Books & Discussion on the Holocaust Showing 251-300 of 1,027

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

I thought this might interest some members. It is due for publication in Britian in January 2014:
by Waitman Wade Beorn

Description
On October 10, 1941, the entire Jewish population of the Belarusian village of Krucha was rounded up and shot. While Nazi death squads routinely carried out mass executions on the Eastern Front, this particular atrocity was not the work of the SS but was committed by a regular German army unit acting on its own initiative. "Marching into Darkness "is a bone-chilling expose of the ordinary footsoldiers who participated in the Final Solution on a daily basis. Although scholars have exploded the myth that the Wehrmacht played no significant part in the Holocaust, a concrete picture of its involvement at the local level has been lacking. Among the crimes Waitman Wade Beorn unearths are forced labor, sexual violence, and graverobbing, though a few soldiers refused to participate and even helped Jews. By meticulously reconstructing the German army's activities in Belarus in 1941, "Marching into Darkness" reveals in stark detail how the army willingly fulfilled its role as an agent of murder on a massive scale. Early efforts at improvised extermination progressively became much more methodical, with some army units going so far as to organize "Jew hunts." Beorn also demonstrates how the Wehrmacht used the pretense of anti-partisan warfare as a subterfuge by reporting murdered Jews as partisans. Through archival research into military and legal records, survivor testimonies, and eyewitness interviews, Beorn paints a searing portrait of a professional army's descent into ever more intimate participation in genocide.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Sounds like a very interesting book and one I may have to obtain a copy of, thanks for the details Geevee.

[Lilo]

Geevee wrote: "I thought this might interest some members. It is due for publication in Britian in January 2014:
by Waitman..."

I always suspected that the Wehrmacht wasn't as "innocent" as many Germans would have it. I assume that the Wehrmacht -- just as the general German population -- was about half Nazi and half non-Nazi. I do not assume that all Nazis were murderous criminals. Yet I do not even have a wild guess how many of the ordinary Nazis (Wehrmacht or civilians) were participating in (or only willing to participate when given the chance) horrible crimes against the Jews. This is something I would like to find out before I die. (To avoid confusion: I don't have any near-future plans for dying.)

[Robert]

Lilo wrote: "Geevee wrote: "I thought this might interest some members. It is due for publication in Britian in January 2014:
[bookcover:Marching Into Darkness: The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust in Belarus|17804..."

Certainly is an interesting question. Unfortunately, I doubt that it is one that ever will be (or perhaps ever can be) answered.

[Betty]

Lilo wrote:
@Betty: Thanks for the recommendation. I just bought both books."

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

[Betty]

Another book that might interest some of you, although it is about a non-Jew, is . I haven't read it in a long time, and just remembered about it. It is Non-fiction. Here is the description:
Little Amy never knew her father. One dark night, when she was only a baby, the Soviet secret police forcefully arrested Amy's father...and condemned him to the frigid wastelands of Siberia.

Then as World War II began, the armies of the Third Reich invaded her small Russian village. Amy, a tender seven-year-old child, was taken by cattle car to a slave labor camp and witnessed firsthand the horrors of Hitler's Germany.

As the war ends, Amy and her mother make a daring escape, with execution the likely verdict if they are captured. Over the years Amy wondered about her father. Was he still alive? Would she ever see him again?

A true story, Goodbye Is Not Forever serves as a vivid confirmation of God's never-ending grace in the lives of his children.

[Colin]

Lilo wrote: "Geevee wrote: "I thought this might interest some members. It is due for publication in Britian in January 2014:
[bookcover:Marching Into Darkness: The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust in Belarus|17804..."

Joining the Nazi party was no different than being a republican or democrat in the US in the early days. After the Enabling Act and the Nuremberg Laws, all other parties were outlawed. In fact, you had to be approved, as a German to be a member. You could not just join. By German law, the "Ueberpateilichkeit", professional officers were baned from joining any political party.

[Helen]

Travelin wrote: "50 former Auschwitz guards still living in Germany, but a list of them only becomes available this year. Really?"

