“ To return to where I began this analysis in asking “How could so many highly educated, intelligent, and cultured Germans become Nazis?” the answer is: “Most didn’t.” ”
And yet the few Nazis managed to accomplish great evil.
The parallels to our own time are obvious:
(1) very few Americans (basically none?) wanted endless war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
(2) most Americans want a health-care-for-all system but even a pandemic that’s killed nearly a million of us couldn’t get our legislators to act.
Our governments do stuff regardless of what we want.
Thanks for the thorough and thoughtful article, Michael. In short, the understanding that I come away with is that many/most of us are probably not potential ideologues but most/many/enough of us are potential collaborators or aquiescers, in a society that prevents us from knowing the reservations of our peers to the noisiest voices in the culture or society. Whether those be governmental (WWII Germany, CCP, ...) or social (BLM, MAGA, AntiVax,...).
SOME Nazis were banal followers of authority, but others were true believers and approached their 'jobs' in an active creative way. Take this about Eichmann:
He was exceptionally creative in the fulfilment of his tasks. In Hungary in late 1944, he even went BEYOND Himmler's orders. In Vienna, in 1938, his exceptional organizer's qualities were amply demonstrated. Rabbi Mummerlstein, the sole survivor of the Jewish councils, who had daily contacts with Eichmann, confirms all this in his interview with Claude Lanzmann in the film The Last of the Unjusts. He wonders why Arendt never bothered to have a discussion with him about the case. He also confirms that Eichmann had ample autonomy and initiative and, far from being a banal bureaucrat, was a responsible and thinking leader.
Arendt was fooled by this devious liar.
The full-on cultists are the dangerous ones, so its not about obedience but cultism and Milgram is not particularly relevant.
Of course there was obedience, but in addition to the effects of authority refusing to obey the Nazis could end up with you being dead - more than enough 'persuasion' for most.
As regards the question 'How could so many educated, intelligent and cultured Germans become Nazis?' the answer is straightforward: Education, intelligence and culture offer no vaccination at all against joining cults - possibly the opposite.
I think many of the Germans who resisted were simple Christians who took the 10 commandments literally.
Its possible that there is some wisdom in traditions that outperforms the arrogance of human intellect (often changeable and self serving). One may not need to be religious to recognise this?
The GOP displays many signs of spiritualistic ignorance. Any who speak against, or even question, Trump are denounced as RINO's; the RNC censured Cheney and Kinzinger for serving on the Jan 6 Committee; only 21% believe Biden won (Washington Post). Fortunately, or deliberately, and certainly judicially, the USA rejects Trump.
"...free speech, free press, free protest, free trade, and accurate and trustworthy information." The slow erosion of that last has upstream affects on the first four, no?
Also, I fear both MAGA and WOKE cults are slowly training their bases to dehumanize the "other" so much that if you did this experiment and told the person who had to flip the shock switch, they wouldn't mind if you could convince them that the victim was a member of the opposing political party or tribe. Right?
I think Ms. Goldberg was right the first time and should not have appologized. Just because the Nazis thought Jews were a race does not make it true. The Nazi attempt to exterminate them was a case of "white-on-white" crime, as she said, and had nothing to do with race, no matter what the Nazis thought.
That most normal people can be convinced to do things they would otherwise deplore is found throughout history. In fact all wars are based on that principle. So are slavery, genital mutilation for religious reasons, forced marriages, and many other acts we seldom think of in that connection, such as typical forms of punishment for so-called "crimes". It is hard to dream up any torture worse than life-long imprisonment with no hope of release, but in America today there are thousands serving such a sentence, many for crimes done before they were old enough to vote.
Of course Jews aren't actually a race. But neither is being black. Or white. That said, at the time Jewish people were considered both a religion and a race. And the Nazi philosophy only considered pure blooded aryans as worthy of being accepted. They killed jews, blacks, gypsies and any non-aryan "race". Nazism is 100% a racist ideology. 100%. Not debatable.
