| “There is a profound connection between the idea of one’s nation and the idea of an enemy. The enemy is the Siamese twin of one’s nation—what must be destroyed if one’s nation is to survive. Nationalism revolves around rescuing one’s nation—from the source of death." |
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Hitler's Ideology
"An instant classic. Koenigsberg's genius has unlocked the secrets of a timeless drama." —Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism
"The best critical analysis in English of Hitler's thought." —Colin Day
"Incredibly precise."—Konnilyn Feig, Hitler's Death Camps
"Provides deep insight into the relationship between the psyche and social policy. The implications are far-reaching. The amount of data Koenigsberg provides is overwhelming."
—Ronald A. Brauner
The Reconstructionist
"An imaginative and important work."
—Robert Waite, The Psychopathic God
"I do not know when I have seen such a carefully documented study of the subject: a permanently valuable book."
—Weston LaBarre, The Human Animal
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Writing about the Final Solution, Hannah Arendt explained that anti-Semitism “explains everything and therefore nothing.” To say the Nazis hated the Jews because they were anti-Semitic is tautological.
The question: What did anti-Semitism mean to people like Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels? Why did the idea of “the Jew” arouse such a passionate, hysterical response? Why did Nazi leaders—and many Germans—feel it was necessary to eliminate Jews from the face of the earth, conceiving the Final Solution as a moral imperative?
Hitler said, “We may be inhumane, but if we rescue Germany, we have performed the greatest deed in the world.” Hitler’s ideology constituted a rescue fantasy: “saving the nation.”
Enacting political murder based on this motive, Hitler was not so unique. Most episodes of political violence grow out of the phantasy that one is acting to “save the nation”--from Jews, capitalists, left-wingers, right-wingers, whatever.
The nature of the enemy is fungible. Hitler was radical in the lengths he went to enact this phantasy (as were Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Harry Truman, Bin Laden, etc.).
Each nations has its druthers; its preferred enemy. But in our hearts, the dream remains the same.
An enemy is the Siamese twin of one’s nation, the idea or entity that must be destroyed if one’s nation is to survive.
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