Wow. Just, wow.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Betty wrote: "Another book that might interest some of you, although it is about a non-Jew, is . I haven't read it in a long time, and just remembered about it. It is Non..."

Thanks posting Betty I am sure some members will add it to their TBRs.

[Lilo]

I just posted the following review on Amazon (haven't tried Goodreads yet) and was notified that the review could not be posted in its current form because it did not adhere to the guidelines. This message was accompanied by a long list of guidelines. Yet I am not quite sure what the problem is. It probably is the heading, but there could be other issues. Could anyone please tell me how to modify this review, so that Amazon will post it?
"Er ist wieder da" ("He is here again") refers to Hitler, who the satiric book says survived, woke up from coma, finds his way around Germany and critisizes German politics.

My attempted review reads as follows:

"Shame on anyone who gives this book more than 1 star, October 17, 2013
By Lilo Huhle-Poelzl
This review is from: Er ist wieder da

I read an excerpt of this book and I talked at length with someone who has read half of the book before tossing it with disgust.

This book may read "funny", but to make a somewhat likable comic figure of the most cruel mass murderer the 20th century has seen is not only tasteless but dangerous.

Shame on anyone who writes a positive review on this book. Shame on anyone who buys this book or asks for this book at the library. Shame on anyone who supports the author and the publisher of this book with a single dime.

I am asking anyone who has a single brain cell left: Are 70 million dead in WWII (6 million of them Jews who died in the Holocaust) reason to make fun of? (And I am not even talking about those who have lost loved ones, their health, and/or all they ever owned.) The murderer of all these people is not a comic figure.

Learning that this book has become a bestseller in Germany makes me ashamed of being German."

[Lilo]

Having written humor, comedy, and satire, years back in Germany, I think that I have a sense of humor.

Yet this book, however funny it may be written, is a slap in the face of all Jews who have directly or indirectly suffered from the Holocaust (and this should include nearly every Jew on this earth).

Not only is this book tasteless beyond measure and a slap in the face of all Jews (as well as Germans who have suffered from Hitler), it is also dangerous.

I appeal to all Jews who may read this thread to bring this book to the attention of Jewish organisations who may have experience in dealing with such matters.

Of course, nobody can stop this book being sold, but maybe it is possible to brand it as tasteless, insulting, and dangerous, and to appeal to decent people not to buy it.

I realize that any such action might even give this book publicity. This is why I am careful to make this comment only in a group whose members I trust. I assume that Jewish organisations would have more experience to go about such delicate matters than I do.

I am very upset about the fact that this book became a bestseller in Germany. And I assume that decent people all over the world will also be upset.

[Helen]

Wow. Have you tried writing back to Amazon to ask them why they won't post the review?

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I think Helen has a good point there Lilo, maybe write to Amazon and ask them to clarify the issue with your review, be interesting to see what they say.

[Lilo]

@ Rick & Helen:

I have thought of it, but I have to find out first how to contact Amazon. I can't do it today. I had to take over some of the work my husband usually does, for our culinary well pump broke down, my husband broke a pipe while connecting the house to another well (not safe for drinking), our irrigation system needs to get winterized (we had -10 C last night), and our Mexican spot worker's wife took off with the car; thus we have to give him a ride if we want him to do any work for us. If you don't hear from me, I might be in the looney bin. Hope, somebody will come and visit. :-)

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Lilo,

I hope that all works out OK, you seem to have a full plate of issues and worries at the moment!

When you get time try this link to contact Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custome...

[Lilo]

Thank you, Rick! I just managed to send them an e-mail.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Let us know what they say, it should be interesting.

[Lilo]

Hurrah! I just managed to get my review of "Er ist wieder da" onto GR. (Someone have me a link to his window.) It probably won't stay on too long, for it is aberrant to several rules.

I haven't heard from Amazon yet.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Lilo wrote: "@ Rick & Helen:

I have thought of it, but I have to find out first how to contact Amazon. I can't do it today. I had to take over some of the work my husband usually does, for our culinary well pu..."

