5.0 out of 5 stars The twisted mind of the Nazis November 30, 2012
By Paul Gelman
Format:Hardcover
If you are looking for one book which analyses and sums up the various ways in which the Nazis have manipulated and distorted the truth about the many forms of arts in order to harness this into their wish to inculcate the masses with nonsense, you have definitely found it.
At the center of this opus stand the infamous Nazi newspaper” Volkischer Beobachter”, hich served as a major propaganda tool of the Nazis. Professor Dennis has invested a colossal effort in examining every page of the newspaper from 1920 to 1945 and has also gathered 1600 articles which dealt with literature, philosophy, painting, sculpture, architecture and music. These topics were used as tools in the Nazi interpretation, or, one may say, cultural intepretation and correlation with the party’s doctrines with the Western tradition of humanities or Kultur.In a way, this book is about Nazi progaganda, but it is more than that; it is a very broad analysis of how the Nazis have used the many facets of humanities in order to totally alter and adapt the original meaning of the various artistic modes so that they fit into the Nazi mind and ideology. The readers of the newspaper were given ample samples which demonstrated and meant to convince them that the German culture was the best and the most noble one, unsurpassed by any other nation’s cultural achievements. Thus readers could make sense of their world and the ongoing events surrounding them.
The book is divided into five parts and each is about another aspect. Part One is a chronological survey of the Wetern tradition a la Volkischer Beobachter. Part Two, called” Blind to the Light” is about how the Nazi newspaper addressed the Western rationalist tradition from the ancients to the French Revolution. The highlight was in the romantic peroiod. The onslaught on the enlightnment was in full vigor and the French philosophers were suffering from a “disease”. Ditto for Heine who was only serving the cause of the Jews, albeit his conversion to Christanity.In another part, the newspaper eulogized the volkich thinkers of the nineteenth century, attacking everything which was not German or Aryan. One example was the targeting of the modern styles in music or other arts, which were considered perverted and engaged in absurd modernist styles. This trend went on in the paper’s attacks against Weimar era culture and politics. Here the paper was busy in unleashing a venomous attack on Jews and Judaism showing how the cultural-historical figures were ignored or dishonored by leftist or Jewish controlled authorities of the period. Bertold Brecht, Alfred Doblin and the Mann brothers were among the November criminals and “asphalt literati”. In addition, Schoenberg and Weill were not spared because they represented the rotten modernist ideals and ideas.
The last part covers a few acceptable alternatives to the Weimar decadence. There was a need for a “Nazi Renaissance”. Luther’s legacy, for example, had been ignored and with it his anti-Jewish component because of a “liberal” or” “objective” form of Protestantism and, according to the Nazis, the Jewish Question” of Luther was not considered because of the Weimar criminals. Beethoven was to be associated with the very identity of the Nazi movement; the composer’s Ninth Symphony marked a significant and a “superior Germany, while Schiller’s and Beethoven’s high ideal of humanity was starting to be fulfilled”. Knut Hamsun and Karl May were the idols of literature,while in the field of visual arts Hans Thoma and Arno Breker’s works were to embody the Nazi heroic thinking. Women creators were ignored, because Hitler made it clear that the women were to be engaged in three domains: KKK(Kinder, Kuche, Kirche).
The Nazi formulation of a Western tradition of inhumanity toward national, political and cultural enemies contributed to the transformation of some ordinary Germans into murderers.Professor Dennis’ stunning and original book, which contains many new photos and figures, reveals how the Nazis distorted and twisted the products of the Western artists so that they fit into their Nazi ideology. This book is a must for anyone who wants to know how a totalitarian regime falsifies completely the truth. More than highly recommended!NB: I also have to praise the publisher for the quality of paper this book has been printed on.
At the center of this opus stand the infamous Nazi newspaper” Volkischer Beobachter”, hich served as a major propaganda tool of the Nazis. Professor Dennis has invested a colossal effort in examining every page of the newspaper from 1920 to 1945 and has also gathered 1600 articles which dealt with literature, philosophy, painting, sculpture, architecture and music. These topics were used as tools in the Nazi interpretation, or, one may say, cultural intepretation and correlation with the party’s doctrines with the Western tradition of humanities or Kultur.In a way, this book is about Nazi progaganda, but it is more than that; it is a very broad analysis of how the Nazis have used the many facets of humanities in order to totally alter and adapt the original meaning of the various artistic modes so that they fit into the Nazi mind and ideology. The readers of the newspaper were given ample samples which demonstrated and meant to convince them that the German culture was the best and the most noble one, unsurpassed by any other nation’s cultural achievements. Thus readers could make sense of their world and the ongoing events surrounding them.
The book is divided into five parts and each is about another aspect. Part One is a chronological survey of the Wetern tradition a la Volkischer Beobachter. Part Two, called” Blind to the Light” is about how the Nazi newspaper addressed the Western rationalist tradition from the ancients to the French Revolution. The highlight was in the romantic peroiod. The onslaught on the enlightnment was in full vigor and the French philosophers were suffering from a “disease”. Ditto for Heine who was only serving the cause of the Jews, albeit his conversion to Christanity.In another part, the newspaper eulogized the volkich thinkers of the nineteenth century, attacking everything which was not German or Aryan. One example was the targeting of the modern styles in music or other arts, which were considered perverted and engaged in absurd modernist styles. This trend went on in the paper’s attacks against Weimar era culture and politics. Here the paper was busy in unleashing a venomous attack on Jews and Judaism showing how the cultural-historical figures were ignored or dishonored by leftist or Jewish controlled authorities of the period. Bertold Brecht, Alfred Doblin and the Mann brothers were among the November criminals and “asphalt literati”. In addition, Schoenberg and Weill were not spared because they represented the rotten modernist ideals and ideas.
The last part covers a few acceptable alternatives to the Weimar decadence. There was a need for a “Nazi Renaissance”. Luther’s legacy, for example, had been ignored and with it his anti-Jewish component because of a “liberal” or” “objective” form of Protestantism and, according to the Nazis, the Jewish Question” of Luther was not considered because of the Weimar criminals. Beethoven was to be associated with the very identity of the Nazi movement; the composer’s Ninth Symphony marked a significant and a “superior Germany, while Schiller’s and Beethoven’s high ideal of humanity was starting to be fulfilled”. Knut Hamsun and Karl May were the idols of literature,while in the field of visual arts Hans Thoma and Arno Breker’s works were to embody the Nazi heroic thinking. Women creators were ignored, because Hitler made it clear that the women were to be engaged in three domains: KKK(Kinder, Kuche, Kirche).
The Nazi formulation of a Western tradition of inhumanity toward national, political and cultural enemies contributed to the transformation of some ordinary Germans into murderers.Professor Dennis’ stunning and original book, which contains many new photos and figures, reveals how the Nazis distorted and twisted the products of the Western artists so that they fit into their Nazi ideology. This book is a must for anyone who wants to know how a totalitarian regime falsifies completely the truth. More than highly recommended!NB: I also have to praise the publisher for the quality of paper this book has been printed on.