Assertion, unsupported by fact, is nugatory. Surmise and general abuse, in however elegant language, ought not to pass for truth. Junius

2005/01/26

"Not Incidental, Episodic, or a Violation of the Rules"

From Daniel Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust.

Suffering and torture in the German camp world was, therefore, not incidental, episodic, or a violation of the rules, but central, ceaaseless and normative. Gazing upon a suffering or recently slaughtered Jew or, for that matter, a suffering Russian or Pole, did not elicit and, according to the moral life of the camp, should not have elicited sympathy, but was indeed greeted . . . by German hardness and satisfaction. . .

The idea guiding the German's treatment of the most hated of the camp's prisoners, the Jews, was that it ought to be a world of unremitting suffering which would end in their deaths. A Jew's life ought to be a worldly hell, always in torment, always in physical pain, with no comfort available. . .

1 Comments:

Blogger Andrew said...

For another view, read "Ordinary Men". I wrote about it here:

http://www.boundbygravity.com/2004_12_01_bbgarchive.aspx#110376840463473520

Its a good book, if chilling.

Wednesday, 26 January, 2005  

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