Lilo I reckon there's a book in that little set piece :) Hope all is well.

[Lilo]

@ Geevee:

No, there isn't. I don't wish to develop gall stones.

[Lilo]

I just received a link to German Amazon for reviews of "Er ist wieder da". The ratings are as follows:

5 Sterne (859)
4 Sterne: (279)
3 Sterne: (147)
2 Sterne: (99)
1 Sterne: (129)

I wrote one acid comment, but now I can't find it. (Otherwise, I would have copied it here.) I suggested that people who give this book high ratings apply for brain transplants. And I also wondered if these people could laugh reading a "funny" book about a mass murderer who had killed children in a school shooting, reminding that these would only be a few dozen dead, vs. about 70 mio in WWII (6 mio of them Jews). Yet then I allowed that people who like "Er ist wieder da" can probably only count to 3.

I would like to comment to all these reviews, but, of course, I haven't got the time.

I am really upset about the success of this book. And seeing the above ratings on Amazon.de, I am glad we have emigrated.

[Robert]

Lilo wrote: "@ Rick & Helen:

I have thought of it, but I have to find out first how to contact Amazon. I can't do it today. I had to take over some of the work my husband usually does, for our culinary well pu..."

Lilo, your life is nothing if not entertaining. Keep us posted.

[Lilo]

I wish I could be amused at the success of "Er ist wieder da", but I can't.

[Robert]

Lilo wrote: "I wish I could be amused at the success of "Er ist wieder da", but I can't."

I understand,and agree completely. My reference, of course, was to your other activities. Also not funny, but "entertaining" to the rest of us in the sense that you have much drama in your life and we appreciate the fact that you share with us.

[Lilo]

@ Robert: Thank you for specifying what you meant. I had already guessed that you might have meant something other than the book.

[Lilo]

Good news! I just received the following e-mail from Amazon:

"I've re-evaluated your Customer Review for "Er ist wieder da". I'm sorry that the review was removed when it didn't fall outside of our posted guidelines. Your review was activated as of 4:23:36 AM PST and you can see it now on the website using the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/review/RD7KSQL8..."

[Lilo]

Not so good news: The discussion thread following my review of "Er ist wieder da" is about to turn ugly. Maybe I am a bit too aggressive, but this book really has my blood boiling.

Would be nice if any of you joined in. This is a battle worth fighting.

Er ist wieder da

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

This new release may interest some group members, not too much written on this nasty bloke:


by Garry O'Connor
Description:
The life of the Bavarian Hans Frank, one of the ten war criminals hanged at Nuremburg in 1946, who converted to Catholicism before he died, has not received the full attention the world has given to other Nazi leaders. In many ways he warrants it more. His life symbolises the hubristic and visionary ambition Germany had to an alarming degree much better than anyone else, perhaps because he was an intellectual of the highest calibre: 'Can't they see,' he said of his fellow accused at Nuremberg, 'that this is a horrible tragedy in the history of mankind, and that we are the symbols of an evil that God is brushing aside?' As he recognised by the end he was a primary, if not the exemplary, symbol, his remorse, self-pity, and arrogance knew no bounds as they vied with his contrition. 'In Prague, big red posters were put up on which one could read that seven Czechs had been shot today. I said to myself, "If I had to put up a poster for every seven Poles shot, the forests of Poland would not be sufficient to manufacture the paper."' (Hans Frank, 6 June 1940)

[Lilo]

Thank you for this book recommendation, Rick. I saw Frank's son on TV in Germany, some 15 to 20 years ago. It was a documentary about sons and daughters of Nazi war criminals. Frank jun. was the only one who not only distanced himself from his father but made it clear that he despised him.

While I understand that descendants of mass murderers have ambivalent feelings toward their fathers, I think that millions of brutally murdered Jews (and other prisoners) should count more than blood relations or even the father-role a mass murderer had played at home.

[Helen]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "This new release may interest some group members, not too much written on this nasty bloke:


by Garry O'Connor
..."

This sounds chilling, Rick. Thanks for posting it.

