Warum sind sie wieder da?: Geschichtsfälschung, politische Verschwörung und die Wiederkehr des Faschismus in Deutschland

by Christoph Vandreier

Adolf Hitler’in Ocak 1933’te Almanya Şansölyesi olarak atanması, bir seçimin değil; General Paul von Hindenburg’un önderlik ettiği az sayıda ordu ve hükümet yetkilisinin dahil olduğu bir siyasi komplonun sonucuydu. Bunun sonuçları, 2. Dünya Savaşı, Holokost ve milyonlarca kişinin yok edilmesi oldu.Üçüncü Reich’ın çöküşünden yaklaşık yetmiş beş yıl sonra, neoNazi sağ Almanya’da büyük bir siyasi güçtür. Neden Geri Döndüler? kitabı, günümüzde Nazizmin ve Alman militarizminin canlanması sürecinde üst düzey siyasi komplocular, medya propagandacıları ve Berlin Humboldt Üniversitesi’ndeki sağcı akademisyenler arasındaki etkileşimi çözümlüyor.Almanya’daki Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi’nin önderlerinden biri olan Christoph Vandreier, önde gelen profesörlerin Üçüncü Reich’ın suçlarını göreceleştirme çabalarına karşı konulmasında önemli bir rol oynamıştır. Yazarın 2015’te kaleme aldığı ve Wissenschaft oder Kriegspropaganda adlı kitapta yayımlanan Jörg Baberowski’nin Tarih Tahrifatı başlıklı etkili makalesi de bu eserde yer almaktadır.

Genres: Politics

Perfect Paperback

Published November 1, 2018

Reviews

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful and comprehensive assessment of the rightward drift of German politics (and, by extension, global politics). The book covers the silencing of anti-war voices; specifically those who speak with an understanding of the historical and geopolitical context of German and Stalinist imperialism. For those who've watched with growing alarm the rehabilitation of German militarism, the censorship of left dissent (for example, the government's anti-democratic ban on the broadly anarchist website indymedia) and the political establishment's acceptance of the far right AfD party, this book is well worth a read. The appendix is particularly helpful in understanding why historical revisionism is dangerous and exactly what is being revised. I advise you to read that first, as you'll get the broader picture.

One thing that would have helped immensely for those unfamiliar with the specifics of current German politics would have been a glossary of terms. I advise that you just write the acronyms down for reference as you read.

[Paul Cowdell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clearly and comprehensively argued study of the resurgence of Nazism and German militarism today, with a thoroughly analysed assessment of the complicity of sections of academia, either directly or indirectly, through their silence. The book is itself a direct political intervention against that development, and the author is particularly good on exploding myths of political 'neutrality' as being somehow objective. An exemplary political work.

[Bahadır Eren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Özellikle Sovyetler Birliği'nin çöküşünün ardından tekrardan ortaya çıkan 'Tarihsel Tahrifat Okulu' ile birlikte Rus Devrimi'nin ve sınıf mücadelesinin tarihini çarpıtma ve egemen sınıfların tüm suçlarını aklama çabalarına karşı yazılmış olan harika bir kitap.
Ekonomik kriz ile birlikte egemenler bir kez daha savaş hazırlıkları yaparken, en büyük korkularından biri işçi sınıfının tekrar tarih sahnesine çıkması. Sınıf mücadelesini engellemek için ilk savaş kültür ve tarih alanında yapılıyor. Egemen sınıfın talimatlarıyla tüm ülkelerde çeşitli profesörler ve öğretim görevlileri kendi egemen sınıflarının geçmişte suçlarını aklama çabası içine girdi.
Almanya'da da bu görevi Nazileri aklama misyonuyla Baberowski üstlendi. Kitap, Baberowski'nin bu tahrifatı nasıl savunduğunu, uluslararası alanda bu saldırıyı gerçekleştirenlerle nasıl işbirliği içinde olduğunu çok net ortaya koyuyor.
Aynı şekilde bu akademisyenlerin istihbarat ve medya ile ilişkilerini de.
Önümüzdeki mücadelelere hazırlanmak için son derece önemli bir kaynak kitap. Mutlaka okumalısınız...

