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The
Nazi Perversion of Nietzsche
The racist and fascist ideals of Nazism have long claimed to be based
on and supported by the writings of the German philosopher Friedrich
Nietzsche. In actuality however, Nietzsche's ideas could not be more
opposed to those of the Nazis. The blatant racism, oppression, and mass
mentality of the National Socialists in no way fits with Nietzsche's
writings or ideals. Knowing this, it is difficult to fathom how Adolf
Hitler managed to warp Nietzsche's individualistic, anti-racist, and
anti-German ideas to fit his own intolerant totalitarian agenda. Though
Nietzsche's writings did influence Hitler, it was only through misinterpretation
that Hitler came to believe that Nietzsche held pro-Nazi beliefs. In
fact, it was only the sarcastic, complicated, and foggy nature of Nietzsche's
writings, combined with the extensive "editing" of Nietzsche's sister that reinforced
and "legitimized" Hitler's ideas.
The most obvious and controversial of Hitler's ideas are those that
deal with race. His conception of a "master race," often depicted through
the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Nordic Aryan, was the cornerstone of his
entire policy and agenda. According to Hitler, the Germanic people were
this race, the "highest race, [a] master people," destined for world
dominance (Hitler). This idea of a master race is drawn directly, albeit
incorrectly, from Nietzsche. Nietzsche speaks extensively of "noble
races" and their superiority in fields such as science, art, and war.
Nietzsche's admiration of the ingenuity, intelligence, and skill of
certain races is translated into racist doctrine in the ideas and writings
of Hitler. Nature, according to Hitler, "by no means believes in an
equality of the races, but . . . recognizes their higher or lesser value"
(Hitler). The Nietzschean idea of noble and ignoble races is highly
prevalent in Hitler's writings, in the form of the Nordic master race
and the other, "lesser" races.
There are two major differences between noble and ignoble races,
the first and most important of which is power. A master race is inherently
powerful and domineering, a "conqueror . . . which, organized for war
and with the ability to organize, unhesitatingly lays its terrible claws
upon a[n] [ignoble] populace" (Nietzsche, 86). Hitler clearly bought
into this idea of noble and master races, and made it the cornerstone
of his entire doctrine. The Nazi racist ideology, including such policies
as the Final Solution, embraced "the better and stronger [race], and
demand[ed] the subordination of the inferior and weaker [races] in accordance
with the eternal will that dominates this universe" (Hitler). Viewing
Hitler's admiration of and lust for conquest, his promotion of the German
race, and his repression and attempted annihilation of "lesser" races
such as Jews, Gypsies, and Poles, it is clear that Hitler believed in
the supremacy of the German race, and in fact sought to shape the Third
Reich into a Nietzschean master race.
Furthering this concept of the Nordic master race is Nietzsche's
explanation of the power of the noble races. Nietzsche believes that
at the core of every noble race lies an animalistic core, and it is
this core that brings nobility to the noble races.
One can not fail to see at the bottom of all these noble
races the beast of prey, the splendid blond beast prowling about
avidly in search of spoil and victory; this hidden core needs
to erupt from time to time, the animal has to get out again
and go back to the wilderness. (Nietzsche, 40) |
Nietzsche uses the example of a lion, the king of the jungle, to
illustrate the animalistic core of the noble races, the kings of the
Earth. Hitler, however, whether through misinterpretation or deliberate
manipulation, used the words "blond beast" to illustrate his ideal
of the blond-haired, blue-eyed Nordic human.
Though wholly incorrect, it is very easy to see how the Nazis were
able to use Nietzsche's words to validate their ideas. The discussion
of the "nobleness" of the "blond beast" could be twisted by any halfwit
and made into racist ideology, even though Nietzsche had not the slightest
penchant for such ideals. Walter Kaufmann, in his book Nietzsche:
Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist, states that "the Nazis were
able to cite Nietzsche on racial questions only because . . . the complete
sentences Nietzsche wrote down are masks of ideas that appear only in
parentheses, subordinate sentences, and fragmentary quotations" (Kaufmann,
289).
The second great influence of Nietzsche on Hitler was the idea of
the superman. Nietzsche believed that certain people of the noble morality
could rise above the pettiness of existence and live as a race of supermen.
This idea of the superman fed Hitler's idea of the master race, and
the influence is clearly visible in Hitler's writings. The supermen,
Nietzsche said, would live above the rest of the ignoble populace, and
fulfill the "birthright" of their master moralities. Hitler, while believing
Nietzsche's idea of the superiority of some races, warped the idea into
the "proven" superiority of the German race.
During those war years, the "superman" began to be associated
with the German nation; and militarism and imperialism were
read into Nietzsche's conception of power, although nothing
could have been further from his mind. (Kaufmann, 8) |
Instead of calling the Germans "supermen," however, Hitler lowered
the scale created by Nietzsche, in order to further degrade the non-Germanic
races.