[Colin]

FYI, Hans Frank's offical folder and service record was the only one listed as "unavailable" in the archives in Freiburg, Koblenz and Berlin-Lichterfelde when I was doing postgraduate research. Deep six is a term we used in the military.

[Helen]

Wow. That's eerie. Any idea why, Colin?

[Colin]

I do not know if it is available now, and I was never given an explanation.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

These may interest some members.


by Yitzhak Arad

by Jean Ancel

by Livia Rothkirchen

by Christian Goeschel

Nebraska University Press catalogue details of the books: http://issuu.com/nebraskapress/docs/u...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Looks like some very interesting books there Geevee, thanks for posting the details and link.

[Helen]

Yes, thanks!

[Lilo]

Please go to this link and read Lewis Weinstein's blog.

http://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/201...

I read it and I am shocked. Nuremberg is where Hitler held most of his ralleys. Thus, there are bound to be more than average left-over Nazis and their descendents living in this city and in this area. Therefore, any exhibit regarding the Nazi-terror would have to be even more explicit as anti-Nazi than anywhere else. This exhibit obviously isn't.

I cannot share this blog on facebook because my facebook activities lie in coma because of computer problems. (My computer crashes within seconds when I go on facebook.) Maybe somebody else can.

[Lilo]

There is an exhibit, titled "Fascination and Terror" in Nuremberg. My GR friend Lewis Weinstein has visited this exhibit with his wife, in 2012. Both Weinsteins were shocked. This exhibit seems to emphasize the alleged "fascination" with Hitler more than the "terror" he spread.

After reading Lewis Weinstein's blog about the letter to the editor he sent to the German newspaper "Die Zeit", I contacted a German GR friend and mentioned this exhibit. He supplied me with a link to the correspondence Lewis Weinstein had with the museum director who hosts this exhibit.

I consider this correspondence a MUST-READ for anybody who is interested in the Third Reich and/or WWII and/or the Holocaust. Here is the link:

http://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/201...

My take of this exhibit is as follows:

I read the correspondence very carefully because I had thought that Lewis, being Jewish, might have overacted. Therefore, I took great care to read without any prejudice.

Yet I came to the following conclusion:

I agree with Lewis.

The exhibit seems to enhance Hitler's successes and the German people's "fascination". It seems to omit crucial issues. It seems to downplay other crucial issues.

As to those panels (and parts of the catalogue) that Lewis admits to have overlooked: If a highly interested Jew and his equally highly interested wife would overlook these panels (and parts of the catalogue), wouldn't an ordinary German visitor be likely to overlook them, too? I bet that Lewis and his wife spent more time in this exhibit and looked and listened more carefully than the average visitor. And to the catalogue: Most visitors don't buy catalogues, and few of those who do read them carefully.

Before I even read Lewis's take on the title, I found the word "fascination" rather ill chosen, misleading, and disturbing.

And Lewis is right: Not all members of the NSDAP and not all members of the Wehrmacht who followed orders were "fascinated" with Hitler. Wehrmacht-soldiers had little choice. (And while some may have gladly followed orders or even committed atrocities they didn't have to, some only followed orders because they had to, unless they were ready to be shot or hanged.) Many "not fascinated" civil servants joined the NSDAP, so not to lose their jobs (or only so not to damage their careers).

My adopted grandfather, head of the local Internal Revenue Office, had to retire early because he suffered from cancer (and died from it). However, his early retirement was "hastened" by the "higher-uppers" (in 1938 or 1939?) because he had adamantly refused to join "The Party" for years. He was 100% anti-Nazi and would have most likely kept refusing had he still had a long life (and career) ahead of him. Other "not fascinated" civil servants considered it preferable to join the NSDAP than to lose their jobs or damage their careers. This did not only apply to civil servants. If you had a Nazi-superior in a private company, you might have to make the same choice.

