Issue #37
February 28, 2005
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ARTS Defying Hitler by Gert Innsry Defying Hitler, by Sebastian Haffner, is a memoir covering the years 1914-1938. The author was a (non-Jewish) Berlin German who emigrated in 1938. The book records the thoughts of an educated, middle-class Aryan as he progresses from childhood to manhood (and a post in the court system) during the most tumultuous period in German history.
I must admit to having had a personal agenda when I bought the book: I hoped to find explanations for Germany's embrace of dictatorship that might be applicable to the current situation of risk for our own democracy. It was encouraging to discover that the German experience was sufficiently different from ours to provide only a small amount of guidance.
Haffner shows a Germany sliding into tyranny in incremental steps, with its eyes wide open. There was never any doubt as to Nazi intentions, but opposing parties on the left were ineffective and had no credibility with the people, while parties on the right saw coalitions with the Nazis as a way to maintain power, only to be swallowed up by Nazi party aggressiveness and thuggery.
Haffner succeeds in letting us see Germany through his eyes: the eyes of a small boy, a teenager, a young man and a court functionary sitting for a promotion exam after Nazi power had become complete. This personalization of history is a valuable gift to the reader; yet, despite this, there is a feeling of distance to the book, a viewing of Germany through a plate glass window. True, the book was written before the war and the worst of the Nazi atrocities; still, the violence that occurred as the Nazis eliminated all opposition takes place offstage, and while the air of menace that enshrouded the country is mentioned, it is never brought home to us.
The takeover of the courts is described in some detail, since Haffner was a junior court functionary at the time. It makes chilling reading, and resonates in Today's Ashcroft/Rehnquist atmosphere. Particularly interesting is the description of "candidate camp", set up by the Nazis to indoctrinate all those sitting for the judiciary civil service exam. A combination military basic training and Nazi indoctrination sessions, even the non- or anti-Nazi exam candidates who attended were swept up in the bonding and group-think that occurred.
If any lesson for the United States can be drawn from this book, it is that in a time of turmoil, whether it be from war and depression or merely the rapid pace of change, political parties, to be relevant, must provide a sense of credibility and hope. The good parties, those that actually want to improve things for the majority of the people and not just pander to a desire to return to some mythical "good old days", must have clearly stated goals and policies, must make clear the distinctions between themselves and competing parties, and must communicate these in an interesting and attention-commanding manner.
It is the failure of the opposition parties to oppose that is the most important lesson of the book, a lesson that should be learned by the Democrats, the Greens, the Libertarians, and all the other parties opposing far right capture of the Republican party.
New York Stringer is published by NYStringer.com. For all communications, contact David Katz, Editor and Publisher, at david@nystringer.com
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