Remnants Of The Enlightenment In National Socialism - Research Paper Example

Remnants Of The Enlightenment In National Socialism Introduction Adolf Hitler’s book Table Talk is believed to be a transcription from notebooks written in shorthand by at least two secretaries to Hitler. They followed the instructions of Hitler’s right hand man Martin Bormann to “record for posterity whatever Hitler said in his bunker in Berlin” (Carrier 561) during mealtimes or while taking tea. Besides recording official matters, the secretaries also wrote down things Hitler said in an unplanned or spontaneous manner, logging the entries by date and time of the day such as ‘morning’, ‘afternoon’ or ‘evening’. According to Carrier (561), “Hitler’s Table Talk is a curious text whose story remains to be adequately told by historians of the era”, and further explained by future researchers on the text. Brog (512) states besides Hitler’s own book Mein Kampf, the historical document Table Talk is widely accepted as an authoritative source, for a better understanding of Hitler’s philosophy and psychology. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate Hitler’s book Table Talk, in which his ideas, conceptualizations, beliefs and opinions are recorded directly. Hitler’s ‘Table Talk’ This collection of documents spans the years 1941 to 1944, during which Hitler’s public speeches declined, and he spoke less beyond his close circle of loyal colleagues. Hitler’s dinner conversations may not represent a reasoned presentation of his ideas; however they are of great value on account of their frankness and forthright expression of his real opinions. “Hitler was a tireless orator even before a small group, one who could talk with incredible fluency on a variety of topics” (Birken 7). Although not in an organized form, Table Talk is useful for clarifying certain conceptions that appear in a veiled form, for obviously political reasons, in Hitler’s published books and speeches. Similarly, Steigmann-Gall (253) argues that the most important source on Hitler’s true feelings about Christianity is the book Table Talk which documents a succession of wartime discussions he held with his close circle of confidants. Contrasting with other sources of Hitler’s confidential views, most importantly Otto Wagner’s memoirs, Hitler’s secret conversations reflected in Table Talk appear to be in discord with his previous religious attitudes which held Chritianity in high esteem. In July 1941, he allegedly condemned the religion he had previously respected, and stated that “the heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming of Christianity; Bolshevism is Christianity’s illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jews” (Hitler 7). Hitler targetted specific aspects of Christianity, such as Luther’s translation of the Bible, the Churches and the priests, and the work of St. Paul. Thus, he described pure Christianity, “the Christianity of the catacombs – is concerned with translating the Christian doctrine into facts. It leads quite simply to the annihilation of mankind. It is merely whole-hearted Bolshevism, under a tinsel of metaphysics” (Hitler 146). On the other hand, it is argued that similar to other documented evidence of Nazi hostility to Christianity, there are several significant statements that indicate Hitler’s neutral approach, or even outright contradiction in Table Talk. These instances in the primary source have been overlooked by some of the secondary sources because they are “buried in conversations on other topics” (Steigmann-Gall 254). Most importantly, and in keeping with his previous attitudes, Hitler continued to hold Jesus Christ in high esteem, regaring Him as a popular leader who took up His position against Jewry. At the same time, Duke (36) states that Hitler had several dimensions to his character, but he was not a clumsy politician. He knew that until he had consolidated power he would have to build a façade for a Christian people and the Church. For this reason, all his statements supporting Christianity were delivered publicly, and before he had taken a strong grip over Germany. Contrastingly, he spoke against Christianity in private, and increasingly so after he achieved absolute power. By publicly supporting Christian masses, he obtained political benefit; had he caused their opposition while on the quest for power, personal glory would have eluded him. Hitler’s talk of a “real Christianity” referred to the Nazis’ effort to co-opt the faith with a distorted concept they termed as “Positive Christianity”. This included the fact that Jesus Christ was a member of the Nordic race who battled Jews. Further, it was contrasted with “Negative Christianity” which was the term used by the Nazis for the ancient doctrines of the Protestant and Catholic churches. “Despite this, some atheists still claim that this profession of ‘faith’ made Hitler a Christian” (Duke 36). The terms positive and negative Christianity were used for concealing the government’s actual efforts “to deChristianize the German people” (Duke 36). Further, the reason for Hitler’s attacks on atheism was that in Weimar Germany, the Nazis were competing for power against the communists who were atheists. Hence, Hitler attacked their weak point: their godlessness. Post World War I, the Germans were in dire economic straits, but they continued to keep their faith. Thus, Duke (36) believes that “Hitler’s lip service to Christianity” did not mean that he did not attack the faith. A contrasting viewpoint is that, significantly, “in recent years some questions have been raised regarding the accuracy of the English translation of Hitler’s Table Talk” (Brog 512). The historian Richard Carrier claims that Trevor-Roper’s English edition of Hitler’s Table Talk was in fact translated from Genoud’s French version, rather than from the German original work. Further, Carrier (570) argues that the French translation held an anti-Christian orientation in the text that is inaccurate in reflecting the German original. Thus, there is a lack of precise transmission of Hitler’s perspectives in the English version of the historical document. Conclusion This paper has highlighted the book Table Talk directly documenting Adolf Hitler’s conversations that he had with his close circle of courtiers, at the table. The evidence indicates that although in public Hitler supported the Christian faith, in private he expressed his opposition to it. However, recent doubts have been cast on the precision with which the English translations have been carried out, since instead of using German originals, the Table Talk version used was French, which had misinterpreted Hitler as anti-Christian. Therefore, about perspectives on Christianity in Table Talk, it is concluded that Hitler may not have been as anti-Christian as commonly believed. Works Cited Birken, Lawrence. Hitler as Philosophe: Remnants of the Enlightenment in National Socialism. Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 1995. Brog, David. In defense of faith: The Judeo-Christian idea and the struggle for humanity. New York: Encounter Books, 2010. Carrier, Richard C. ‘Hitler’s table talk: Troubling finds’. German Studies Review, 26.3 (October 2003): 561-576. Duke, Selwyn. ‘Hitler and Christianity: Nazism was not one of the fruits of Christianity, but of its rejection. Adolf Hitler and his minions sought not to serve Christ, but to replace Christ. The New American, 24.12 (9 June 2008): 34-40. Hitler, Adolph. Hitler’s Table Talk, 1941-1944: His private conversations. New York: Enigma Books, 2007, 10 December 2012 http://www.vho.org/aaargh/fran/livres10/HTableTalk.pdf Steigmann-Gall, Richard. The holy Reich: Nazi conceptions of Christianity, 1919-1945. London: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Read More