Private people "not fascinated" with Hitler (without job-considerations as mentioned above) quite often joined "The Party" because they either just ran with the crowd (afraid to become outcasts) or because they were afraid of Nazi-neighbors or Nazi-landlords or even their own relatives. (Our landlady, for instance, did not honor the lease and took away they yard and garden plot from us [which might have become crucial to avoid starvation]). She knew exactly that, even though the lease was clear, no judge would rule in our favor because we were "Not In The Party". Besides, there was always the danger of the Gestapo. If you were "Not In The Party", any enemy could wrongfully accuse you. Could say you had made a derogatory remark about Hitler. Whom do you think they would believe? The person who was "In The Party" or the person who wasn't?

And then, there were the opportunists, and there were many of them (as there are in every country). I doubt that they were all "fascinated" with Hitler. They just saw their chances and took them. And if this required to join "The Party", what did they care?

Thus, the word "fascination" does not really belong in the title of such exhibit, because to have this word in the title indicates that the majority of Germans were fascinated with Hitler, which, I am sure, isn't true. Not only that. Wouldn't it send the wrong message to younger generations to say that Hitler had been an allround fascinating person?

Surely, some people might have been "fascinated" by Hitler, yet I would prefer the word "mesmerized". Isn't "fascination" a bit too positive a word? In my understanding of the word (in German as well as in English), being "fascinated" with a person somehow indicates that the person is great and worth to be admired. While somebody can be mesmerized by a person who has something hypnotic in his attitude; this person doesn't have to be great and may not be worth to be admired.

All in all, I find this exhibit, the way it is described, by Lewis as well as by Dr. Taeubrich himself, rather disturbing. I am of the strong opinion that any exhibit about Hitler should avoid give the impression that Hitler was a great and admirable person.

What can one do about this? Well, one can write to Dr. Taeubrich and support Lewis's opinion. Unfortunately, I do not have the time, as such a letter has to be very carefully worded. If any of you cared to do so, I would consider this a very good idea.

Maybe any of you have other ideas to support Lewis's efforts.

Lewis' letter to the editor can be found with the following link. However I would urge everybody to read the correspondence with the museum director first.

http://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/201...

[Lilo]

P.S. This exhibit would have better been titled "Betrug und Terror" (Deceit and Terror), or "Hass und Terror" (Hass und Terror), or better still "Terror und Voelkermord" (Terror and Genocide).

[Jim]

Lilo wrote: "There is an exhibit, titled "Fascination and Terror" in Nuremberg. My GR friend Lewis Weinstein has visited this exhibit with his wife, in 2012. Both Weinsteins were shocked. This exhibit seems to ..."

I read Lewis' letter, and posted a link to it on my Facebook page. Presenting Hitler is always a tricky matter, and you're quite right in saying that it's essential to choose words carefully when describing the man and his effect on the German populace.

Laurence Rees, in his book on the charismatic aspects of Hitler's leadership, uses the word "charismatic" as Max Weber did: to describe a visionary leadership with vaguely defined and often fanciful goals that connects with followers on an irrational level. As a person and as a politician, Hitler changed little from his release from prison in 1925 to his appointment as Chancellor eight years later. He was one of many right-wing politicians in Germany peddling similar messages. In 1928, Hitler's charm and propaganda skill catapulted him to a whopping 2% of the vote. By November of 1932, he received 33%. This increase had partly to do with improved campaign technique, but even in places Hitler never visited (and where the Nazis had little political organization to speak of), the party's fortunes improved dramatically. Rees's thesis is that if Hitler hadn't changed much as a person or a politician, something else must have happened to make the German people see him differently. In other words, the German people, or a sizable percentage of them anyway, were convinced by events mostly outside Hitler's control--economic collapse, the exposure of the Weimar Republic's weak institutions, the bankruptcy of mainstream political parties, middle and upper class fears of the KPD, to take his message on board and to see in his persona what they wanted to see.

So no. Hitler was never a great nor admirable person. He was in 1933 what he'd been when he was ranting to nobody in particular in Viennese flophouses twenty years earlier--a bigoted, daydreaming crank. What's interesting is how people, including some otherwise gifted and educated people--succeeded in convincing themselves he was something more than that.

