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Nazis,
anti-Zionists and others
Reply-To: H-NET List for History
of the Holocaust <[email protected]>
Sender: H-NET List for History of the Holocaust
<[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 04:05:55 -0400
From: Robert
Michael
[email protected]
IT was recently stated on list: "The
majority of Nazis, odious as they were and are, would not
have condoned mass murder if they had their
choice."
The evidence is quite to the contrary. Not only did
the Nazis condone mass murder, almost all of them!, but
so did most Germans. In my study of Pastor
Niemoeller ["Theological Myth, German
Antisemitism, and the Holocaust: The Case of Martin
Niemoeller," Holocaust and Genocide Studies: An
International Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1 (1987), pp.
105-22.], I had to deal with German Protestants, the
majority. One reason I have been so enthusiastic about
HITLER'S WILLING EXECUTIONERS,
despite its flaws, is that I think it pretty much in its
essential point is accurate. I don't want to get into
the Goldhagen debate again, but my evidence
indicates that most German Protestants voted for
Hitler, whose antisemitism articulated their own.
The majority did not give a hoot in hell what happened to
the Jews (there were exceptions, of course). Indeed,
slaughter away, oh Nazis, just not in my backyard! seemed
to be the attitude of the majority of Germans. Nothing
that I have seen yet has changed my interpretation of the
evidence. Believe me, I wish it were not true.
My evidence extends beyond the Nazis and the Germans.
Most European, not all, seemed to feel the same way as
most Germans. Even beyond this, many many Americans,
including several leading members of the State
Department, felt the same way as most Germans. My
evidence puts the President himself close to this
position. And damn him for it.
On another issue, I would like to associate myself
with the remarks of Froma Zeitlin and David
Myers on the politicization of Finkelstein.
Visiting his
web site is enough to shiver your timbers.
Sincerely,
Robert
Michael
[email protected]
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