the title “Four and a Half Years of Fighting Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice: A Reckoning.” “Four and a Half Years” refers to World War I, in which Hitler served as a corporal. The working title was almost abandoned, and what remained was Struggle (Comp), everything is condensed into one word.

In 2018, I I wrote that my struggle It may help you recognize modern fallacies and delusional conspiracy theories. I don’t speak like that anymore. There is no indication that there is an effective vaccine against false saviors. It’s not that the culture of mourning is completely ineffective, but we can’t sing Hallelujah. The fight against lies, cowardice, and stupidity is still being waged fervently from all sides, but primarily so as not to appear foolish, cowardly, or dishonest ourselves.

The past creates the present. But the present also produces the past, precisely because our interpretation of the past is ever-changing. If the Israeli government’s political and religious messianism continues, it will only be a matter of time before Hitler’s genocide of European Jews will be understood as a pre-emptive war.

Beer Hall Messiah

Hitler’s political life began in Munich, where he discovered his oratorical talent and where, after the bloody end of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919, his thirst for salvation may have been even stronger than elsewhere in Germany. Anti-Semitism flourished there more than in other parts of Germany.

As early as the 1920s, Hitler likened himself to Jesus, saying in a speech: “We may be small, but once upon a time there was a man in Galilee. Now his teachings rule the world.” according to hitler biographer Volker Ulrich, his voice (baritone) was his greatest weapon. Some listeners reported feeling a “religious conversion” after listening to Hitler. He is said to have been a “Lutheran” of his time, but Ulrich points out that “a lot of beer” may have predisposed his audience to that feeling.

From Charlotte Berrad’s 1966 classic das doritte empire de traumwe know that by 1933, the fear of Hitler had already penetrated the dreams of the German people. The Third Reich permeated the unconscious. Temptation became fear, and salvation became pure fear. The fight against Hitler’s meanness, lies, and stupidity would continue for another 12 years. Ultimately, between 70 and 85 million people were murdered, including 6 million Jews. We are still grappling with this legacy.

principles and lies

[Inthespringof1945evenasGermancitieswerebeingbombedwithincendiarybombsandRedArmyartilleryfirecouldbeheardinBerlinthefaithofmanyGermansremained[1945年の春、ドイツの都市が焼夷弾で爆撃され、赤軍の砲撃がベルリンで聞こえたときでさえ、多くのドイツ人の信仰は、president It remained unbroken. in rebelAlbert Camus wrote, “When principles fail, the only way for men to save themselves and defend their faith is to die for themselves.” Many people would rather lose a loved one than abandon their principles. True loneliness begins when you say goodbye to your last principles. And morality is so resilient that the fight against cowardice, lies, and stupidity can sometimes take the form of fear.

Many people don’t want to admit they were wrong because it’s extremely painful. Günter Grass served in the 10th SS Panzer Division “Frundberg” at the end of the war. When I interviewed him two years before his death, he said he believed he was fighting “for a good cause.” Even after Germany surrendered, he dismissed the news as propaganda. It was only when former Reich Youth leader Baldur von Schirach admitted that he had known about the mass extermination during the Nuremberg trials that Grass was finally able to admit that he was wrong.

Grass referred to von Schirach in an interview as “my Reich Youth Leader”, as if no part of him had truly left the Hitler Youth. It’s a moment you’ll never forget. If we do not die for a principle that has been shown to be a lie, it is no longer properly called a principle, but it becomes a wound that rarely truly heals. social wounds.

group psychology

Anyone reading the academic version, my struggle You will be surprised how modern it is today. The most striking passages are about Jews and propaganda. Much of what Hitler said about propaganda still applies today. He wrote that NSDAP should be a “controller” rather than a “helper of public opinion.” The Party must be the “master” and not the “servant of the masses”.

Many political parties today, perhaps almost all, aim to be masters of the masses rather than servants. Let’s consider the “crisis” of accepting refugees. The most successful politicians are those who command public opinion. Untalented people abandon principles in order to gain support. Propaganda pretends to be moral. Hitler realized that lonely, angry, and disappointed people longed for community, and nothing created community more powerfully than a common enemy, a scapegoat.

Anti-Semitism was as bad in pre-war France as it was in Germany, but Hitler created a community of beliefs that Jews were Bolsheviks and capitalists, parasites and masters, visible and invisible. They were everywhere, they were nowhere, but most of all they were omnipotent. In Hitler’s view, welt judentum Historian Salo Baron concluded in 1942 that “America was a world power, which meant that anti-Semitism had to become a world power, too.” We are still grappling with that legacy.

forever tied to hitler

Myths persist, especially when we believe we have overcome them. my struggleCritical reaction was not particularly enthusiastic. Rudolf Binding writes: frankfurter zeitung Hitler loved no one and had only one instinct: the conquest of the people. His anti-Semitism was largely ignored or dismissed as secondary, except in the Christian and Jewish press. Hans von Lübke wrote: Church and National Socialism The destructive influence of Judaism cannot be countered by “glorifying one’s own race.”

Ulrich concludes his biography by saying that we are, in a sense, “forever” bound to Hitler and that his life remains a warning of “how easily the rule of law and moral standards can be ignored.” That’s why you should read his Bible.

Morality is resilient. You could call this a trampoline. The harder you jump, the higher you bounce. Those who stick to their principles will either become heroes or mass murderers. Hitler might have been avoided if the warning had been helpful. Anyone today who claims to fight lies, stupidity, and meanness should remember that Hitler was no different. So was Günther Grass. For those who take comfort in the idea that they are merely obedient followers, and for us too, one thing remains certain. That means the next Messiah will come and they will once again test our moral resilience.