As to the specifics of the email exchange between Lewis and the museum curator, I agree with the curator's historiography more or less, but his presentation was probably lacking. I understand what the curator is saying about his intent, but what any writer learns quickly is that misinterpretations of a work are much more likely the writer's fault than the reader's.

Visitors don't approach museum visits they way they do books, with a careful, linear progression through the exhibits. It's unwise for a museum to assume that visitors will read every panel, visit every chamber, or study the catalog, so major themes have to be defined and phrased carefully and emphasized on every panel. Since this is the documentation center for the rally grounds, it's certainly appropriate to discuss the site's role in Nazi stagecraft and image-making, but what has to be made clear throughout is that these techniques were used to try to sell a dreamy zealot as a demigod, and that the reason for their success had little to do with the stagecraft itself, and more to do with the audience's desire to believe.

Rees, in his book, appears to have been more careful in his approach to discussing the charismatic aspects of the Hitler regime than the museum curators were in theirs. If they do at some point revise, I suggest they start by making sure that visitors understand who Hitler really was, and the forces impacting German life that made so many eager to ignore that reality and buy the mythical Hitler the rallies were selling.

[Lilo]

Jim wrote: "Lilo wrote: "There is an exhibit, titled "Fascination and Terror" in Nuremberg. My GR friend Lewis Weinstein has visited this exhibit with his wife, in 2012. Both Weinsteins were shocked. This exhi..."

Thank you so much, Jim, for responding to this topic and contributing so much.

You are right, Hitler was never a great or an admirable person. His rise to power had more to do with the audiences desire to believe.

I had a few more thoughts about what contributed to Hitler's success to have the masses follow him. These thoughts are not comprehensive but they should be considered.

(1) The Treaty of Versailles had left Germans frustrated. The bad economy and unemployment problem had left them shattered. Hitler promised to fix this all. "Der Wunsch ist der Vater des Gedankens." ("The wish is the father of the thought.") People believe what they want to believe.

(2) The majority of any population is stupid. Stupid people tend to believe anything, as long as you keep hammering it into them. Besides, Hitler's propaganda machine was a total brain-wash, even for not-so-stupid people

(3) The majority of any population is uneducated. Hitler gave uneducated people pride. He made Nobodies into Somebodies. He gave them pride. (Which Nobody wouldn't want to be part of a "master race"?) And he gave them career oportunities (for instance with the SS), which they, otherwise, could have only dreamed about.

(4) Hitler had a talent to manipulate people. My adopted grandmother saw him once (before my birth) at a ralley she had attended out of sheer curiosity. She kept telling that Hitler had piercing eyes and would almost hypnotize people. She said that Hitler was able to create a mass hystery. I still think that "fascination" is too positive a word. I have a theory for Hitler's talent to captivate/mesmerize people. I think it has to do with him being somewhat insane. Hitler must have hit people as strange. He was certainly different from "normal" people. "Normal" people don't react "normal" to people who are different. They either repudiate them or they admire them. (There are civilizations that consider insane people holy and treat them almost as gods.) Apart from that, Hitler was a very strong personality. Weaker personalities have the tendency to follow people with stronger personalities.

(5) Humans are herd animals. Just look how people create celebrities. Once a person has a few followers, there are more to come. And if one says that a person is great, he/she will soon have many more admirers. Add to this an advertising campaign or a propaganda machinery, and there you have your celebrity or your "Fuehrer". The human herd instinct also entails that few people want to risk to become outcasts. So better run with the crowd.

(6) And last but not least, there is the craving for power. Anybody who joined Hitler would soon have power over non-Nazis, especially over Jews. Here again, Nobodies enjoyed themselves.

(7) Germans are, more than any other nationals, inclined to obey authority, follow a leader, and adhere to rules and regulations. (I do not know whether this is due to their rigid upbringing for generations, or wheather this is in their genes.)

And as you pointed out, Jim (I had not thought of this), the middle and upper middle class was afraid of communism. So they might have considered Hitler the lesser of two evils.

What really gets me, and what I find so disturbing, is that this exhibit in Nuremberg obviously leaves the impression that Hitler was a great and fascinating man.

