August 25, 2005
Why did people join the Nazi Party?
In 1934, the Columbia academic Theodore Abel launched an essay contest for Nazi party members (in Germany), to write a personal essay on why they became Nazis. In 1938 he published his results in Why Hitler came into Power, including both a couple of complete essays as well as an overall analysis.
Rereading the book for the first time since college, here is a passage that stood out, from the essay entered by an anti-Semite (p. 225):
I had still not bothered with politics. One day I went to Koslin to shop with my brother-in-law from Berlin, who had returned from captivity and was visiting me. It was during the time when government officials also claimed the right to strike. There was talk an intended strike of the railroad men. And then in the evening the strike had come and we could not return. We remained in the hope of getting away the next day by some sort of conveyance. To kill time, we went that evening to a meeting called by the Schutz- und Trutzbund, [editor's footnote: "an anti-Semitic organization"] of which we had read on posters. The hall was overcrowded, we could find seats only in the front row by the stage. We perceived from conversation that some were indignant, that people dared to hold a meeting directed against the Jews. A retired Captain Schmidt of Stettin made the speech, which lasted on and a half hours. During the first quarter of an hour he was often interrupted. Then he succeeded in fixing everyone's attention. It seemed to me as though scales had fallen from my eyes. THere were no more interruptions; at last even those had had come with the purpose of breaking up the meeting seemed to be enthusiastic. Representatives of nine parties had applied for discussion. The first eight said things that were of no account. The last to speak was a rabbi who was received with laughter. At first he was not taken seriously at all; after a quarter of an hour he had the audience on his side. I too was once more tormented by doubts. Yet there was something in me that struggled against the Jew despite his convincingly uttered remarks. At last not a soul in the hall seemed to have a different opinion from the Jew. The applause grew louder and louder. FOrtunately, probably inspired by the applause, he became impudent, and inveighed against Hindenburg, Ludendorff, and our two million dead. Now the ban was broken. Everyone cried: "Out with the Jew!" More quickly than he had come he was outside again. A final talk by the main speaker restored my inner balance. That evening had shown me the danger of the Jewish intelligence. When on econsidered now that public opinion was created almost exclusively by Jews, one was filled with horror. Every honest German artisan was of the firm conviction that everything printed in a newspaper is true. If it were not true, the state would have to take a hand. From this evening on I occupied myself with the Jewish problem, and the more I understood it, the greater opponent of the Jews did I become. In this connection I also began to occupy myself with politics. Unfortunately I found only too soon that none of the existing parties paid any attention to the Jewish problem.
This is powerful enough so that I have responses to say to almost every sentence. Here is the text again, with some comments interwoven:
I had still not bothered with politics. One day I went to Koslin to shop with my brother-in-law from Berlin, who had returned from captivity and was visiting me. [Note how "returning from captivity" is something so normal that that is is mentioned in passing, like it is not a big deal: only now do we live lives without this deadly aspect to it] [] It was during the time when government officials also claimed the right to strike. [Good to remember: the right to strike wasn't always an obvious, universal right. Ought it be?] There was talk an intended strike of the railroad men. And then in the evening the strike had come and we could not return. We remained in the hope of getting away the next day by some sort of conveyance. To kill time, we went that evening to a meeting called by the Schutz- und Trutzbund, [editor's footnote: "an anti-Semitic organization"] of which we had read on posters. The hall was overcrowded, we could find seats only in the front row by the stage. We perceived from conversation that some were indignant, that people dared to hold a meeting directed against the Jews. A retired Captain Schmidt of Stettin made the speech, which lasted one and a half hours. [Today, only the Billy Grahams and Castros give speeches this long, but it was common then!] During the first quarter of an hour he was often interrupted. [Heckling, too, as a part of public gatherings then! Just like in the third world today] Then he succeeded in fixing everyone's attention. It seemed to me as though scales had fallen from my eyes. There were no more interruptions; at last even those had had come with the purpose of breaking up the meeting seemed to be enthusiastic. Representatives of nine parties had applied for discussion. The first eight said things that were of no account. The last to speak was a rabbi who was received with laughter. [Interesting that they invited a rabbi, at all!] At first he was not taken seriously at all; after a quarter of an hour he had the audience on his side. I too was once more tormented by doubts. Yet there was something in me that struggled against the Jew despite his convincingly uttered remarks. At last not a soul in the hall seemed to have a different opinion from the Jew. The applause grew louder and louder. [If this is an accurate representation, then they at least listened to him] Fortunately, probably inspired by the applause, he became impudent, and inveighed against Hindenburg, Ludendorff, and our two million dead. Now the ban was broken. Everyone cried: "Out with the Jew!" [Ah, so the problem is that the Jew was doing okay but he went too far--the Jew is accepted but then oversteps his bounds--this is probably the best summary of the anti-Semitic attitude I have seen] More quickly than he had come he was outside again. A final talk by the main speaker restored my inner balance. That evening had shown me the danger of the Jewish intelligence. [Notice the phrasing: "the Jewish intelligence"] When on econsidered now that public opinion was created almost exclusively by Jews, one was filled with horror. [Even back then? Notice how the rhetoric is identical today--in the US] Every honest German artisan was of the firm conviction that everything printed in a newspaper is true. [Notice both the association of 'artisan' with the common working man--as opposed to the sense the word has today, where the artisan is someone different and artistic. Also note the condescension, how the common man is stupid and controlled by the media] If it were not true, the state would have to take a hand. [A true socialist: the solution is the state!] From this evening on I occupied myself with the Jewish problem, and the more I understood it, the greater opponent of the Jews did I become. [The more wrapped up you become in anything, the more extreme you become: the challenge is to fight that, or to make sure you're extreme on the right things] In this connection I also began to occupy myself with politics. [Funny how the socialist thinks that the solution is in "politics"; I think the solution is in just doing it, and that may take the form of a business, association, or possibly even politics.] Unfortunately I found only too soon that none of the existing parties paid any attention to the Jewish problem. [Notice how one night can change someone, if he is retelling his story honestly.]
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