As usual, I think you are right on the money with your analysis. I remember when I was in the third grade here in this country, I asked my father, who served in the Hungarian branch of the Nazi army, “Pa, does this mean you were on the wrong side?!” He said, “You didn’t have a choice. You either joined or you were shot.”
Christian apologist Clay Jones’s take on the Holocaust and other holocausts is that we are all sinners, inherently “Auschwitz enabled.” At 35:07. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq7RQ-szk9U "Why Go to a Christian Apologetics Conference?"
Michael, this is another well documented, reasoned, and articulated article.
“But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along…. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
Precisely. There are, apparently, many who are willing to blindly follow a person who really has little interest in anyone other than themselves and their own glorification. Truth and the rule of law seems to mean little to them and their "enemies" will suffer if they don't agree.
You wrote: 'but the rest is pure spin-doctored malarkey and Arendt allowed herself to be taken in by it more than reason would allow...'
I think this statement indicates a misunderstanding of the subject.
As Guyton states in his 'Textbook of Medical Physiology,' page 2, "...thus, the human being is actually an automaton..." While he is talking about physiology in general, he includes "feeling" and "knowledgeable" as part of automatic processes involved in survival.
Fortunately, we are not Zombies. We are genetically programmed as social animals to be what is considered 'moral' in many circumstances. But not all.
I would suggest the tendency for individuals to be amoral is on a continuum. There are those who act amoral without conditioning or provocation. But most people require a particular situation to make them amoral, or even grossly immoral. This is the point of Milgram's experiment.
As indicated by your article, it is a complex subject. I think the belief in free will confuses the issue. If you accept that genetics and circumstances determine behaviour, then everything Eichmann and the other Nazis said, is an explanation, not an excuse. Sure, they are trying to cast a better light on their behaviour, but that does not negate the generally accurate portrayal of their situation. It is certainly not "malarkey," though it may be spin-doctored.
On a positive note, by understanding behaviour better, we can ensure conditions are such as to bring out the innate goodness in people.
“ To return to where I began this analysis in asking “How could so many highly educated, intelligent, and cultured Germans become Nazis?” the answer is: “Most didn’t.” ”
And yet the few Nazis managed to accomplish great evil.
The parallels to our own time are obvious:
(1) very few Americans (basically none?) wanted endless war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
(2) most Americans want a health-care-for-all system but even a pandemic that’s killed nearly a million of us couldn’t get our legislators to act.
Our governments do stuff regardless of what we want.
Thanks for the thorough and thoughtful article, Michael. In short, the understanding that I come away with is that many/most of us are probably not potential ideologues but most/many/enough of us are potential collaborators or aquiescers, in a society that prevents us from knowing the reservations of our peers to the noisiest voices in the culture or society. Whether those be governmental (WWII Germany, CCP, ...) or social (BLM, MAGA, AntiVax,...).
How does that sit with your intent?
SOME Nazis were banal followers of authority, but others were true believers and approached their 'jobs' in an active creative way. Take this about Eichmann:
He was exceptionally creative in the fulfilment of his tasks. In Hungary in late 1944, he even went BEYOND Himmler's orders. In Vienna, in 1938, his exceptional organizer's qualities were amply demonstrated. Rabbi Mummerlstein, the sole survivor of the Jewish councils, who had daily contacts with Eichmann, confirms all this in his interview with Claude Lanzmann in the film The Last of the Unjusts. He wonders why Arendt never bothered to have a discussion with him about the case. He also confirms that Eichmann had ample autonomy and initiative and, far from being a banal bureaucrat, was a responsible and thinking leader.
Arendt was fooled by this devious liar.
The full-on cultists are the dangerous ones, so its not about obedience but cultism and Milgram is not particularly relevant.
Of course there was obedience, but in addition to the effects of authority refusing to obey the Nazis could end up with you being dead - more than enough 'persuasion' for most.
As regards the question 'How could so many educated, intelligent and cultured Germans become Nazis?' the answer is straightforward: Education, intelligence and culture offer no vaccination at all against joining cults - possibly the opposite.
I think many of the Germans who resisted were simple Christians who took the 10 commandments literally.