[Robert]

Lilo wrote: "Jim wrote: "Lilo wrote: "There is an exhibit, titled "Fascination and Terror" in Nuremberg. My GR friend Lewis Weinstein has visited this exhibit with his wife, in 2012. Both Weinsteins were shocke..."

Thank you. Lilo, for your insight regarding this topic. I think much of what you say about the German people can be applied to virtually any society. I would replace "stupid" in your comments with "uninformed" or "ignorant" (the latter in its true literal meaning), as I believe that intelligent people who don't know the facts are easily misled. For example, in the U.S. today millions are easily misled by false information circulated via the Internet simply because the don't bother to track down the facts.

I agree with you wholeheartedly that NOTHING should be accepted that implies a single positive quality in Hitler. He was pure evil. When evil is combined with fanaticism the result, predictably, is the death of innocents. In Hitler's case, this means millions of people and a whole world on the brink of falling. Hitler must always be seen as the most dangerous man in the history of humanity. This is my firm and--I believe, INFORMED--opinion.

[Lilo]

Robert wrote: "Lilo wrote: "Jim wrote: "Lilo wrote: "There is an exhibit, titled "Fascination and Terror" in Nuremberg. My GR friend Lewis Weinstein has visited this exhibit with his wife, in 2012. Both Weinstein..."

I also agree with you wholeheartedly.

As for the vernacula expression "stupid", you are right, in many cases, this term can -- and probably should -- be replaced by "uneducated" and/or "ignorant. Yet, let's face it, not every human being (German or non-German) is intelligent. So let's call these people "unintelligent", "not interested in facts", and/or "unable to think logically". Whatever you call them, they, unfortunately, are the majority of any population (with the possible exception of the Jewish people, of whom I have only met [and heard of] remarkably intelligent individuals and merely a very few not so intelligent ones -- but then I may not have come to know enough of them to make a statistic).

Main thing, however, is, as you say, that NOTHING should be accepted that implies a single positive quality in Hitler.

[Lilo]

My GR friend Erwin has read the conversation between Lewis Weinstein and the museum director who hosts the exhibit "Fascination and Terror". He has written me a private message as response and has been so nice to allow me to post it on this thread. So here it is:

"I have read the blog and letter and I agree that this exhibit is walking a very thin line here! It is out of line really! I agree that the word fascinating is very ill-chosen. It should not be used here! There is something disturbingly unbalanced in their comments. They seem to focus more on seemingly positive adjectives and nouns,when discussing Hitler, like powerful, unparalleled, popularity, heroic and proud.
The title for this exhibit is ill-chosen and deceiving: "Fascination and Terror". The main focus seems to be with Fascination and therefore indirectly glorifying him and Terror is mostly left unheard, unspoken: obvious omissions of negative commentaries cannot be otherwise understood then playing down on Hitler's crimes against humanity. I also have serious reservations against having an exhibit like this one in a controversial city like Nuremberg, especially when one is so careless in their commentaries!"

My comment to this: I agree 100%.

[Chin Joo]

Dear Lilo, that's why we read and join this group. :) We want to be better informed.

[Lilo]

Chin Joo wrote: "Dear Lilo, that's why we read and join this group. :) We want to be better informed."

There can never be enough info about historic facts. Neither can there be enough info about falsification, distortion, or misrepresentation of historic facts.

[Colin]

I will be writing another book with my wife Anne, title Hitler's Inner Circle. This has 74 separate interviews with Germans who knew Hitler, from 1932-1945. See details at my website www.lewisheatonbooks.com and go to The Next Books Project and Future Book Projects.

[Lilo]

Re exhibit "Fascination and Terror":

I would like to share with you a message one of my GR friends sent me today after reading this thread and Lewis Weinstein's correspondence with Dr. Taeubrich. Here it is:

"The ability of humans to display unacceptable degrees of insensitivity and the obsession with celebrity (although it is usually 'notoriety' that is actually achieved) never ceases to amaze and depress me.

I can understand why you would find this unacceptable.

