"The Genocidal Mind is particularly focused upon the Holocaust, yet the valuable insight gained is directly applicable to a wide variety of genocidal and potentially genocidal individuals and situations. Especially recommended for Holocaust studies and mass psychology shelves."
—The Midwest Book Review
This book examines mass murder in the 20th century and explains how the elements of a genocidal mind can be perceived in behavior, law, religion, philosophy, literature, and psychology. It outlines ways to exercise vigilance in all of these cultural arenas and develop an early warning system that can help prevent societies from going over the boundary from civility to genocide.
“If we wish to discern the genocidal mentality, we must reckon not only with increased callousness of the killers but also with their misguided conviction that they were engaged in something advantageous to humanity.”
—Paul Vincent, Director of the Cohen Center of Holocaust Studies, Keene State College, New Hampshire
“A brief look at some characteristic Nazi legislation, institutions, legal concepts and professional legal personnel offer a paradigm of how the rule of law can be degraded, leaving at best a veneer of legal form and process.”
—Alan S. Rosenbaum, Professor of Philosophy, Cleveland State University
“Emphasizing the self’s autonomy, authenticity, and resolve, the thinking that arose in the German Enlightenment and contributed to the Holocaust follows a clear line of development from Kant to Heidegger.”
—David Patterson, Bornblum Chair in Judaic Studies, University of Memphis, Tennessee
“The Christian scriptures provide ample material for the formulation of the attitudes of Protestants during the Nazi years as a means to restore and maintain Christian hope as they understood it.”
—Drew A. Parsons
CONTENTS
Introduction
Genocide and Our Times
1. Mass Murder and the Holocaust in the Twentieth Century
—Steven T. Katz
2. The Genocidal Mind: In Search of a Definition
—Paul Vincent
3. The Lessons of the Holocaust: The Protocols of the World Conference against Racism
—Shimon Samuels
4. Canada Attempts to Curb Hate Mail: The Lessons of the ZUndel Case
—Frederick M. Schweitzer
5. The Nazification of the German Legal System: Some Lessons for Modern Constitutionalism
—Alan Rosenbaum
6. The Complicity of Modern Philosophy in the Extermination of the Jews
—David Patterson
7. Adorno and Lifton: Subjectivity and the Psychology of Genocide
—Gary Mullen
Genocide and Religion
8. Elite Catholic Isolationism in the United States : Impediment or Failure in the Fight Against Nazi Genocide?
—Patrick Hayes
9. Christian Hope as a Factor in How Protestants Followed Hitler
—Drew Parsons
10. Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Light of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Understanding of Jews and Judaism
—Renate Wind
11. Resistance or Defending the Faith: Clerical Responses to the National Socialist State
—Kevin Spicer
Genocide and Culture
12. Re-Reading Bernhard Schlick's The Reader as a Mirror of Germany 's Holocaust Memory
—Karen Doerr
13. Literary Representations of the 1915 Genocide of Armenians: An Important Topical Genre Continuing
in the New Millennium
—Rubina Peroomian
14. Testimony from the Ashes: Final Words from Auschwitz-Birkenau Sonderkommado
—Susan Pentlin
15. Imre Kormos: Unknown Hero of the Hungarian Jewish Rescue and Resistance
—George Pick
16. The German Resistance to Hitler and the Jews: The Case of Carl Goerdeler
—Peter Hoffmann
Reflections
17. Lessons of the Holocaust: The Early Warning System
—Franklin H. Littell
18. Reflections on the Consideration of the Holocaust in American Life
—Michael Berenbaum
Contributors
—The Midwest Book Review
This book examines mass murder in the 20th century and explains how the elements of a genocidal mind can be perceived in behavior, law, religion, philosophy, literature, and psychology. It outlines ways to exercise vigilance in all of these cultural arenas and develop an early warning system that can help prevent societies from going over the boundary from civility to genocide.
“If we wish to discern the genocidal mentality, we must reckon not only with increased callousness of the killers but also with their misguided conviction that they were engaged in something advantageous to humanity.”
—Paul Vincent, Director of the Cohen Center of Holocaust Studies, Keene State College, New Hampshire
“A brief look at some characteristic Nazi legislation, institutions, legal concepts and professional legal personnel offer a paradigm of how the rule of law can be degraded, leaving at best a veneer of legal form and process.”
—Alan S. Rosenbaum, Professor of Philosophy, Cleveland State University
“Emphasizing the self’s autonomy, authenticity, and resolve, the thinking that arose in the German Enlightenment and contributed to the Holocaust follows a clear line of development from Kant to Heidegger.”
—David Patterson, Bornblum Chair in Judaic Studies, University of Memphis, Tennessee
“The Christian scriptures provide ample material for the formulation of the attitudes of Protestants during the Nazi years as a means to restore and maintain Christian hope as they understood it.”
—Drew A. Parsons
CONTENTS
Introduction
Genocide and Our Times
1. Mass Murder and the Holocaust in the Twentieth Century
—Steven T. Katz
2. The Genocidal Mind: In Search of a Definition
—Paul Vincent
3. The Lessons of the Holocaust: The Protocols of the World Conference against Racism
—Shimon Samuels
4. Canada Attempts to Curb Hate Mail: The Lessons of the ZUndel Case
—Frederick M. Schweitzer
5. The Nazification of the German Legal System: Some Lessons for Modern Constitutionalism
—Alan Rosenbaum
6. The Complicity of Modern Philosophy in the Extermination of the Jews
—David Patterson
7. Adorno and Lifton: Subjectivity and the Psychology of Genocide
—Gary Mullen
Genocide and Religion
8. Elite Catholic Isolationism in the United States : Impediment or Failure in the Fight Against Nazi Genocide?
—Patrick Hayes
9. Christian Hope as a Factor in How Protestants Followed Hitler
—Drew Parsons
10. Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Light of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Understanding of Jews and Judaism
—Renate Wind
11. Resistance or Defending the Faith: Clerical Responses to the National Socialist State
—Kevin Spicer
Genocide and Culture
12. Re-Reading Bernhard Schlick's The Reader as a Mirror of Germany 's Holocaust Memory
—Karen Doerr
13. Literary Representations of the 1915 Genocide of Armenians: An Important Topical Genre Continuing
in the New Millennium
—Rubina Peroomian
14. Testimony from the Ashes: Final Words from Auschwitz-Birkenau Sonderkommado
—Susan Pentlin
15. Imre Kormos: Unknown Hero of the Hungarian Jewish Rescue and Resistance
—George Pick
16. The German Resistance to Hitler and the Jews: The Case of Carl Goerdeler
—Peter Hoffmann
Reflections
17. Lessons of the Holocaust: The Early Warning System
—Franklin H. Littell
18. Reflections on the Consideration of the Holocaust in American Life
—Michael Berenbaum
Contributors