The Propagander ™ FAQ
Is the Sonderweg a Viable Theory?
The problem with Goldhagen's hypothesis of eliminationist antisemitism as an ingrained element of German culture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is that it is clearly false. The monster to which he seeks to draw our attention simply is not there. You cannot draw the inference from the literature, the art or the politics of those years that the "common sense" of the people was that the Jews ought to be driven out or killed. Jews in the German-speaking lands experienced the era from the Napoleonic Wars to the rise of Hitler as a time of fairly steady progress in attaining civil liberties and full participation in social and economic life. -John J. Reilly
I am not denying that an examination of a peoples culture is useful for deep background, or that the cultural context of thoughts and movements within a society are not a contributing factor. I do, however, object to the claim that this cultural background is the major causitory factor in subsequent events, and that the existence of this cultural basis somehow mitigates guilt for criminal acts. It is especially specious to claim that this formulation of cultural predisposition is the single "Answer" to Why the Holocaust Happened.Copyright © 2011-2013 Walther Johann von Löpp All Rights Reserved Twitter: @3rdReichStudies FB: Horrific 20th Century History
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