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"NAZISM AS THE FANTASY OF NATIONALISM:
Why did Germans stand up and shout Heil Hitler?"
I examine ideological statements as if manifest content of a dream—to reveal an ideology’s latent meaning. I emphasize specific words, images and metaphors bound to central terms of an ideology (e.g., in the case of Nazism, terms like "the German people" or "the Jew"). In Hitler’s Ideology (1975), I identify recurring images and metaphors contained within Hitler’s writings and speeches—to reconstruct the central fantasies that defined his ideology.
Hitler’s ideology revolved around the metaphor of the German nation as an actual body or "living organism." The Jew was identified as a force within this body working toward its destruction. In writings and speeches, Hitler continually referred to the Jew as a force of disintegration or decomposition; a bacteria or virus; and as a "parasite on the body of the people."
Language contains and expresses psychic meaning. Words and phrases appearing in the writings and speeches of Nazi leaders do not occur randomly. Rather, they express ideas, desires and fantasies present in the minds of Hitler and other Nazis. Ideologies are social constructions articulating dimensions of the psyche. They are structures of thought allowing fantasies to make their way onto the stage of social reality.
Ideologies constitute modus operandi for the expression of shared fantasies. Nazi ideology was like a waking dream—that many people were having at the same time. This fantasy was powerful enough to give rise to a social movement that shaped the course of history.
Hitler himself was deeply plugged into the Nazi fantasy—possessed by it—and had the capacity to convey his fantasy to the German people. To know why Nazism achieved popularity, we need to determine what it was Hitler said that excited and energized the German people, causing them to rise to their feet shouting "Heil Hitler." What were they screaming and yelling about? What did Hitler say that excited Germans?
Hitler’s ideas are profoundly underestimated. His success as a "charismatic leader" built on the nature of what he was saying and his ability to transmit his ideas into words that evoked emotion and excitement. Scholars note Hitler’s ability to express himself through his body and gestures. The key to revealing the meaning of Hitler, however, is to identify the recurring words and images he used in his speeches. Hitler's words struck a chord within the German people.
Hitler’s fantasy--Nazism--revolved around the idea of “the country” or "the nation." These political ideas are so common—so prevalent and deeply held to this very day—that we barely recognize that they build upon a fantasy, one which, however, is shared: the dream of the greatness or omnipotence of one’s nation.
Hitler took ordinary nationalistic ideas and raised them to a radical, bizarre level. Reflect upon the essence of Nazism: worshiping one's country and its leaders; eliminate aliens from within the boundaries of one's nation; destroying the enemies of one's nation.
Aren’t these the most common political ideas? Since we all live within the fantasy or the nation, we don’t realize or recognize it as a fantasy. Fantasy seems like reality. Hitler compels us to interrogate this fantasy.
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