Hitler referred to the Germans as "human," and all non-Aryan races
as "sub-human." While this still clearly conveys the message of racial
superiority, it also implies that non-Germanic races are more than inferior,
but hardly classify as human at all. Indeed, for Hitler, this was the
case. He viewed the Germanic race as the epitome of humanity, whereas
all other races were inferior, some even to the point where they were
worthy of extermination. Other races clearly did not take kindly to
this degradation, and accordingly spoke and fought against Hitler. This
ties in directly with Nietzsche's idea of master and slave morality.
The master morality, possessed by noble persons, is a "triumphant
affirmation of oneself," or a belief in the greatness of oneself (Nietzsche,
36). Clearly, Hitler and the Nazis "triumphantly affirmed" their greatness,
and held a stern belief in their superiority. They also patronized and
persecuted the "lesser races," but only to prove and reaffirm the greatness
of their race. The Jew was not considered evil for being Jewish, but
for being non-German. This fits precisely with Nietzsche's ideas, who
states that the noble morality "seeks its opposite only so as to affirm
itself more gratefully and triumphantly" (Nietzsche, 37).
As far as the "lesser races" are concerned, they, for obvious reasons,
did not take kindly to Nazi racism and bigotry, and viewed it as one
of the greater evils ever seen on Earth. This too fits with Nietzsche's
ideas, which Hitler realized and exploited. The "lesser races," or those
of slave morality, view the outside world as evil. The slave morality
develops out of ressentiment, a resentment towards the outside world.
"In order to exist, slave morality first needs a hostile external world,"
and the Nazis provided that hostility (Nietzsche, 37).
Subsequently, the "lesser races" developed the view that the Nazis
were evil, even though they actually were not (or so Hitler would lead
you to believe, citing Nietzsche as evidence). In Hitler's words, "the
stronger [race] must dominate and not blend with the weaker [race] .
. . only the born weakling can view this as cruel, but he after all
is only a weak and limited man" (Hitler). This passage bears great similarity
to the writing of Nietzsche, but it is horribly misconstrued, for Nietzsche
never intended his moralities to be used as ammunition for racial superiority
arguments. In fact, Nietzsche rather despised racists, and frequently
said so in his writings.
The final area in which Hitler drew (incorrectly) from Nietzsche
is the fascist despotic system that Hitler used to govern. Drawing from
Nietzsche's discussion of the nobles and the masses, Hitler deduced
that the German people needed strong leadership, for just as there are
noble and ignoble races, the peoples of the German race were divided
as well. The Germanic masses were of the slave morality (though, of
course, this was a sort of master-slave morality, for they were the
master race, but Nietzsche's moralities applied to them as well, to
justify Hitler's dictatorial rule), while Hitler and members of the
Nazi party were master moralities.
Nietzsche believed that the masses possessed a sort of herd mentality
that controlled their actions. Left alone without leadership, Nietzsche
believed that the masses would decay and wither. The master moralities,
however, would prevent this from happening by keeping government in
place and in control. This, when applied to Hitler, was clearly in his
favor. Though Hitler took Nietzsche's idea to an absurd degree, he could
nonetheless cite Nietzsche to support his "strong central authority
in the State, the unconditional authority by the political central parliament
of the whole State and all its programs" (Hitler). Aside from Nietzsche's
cloudy and sarcastic writing style, another factor contributed to the
Nazi misinterpretation of Nietzsche--his sister Elisabeth.
A member of the Nazi party, and an ardent anti-Semite, Elisabeth
inherited the rights to Nietzsche's works after his death in 1900. Before
publishing any of his works, she carefully purged his writing of any
material that she felt would offend the Nazis, as well as material that
did not agree with Nazi doctrine. Because of this, material that was
in reality opposed to their view was labeled as pro-Nazi and used by
the Nazis accordingly. Apparently, the Nazis knew nothing of Elisabeth's
actions, and believed that Nietzsche was genuinely pro-Nazi. Therefore,
the supposed link between Nietzsche and the Nazis was a mere illusion
created by his scheming sister. Though an illusion, it was an illusion
that allowed the Nazis to assemble various passages of Nietzsche's writings
that appeared to justify war, aggression and domination for the sake
of racist nationalism.
Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany often cited the work of Nietzsche in
an effort to "legitimatize" their racist and fascist ideology. Nietzsche's
ideas, however, are actually often diametrically opposed to those of
the Nazis. Nietzsche hated racism, oppression, and mass mentality, which
the Nazis embraced, and believed in anti-Nazi ideals such as tolerance,
individuality, and self-determination. Through misinterpretation, aided
by Elisabeth Nietzsche's pro-Nazi editing, Hitler managed to warp Nietzsche's
individualistic, anti-racist, and anti-German ideas to fit his own racist
and totalitarian view of the world.
Works Cited
Hitler, Adolf, Chamberlain, Sidney B. ed., Mein Kampf, New
York, New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1941
Kaufmann, Walter, Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist,
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1974
Nietzsche, Friedrich, On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo,
New York, New York: Random House, Inc., 1967
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