Coping in an Evil World II - Holocaust and Gulag

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences,University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

The Formation of Hitler (1889-1945)

Appears to have had a pleasant childhood
Fought in World War I
- In one 4-day stretch, his regiment reduced from 3600 to 611 men.
- Blinded by gas attack, 1918
- While recuperating, resolved to enter politics

Belief that troops betrayed by "stab-in-the-back," collapse of morale (compare attitudes on Vietnam).
Anger at terms of Treaty of Versailles (Germany imposed farharsher terms on Russia by Treaty of Brest-Litovski).
Marxist uprising of 1918-1920
Forecasts of Oswald Spengler in Decline of the West - anticipated terror followed by Napoleon-like dictator
Hyperinflation of mid-1920's
Worldwide depression of 1920's

Glacial-Cosmogony
- Popular cult of 20's and 30's
- Universe composed mostly of ice
- Linked theories to Nazi ideology
Occult beliefs pervaded high levels of Nazi government(astrology, Atlantis, etc.)
Aryan and Nordic racial theories
Hitler chose a crank, Dr. Morell, as his personal physician

Wide acceptance of pseudoscience a system of mass disorderedthought? Discontent found outlets in political extremism andrebellion against conventional science?
Pseudoscience is not necessarily harmless

Intermarriage
Ownership of property
Original intent was to expel Jews (minus property).
Lack of protest from West convinced Hitler that no action wouldbe taken to save Jews: "Who remembers the Armenians?"
Tacit approval by many in West. National Socialism seen as "liberal."

Originated in book published 1920: Release of the Destruction ofLife Devoid of Value by Alfred Hocke and Karl Binding.
Based on Social Darwinist concept of "elimination of unfit."
Directed against retarded, elderly, disabled W.W. I veterans.
Developed many of the methods and some of the personnel for the Holocaust.
Doctors not compelled to participate.
Nazis did not originate the idea.

Eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust
Selected readings

Executioners were often professional men
Immense personal stress: alcoholism, sadism, ulcers, nervousbreakdowns
Efforts to conceal exterminations
Efforts to depersonalize, mechanize, reduce personal contact
Elaborate psychological games: deaden feelings, rationalization
Overall conclusion: those involved were aware they were involved in immoral actions.
Reports of atrocities countered by official denials.
Many not directly involved were appalled but felt powerless tointervene or considered it not their responsibility.
Self-deception
Legal resistance
- Kurt Gerstein, head of Technical Disinfection Service of Waffen SS witnessed execution, attempted to spread information and arouse protest.
- Konrad Morgen, an assistant SS Judge, attempted to shut downcamps by by bringing officials to trial on criminal charges. Nicknamed "bloodhound judge," despite threats brought 800 cases to trial, obtained 200 convictions.
Extra-legal resistance
- Army bomb plot, July 20, 1944
- Albert Speer circumvents Hitler's scorched-earth orders, 1945.

Underground movements
- Anne Frank
- Cornelia Ten Boom: The Hiding Place
Vatican publicly silent
- Regarded Bolshevism as worse threat than Nazism.
- Fear of exacerbating plight of Jews.
- Single most active covert rescue organization--hid thousands of Jews.
U.S. and U.K. did little.
- Offered sanctuary to few Jews.
- Moscow Declaration of 1943 omitted Jews from list of Nazi victims.
Some nations were active.
- Denmark sent almost all of its Jews to Sweden (6500).
- Finland saved all but four of its 4000 Jews.
- Japan harbored 5000 Jews in Manchuria in gratitude for financial aid by Jewish firms during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05).
- Finland and Japan were German allies!

Title of book by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
GULAG is Russian acronym for "Chief Administration of Corrective-Labor Camps."
"Archipelago" refers to common nature of camps as islands withinSoviet society but isolated from it.

Intended to inspire mistrust and isolation among entirepopulation.
Penalties for failure to report suspicious actions by others.
Pressures on families of inmates to sever ties.
Encourage self-deception.
- Camp population just small enough to allow non-inmates to believeinmates were imprisoned for a reason.
- Camp population just small enough to offer hope of avoiding imprisonment.

Selected readings from GULAG ARCHIPELAGO and other Solzhenitsynworks.

Created 20 May 1997 Last Update 30 May 1997