A busy week for Nazi-related news items:
* A profile of August Landmesser, the man who famously crossed his arms and refused to salute Hitler, and how the Nazi regime destroyed him and his family.
* A short, blunt, and horrifying speech given by Himmler to a group of SS officers: “I am talking about the ‘Jewish evacuation’: the extermination of the Jewish people.” (Thanks to L.A. for the link.)
* At the Christian Science Monitor: Was 94-year-old Minnesota resident Michael Karkoc the commander of a notorious Nazi unit?
* And at CNN: After 70 years, Nazi Party leader Alfred Rosenberg’s diary comes to light.
Coming soon: An update on the Polish translation of my Nietzsche and the Nazis.
A remarkably courageous man. Faith based polities tend to turn societies into mobs. “National Socialism” declared Joseph Goebbels, “is a religion.”
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Only one group refused (to a man) to render the Nazi salute: Jehovah’s Witnesses or “Bibelforscher.” Almost all were sent to camps for this reason, several hundred were executed. 80% survived this persecution. Anyone who agreed to give the salute was released.
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