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading! (English Title: Why Are They Back? Historical Falsification, Political Conspiracy and the Return of Fascism in Germany)

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seethes about 2 professors/a few papers for most of the book after they clapped back at his peep. He calls Ukraine fascists 'cos the German army exists, though does not explain how Maidan was "fascist" 'cos of a military base in another country? Plus, WILD accusation when you're a Trotskyist (THE RED ARMY GUY) and you repeatedly defend Putin. Not a word of criticism there and bemoans "anti-Russian" sentiment (all he did was a bit of invading for a treat, OK? Western aggression = a German military base (fellow tankies, send help. My arguments are tenuous!). Ooh got one. Solidarity w/Donbass "freedom fighters" (please, please ignore Crimea, that doesn't fit the narrative)). That imperial war machine doesn't count, for some reason. There are definitely worrying points raised here that I didn't know, though it is amusing that he finds it surprising that right-leaning papers exist, opinion columns exist which are inflammatory on purpose for clicks and don't require facts 'cos they're opinion pieces and is constantly shocked that some may not have the most favourable view of Trotsky 'cos, you know, history and reality. It's hard to trust the word of an obvious fanatic and sourcing is sporadic at best. The most interesting chapters, if you could call them that, were near the end on some of the policy, speech and social media changes and the (alleged) infiltration of the security services but they were incredibly short and under- (or un)sourced so, sadly dubious 'cos, unfortunately, all that research and writing time had to be devoted instead to his totally-mental-red-string-personal-vendetta-board, rather than focusing on what matters the most, which is the political parties realigning and substantiating a couple of pages of if true, seriously concerning national security issues. He just comes off as conspiratorial in the end, which is a shame because obviously something is happening in Germany, and it isn't good. He ends the book, after bemoaning militarism throughout as bad, by whitewashing over Trotsky's initial agreement with the concept of "social fascism" and oh yes HE'S THE RED ARMY GUY, then he talks about the coming proletarian "social revolution" and is very light on details there. Hey. Hey mate. Why you being so vague about that? What...what does that entail? What does a global revolution entail, dude? * checks notes * oh yeah. Seen that one before a couple of times, haven't we? Seem to recall it resulted in imperialism and armies and millions of people wiped out - and yeah, your mate Trotsky was involved. It wasn't just Stalin. Don't usually review, but this one grinds at me, especially when you not only ignore, but help run cover for the biggest fascist in Europe. If you can't call out fascism outside of some dumb, rigid, ideological garbage, then you should just be quiet on the subject, and frankly, you're signalling proximity.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book at a socialist booth at the Los Angeles Festival of Books. I don't remember whether the booth was sponsored by a press or a political group. In any case, they were very aggressive in pitching that I could only know the truth if I bought their books. I wanted to learn more about where the AFD came from and why it has been successful, partly because I am interested in Germany (and sometimes a little afraid of it) and partly because there are so many parallels with what is happening in the United States and in other countries where the political right has been on the rise. There is much of interest and value here, but the writing is turgid, so it was hard to get through, and I had some issues with the analysis.

Mr. Vandreier starts by looking at the role of intellectuals and universities. This is a bit different from the United States. The right wing has always had a place in universities and intellectual circles in Europe. Much of their scholarship and intellectual firepower has been doubtful, as Mr. Vandreier discusses, but they have been and continue to be strong. In the United States nearly all of the respected universities have long been firmly on the left, though they have certainly produced their share of right-wing graduates. Now they are on the defensive and we see them all (even Harvard which filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration’s actions against it) folding like a house of cards. Faced with an aggressive resurgent right, people of the middle and left cave to right wing programs and even adopt some of them as their own. This is the same in the United States as in Germany.

In Germany, we see people in universities, the government and the press beginning to make excuses for the Nazis and to accept false historical narratives that are used to justify right wing positions. Militarization, security prioritized over freedom and anti-immigrant measures start as the touchstones of the right wing and then move into the mainstream. The willingness to accept extreme right-wing positions becomes a vector for the right-wing parties to get more votes and more legislative seats and to worm their way into positions of power. Sadly, in this regard Germany and the United States are mirror images.

One of my big issues with this book is that in some ways it was the pot calling the kettle black. I'm much more sympathetic with the left than with the right, but Mr. Vandreier's party which is openly and proudly Trotskyist is not my cup of tea. He is weirdly pro-Russian, making unjustifiable excuses for Putin. His Marxism seems to be mired in the early twentieth century. He happily employs tactics of harassment and polemic that he condemns when people on the right do the same thing. But worst of all, he thinks that his version of left thinking is the only version at a time when people of the left and middle need to unite in a common cause.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The English translation of this book has been out for a couple of months now. I read the English version and also attended a lecture by the author, Christoph Vandrier, at UC Berkeley last week. This is a powerful rendering of the current rise of fascism in Germany and, indeed, most of western Europe and the United States, and countries like Brazil. I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to educate themselves about current events, without the spin and lies of the corporate-controlled media.