Greeks, Romans, Germans: How the Nazis Usurped Europe's Classical PastMuch has been written about the conditions that made possible Hitler's rise and the Nazi takeover of Germany, but when we tell the story of the National Socialist Party, should we not also speak of Julius Caesar and Pericles? Greeks, Romans, Germans argues that to fully understand the racist, violent end of the Nazi regime, we must examine its appropriation of the heroes and lessons of the ancient world. When Hitler told the assembled masses that they were a people with no past, he meant that they had no past following their humiliation in World War I of which to be proud. The Nazis' constant use of classical antiquity—in official speeches, film, state architecture, the press, and state-sponsored festivities—conferred on them the prestige and heritage of Greece and Rome that the modern German people so desperately needed. At the same time, the lessons of antiquity served as a warning: Greece and Rome fell because they were incapable of protecting the purity of their blood against mixing and infiltration. To regain their rightful place in the world, the Nazis had to make all-out war on Germany's enemies, within and without. |
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Greeks, Romans, Germans: How the Nazis Usurped Europe's Classical Past Johann Chapoutot Limited preview - 2016 |
Greeks, Romans, Germans: How the Nazis Usurped Europe's Classical Past Johann Chapoutot Limited preview - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
Adolf Hitler Ahnenerbe Alfred Rosenberg Altertum ancient history ancient world Antike antiquity architecture Aryan Asiatic Athens battle beauty Berlin Bernhard Rust body Bogner century Christianity civilization classical concept contemporary created culture Darré Das Schwarze Korps defeat deutsche deutschen discourse East elite Erziehung essence Europe example Fritz Schachermeyr führer German Geschichte Goebbels Greece Greeks and Romans Günther Heft Heidegger Hellenism heritage heroic Himmler historian Hitler's Table Talk humanism Ibid idea ideal ideological imperial Indo-Germanic Jewish Jews Kampf Kunst Latin Lehmanns Verlag Mein Kampf military miscegenation modern monuments Munich myth National Socialism National Socialist Nazi Nazism Neue Nietzsche Nordic blood Nordic race NSDAP Nuremberg Olympia Olympic Oppermann Orient original past philosophy Plato political propaganda Punic racial Rasse Rassengeschichte Richard Walther Darré Roman Empire Rome Schemann Schwarze Korps Semitic Sparta speech Speer spirit symbolic Third Reich tion trans victory Volk Völkischer Beobachter Walther Wilhelm