Hitler adamantly reiterates that the Aryans are the master race of the Indo-Europeans, "the founders of culture... from him originate the foundations and walls of all human creation, and only the outward form and color are determined by the changing traits of character of the various peoples" (290). Did Hitler find himself to descend from the same 'pure' bloodline of the so-called Nordic-Aryan race? Did Hitler find himself to be above the impurities that he saw in Jews?
Did Hitler seem himself as unadulterated such as the pure Aryan race that he described? Or was Hitler so resentful and spiteful because of his so-called impurities due to the generational intermarriage with the so-called racially inferior Jews, Czechs, Poles, and Russians?
It is interesting that Hitler seems to speak about the Aryan race as a solely Germanic race. His comments seem only to hinge on the concept of nationalism, cultural purity, and his contorted race theory. How does Hitler's own past reflect his need to restore Germany to a more culturally conservative and nationalist state? Could his dad's lack of nationalism have been reflected and overcompensated in Hitler's fanatical nationalist/anti-international beliefs?
I found it interesting how much Hitler focused on the creative ability to distinguish the Aryan race from all other races. One of his main points is that the Aryan race has the most personality and creative abilities, therefore they are the most fit race to occupy the land. “At all events, we know that all the material inventions in the last analysis help to raise man more and more above the level of the animal world and finally to remove him from it” (p. 445).To me this was surprising because I wouldn’t think that personality or inventive ability would be discussed as the dominant factor to demonstrate justify superiority. I wonder whether these issues were truly important to the German people prior to Hitler’s political career or whether these issues were only important to Hitler because of his love for art.
ReplyDeleteI would think that it is the latter. Because Hitler grew up loving art, he truly believed that the superior race was culturally dominant by having personality and creative ability. Although those like slave owners justified slavery by saying that blacks were culturally inferior, they did not emphasize personality or creative abilities. Slave owners focused on their lack of religion and ability to live on their own.
The question you pose about the origin of Hitler’s extreme national/anti-international ways is a tough one to answer. Though Alois’ views and Hitler’s overall opinion of his father, and therefore the complete rejection of all his father stood for, greatly influenced Hitler’s later obsession with nationalist ways, I don’t think Alois is the root of Hitler’s nationalism. The extremism with which Hitler enforced these ideas may be attributed to Hitler’s relationship with his father, but the ideas themselves have been there from the very beginning. The rejection of his father only fueled Hitler’s initial nationalist ways; it did not create them.
ReplyDeleteHitler’s extreme nationalist and anti-international ideas were also propelled by the nation’s need for strength. After the end of the war, a collapsed economy, and a government in shambles, the idea of a strong, united and pure nation was the perfect platform for Hitler’s rise to power. “The fact of the non-existence of a nationality of unified blood has brought us untold misery.”(397) Hitler uses the fear of the German people to promote a unified nation, creating a strong push for nationalist ways. This nationalism is then translated into anti-semitism on the premise that the Aryan race is the only pure German race and all others detract from or distinguish the great nation.
It is interesting how Hitler describes the state not as a piece of land with imaginary drawn borders, but as a racially pure collection of German blood. To him, words such as "folkish state," or "German culture," or "Aryan race" were synonymous and used interchangeably. Hitler's political ideology is not focused on the state, but centered around race. "The state...is the premise for the formation of a higher human culture, but not its cause, which lies exclusively in the existence of a race capable of culture" (391).
ReplyDeleteWith such fear that Jewish blood would poison or contaminate German blood, it is clear that Hitler considered himself to be of Aryan descent, even if he was short, had dark hair and dark eyes. The main focus was on Germanic roots. He considered himself above Jewish "impurities." The obsession with racial purity was to restore the German race back to a former glory, to be at the peak of human achievement.