Its possible that there is some wisdom in traditions that outperforms the arrogance of human intellect (often changeable and self serving). One may not need to be religious to recognise this?
The GOP displays many signs of spiritualistic ignorance. Any who speak against, or even question, Trump are denounced as RINO's; the RNC censured Cheney and Kinzinger for serving on the Jan 6 Committee; only 21% believe Biden won (Washington Post). Fortunately, or deliberately, and certainly judicially, the USA rejects Trump.
"...free speech, free press, free protest, free trade, and accurate and trustworthy information." The slow erosion of that last has upstream affects on the first four, no?
Also, I fear both MAGA and WOKE cults are slowly training their bases to dehumanize the "other" so much that if you did this experiment and told the person who had to flip the shock switch, they wouldn't mind if you could convince them that the victim was a member of the opposing political party or tribe. Right?
I think Ms. Goldberg was right the first time and should not have appologized. Just because the Nazis thought Jews were a race does not make it true. The Nazi attempt to exterminate them was a case of "white-on-white" crime, as she said, and had nothing to do with race, no matter what the Nazis thought.
That most normal people can be convinced to do things they would otherwise deplore is found throughout history. In fact all wars are based on that principle. So are slavery, genital mutilation for religious reasons, forced marriages, and many other acts we seldom think of in that connection, such as typical forms of punishment for so-called "crimes". It is hard to dream up any torture worse than life-long imprisonment with no hope of release, but in America today there are thousands serving such a sentence, many for crimes done before they were old enough to vote.
Of course Jews aren't actually a race. But neither is being black. Or white. That said, at the time Jewish people were considered both a religion and a race. And the Nazi philosophy only considered pure blooded aryans as worthy of being accepted. They killed jews, blacks, gypsies and any non-aryan "race". Nazism is 100% a racist ideology. 100%. Not debatable.
As usual, I think you are right on the money with your analysis. I remember when I was in the third grade here in this country, I asked my father, who served in the Hungarian branch of the Nazi army, “Pa, does this mean you were on the wrong side?!” He said, “You didn’t have a choice. You either joined or you were shot.”
Christian apologist Clay Jones’s take on the Holocaust and other holocausts is that we are all sinners, inherently “Auschwitz enabled.” At 35:07. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq7RQ-szk9U "Why Go to a Christian Apologetics Conference?"
Great article Michael.
Michael, this is another well documented, reasoned, and articulated article.
“But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along…. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
When I read that, I was thinking of Putin today.
Or Trump just before the January 6 insurrection.
Or the BLM protests. Or the trucker protests in Canada. I don't think it's advisable to follow any mob these days.
Precisely. There are, apparently, many who are willing to blindly follow a person who really has little interest in anyone other than themselves and their own glorification. Truth and the rule of law seems to mean little to them and their "enemies" will suffer if they don't agree.
You wrote: 'but the rest is pure spin-doctored malarkey and Arendt allowed herself to be taken in by it more than reason would allow...'
I think this statement indicates a misunderstanding of the subject.
As Guyton states in his 'Textbook of Medical Physiology,' page 2, "...thus, the human being is actually an automaton..." While he is talking about physiology in general, he includes "feeling" and "knowledgeable" as part of automatic processes involved in survival.
Fortunately, we are not Zombies. We are genetically programmed as social animals to be what is considered 'moral' in many circumstances. But not all.
I would suggest the tendency for individuals to be amoral is on a continuum. There are those who act amoral without conditioning or provocation. But most people require a particular situation to make them amoral, or even grossly immoral. This is the point of Milgram's experiment.
As indicated by your article, it is a complex subject. I think the belief in free will confuses the issue. If you accept that genetics and circumstances determine behaviour, then everything Eichmann and the other Nazis said, is an explanation, not an excuse. Sure, they are trying to cast a better light on their behaviour, but that does not negate the generally accurate portrayal of their situation. It is certainly not "malarkey," though it may be spin-doctored.
On a positive note, by understanding behaviour better, we can ensure conditions are such as to bring out the innate goodness in people.