Some people are just SO damn stupid."

[Lilo]

Some not so good news:

I went to DIE ZEIT yesterday to check if it was still DIE ZEIT or only ZEIT. Turned out it is still DIE ZEIT, but there is now also a ZEIT ONLINE. There I stumbled upon an article that tells that anti-Semitism has been rising not only in Germany but also in other European countries, for instance France and Belgium, and worst of all, in Hungary.

I'll translate a few lines of this article:

"Many Jews in the EU are contemplating about emigration because they do not feel secure in their country. In Hungary, these are 48% (of approx. 5,900 being interviewed), followed by France (46%, Belgium (40%), and Germany (25%)."

Any of you who read German, please go to ZEIT ONLINE of Nov. 8th and find and read this article.

I'll copy here some of the highlights:

Juden fühlen sich in Europa zunehmend bedroht
Erstmals hat die EU Juden nach ihren Erfahrungen mit Antisemitismus befragt. Danach hat dieser in den vergangenen fünf Jahren stark zugenommen, auch in Deutschland. von Monika Pilath

Eine deutliche Mehrheit der in der EU lebenden Juden ist mit zunehmendem Antisemitismus konfrontiert. In einer nicht repräsentativen Onlineumfrage der EU-Agentur für Grundrechte (FRA) gaben 76 Prozent der Befragten an, dass Antisemitismus innerhalb der vergangenen fünf Jahre in ihrem Land zugenommen habe. Zwei Drittel der Befragten (66 Prozent) sehen Antisemitismus als ein Problem innerhalb der acht untersuchten Mitgliedstaaten. Neben Deutschland sind dies Belgien, Frankreich, Italien, Lettland, Schweden, Ungarn und Großbritannien.


In Deutschland sehen 61 Prozent der Befragten Antisemitismus als sehr großes (17 Prozent) oder als ziemlich großes (44 Prozent) Problem an. Schlechter wird die Situation in Ungarn (90 Prozent), Frankreich (85 Prozent) und Belgien (77 Prozent) eingeschätzt. Eine sehr starke Zunahme von Antisemitismus beobachteten 34 Prozent der jüdischen Deutschen, die an der Erhebung teilnahmen. In Frankreich (74 Prozent), Ungarn (70 Prozent), Belgien (58 Prozent) und Schweden (37 Prozent) waren dies jeweils mehr Befragte.


Die Onlinebefragung fand laut FRA im September und Oktober 2012 in acht EU-Staaten statt, in denen nach Angaben der FRA etwa 90 Prozent der jüdischen EU-Bevölkerung leben. An der Befragung nahmen rund 5.900 Personen teil, die sich selbst als Juden identifizieren. Im Zuge der Erhebung seien erstmals in einer Reihe von EU-Mitgliedstaaten vergleichbare Daten zu Erfahrungen und Wahrnehmung der jüdischen Bevölkerung bezüglich Antisemitismus, hassmotivierter Kriminalität und Diskriminierung gesammelt worden, teilte die FRA mit. Statistisch nicht repräsentativ ist die Studie, da sie nicht auf einer Zufallsauswahl der Befragten beruht.


In Deutschland gaben 36 Prozent der Befragten an, in den fünf Jahren vor der Erhebung Opfer antisemitisch motivierter Belästigung geworden zu sein, 29 Prozent allein in den zwölf Monaten vor der Befragung. Deutschland liegt damit auf Platz drei. Mehr Belästigungen gab es nur in Ungarn und Belgien. Beleidigende persönliche Bemerkungen waren die am häufigsten genannte Belästigungsform.

Viele Juden in der EU denken der Umfrage zufolge darüber nach auszuwandern, weil sie sich in ihrem Land nicht sicher fühlen. In Ungarn sind dies 48 Prozent der Befragten, gefolgt von Frankreich (46 Prozent), Belgien (40 Prozent) und Deutschland (25 Prozent).

[Lilo]

P.S. For those of you who don't know: DIE ZEIT is a big and very well known, weekly German newspaper, whose targeted audience is the intelligentsia of Germany.