#73, "Nazism and War"

"Nazism and War"

Richard Bessel

"Nazism was inseparable from war." Bessel begins with this statement, one that ties every page of the text to the next, unified in perspective and goal. The book is made of four essays that trace, in turn, the development of Nazism following the First World War, the sudden growth of the ideology and its rapid and unfaltering advancement toward war, the brutal and bloody cost of Nazism in the course of the Second World War, and finally the aftermath of the war, especially in Germany. It is an exhausting, draining book--mentally and emotionally tiring to read the descent into insanity and evil that engulfed the world, and to consider the terrifying way it all began. Hitler vowed revenge from his cell in 1918, at the end of WW1, writing in his manifesto/autobiography "Mein Kampf" of Germany's vengeance upon its enemies, especially "international Jewry". This pledge carried him and his ideals to their conclusion.

Bessel is an excellent writer and an extraordinary scholar. I was astounded, for one thing, at the depth and breadth of his citations--hundreds and hundreds of end-of-text notes, in perfect detail and with full references to sources. His work is enviably well-researched. I have read some criticism of his writing style, which occasionally indulges in lengthy and wordy sentences and paragraphs. However, I found his writing fresh and very readable, as long as I was concentrating.

In the end, my biggest takeaway from this book was that Nazism, whose beginning and end was racist war, was not forced upon those who wore the swastika. It was insidiously embraced by the people, who voted--actually freely chose--to give up their freedom, dissolve the democratic system, and assume a position and take a path that led to the murder of millions. We must learn the lessons of history, 70 years later. We must be wary of charismatic but characterless leaders who hide poisoned tongues with words of honey. We must guard our freedom jealously, and seek to bring freedom to others. It is our lot to protect the weak, to decry violence, to celebrate goodness and stamp out evil. To do otherwise is to open ourselves again to horrors too many have seen.

#whatIreadin2017