today, in an advanced and highly modern liberal democratic society, against a group of people that were so assimilated, they were visibly, culturally, and statistically unidentifiable. The individuals who engaged in the genocidal version of anti-Semitism were not unusually sadistic, fundamentalist or fanatical. Rather, they were a civilized, gentile, educated, religious people who conscientiously embraced a revolutionary scientific ethic. The ability to murder millions of people in such a short period of time requires a few critical ingredients: a motive, the means, and a total failure of any safeguards or limits. Hitler’s revolutionary scientific ethic provided the German with the motive: Volk the total annihilation of the Jewry promised redemption and regeneration of the humiliated national German spirit after the First World War. However, it was modernity that provided the German with the means to accomplish genocide and it was Volk modern that permitted the safeguards against totalitarian politics to fail completely. rationality In more ways than one, the Holocaust was a uniquely modern phenomenon supported by inherently modern resources. According to Zygmunt Bauman, modernity was a necessary and a critical component of the Holocaust’s genocidal mission. The success of the exterminatory form of anti-Semitism depended on the of practical policies a in command of a with powerful centralized state massive bureaucratic apparatus access to This modern cocktail of social control, which existed advanced technologies. pre-Holocaust (and continues to exist today), rendered the German extremely Volk vulnerable to totalitarianism. When Germany went into a state of emergency, totalitarianism was natural response and Hitler’s national socialism easily took control the of every aspect of private and public life. Modern safeguards against totalitarianism, for
today, in an advanced and highly modern liberal democratic society, against a group of people that were so assimilated, they were visibly, culturally, and statistically unidentifiable. The individuals who engaged in the genocidal version of anti-Semitism were not unusually sadistic, fundamentalist or fanatical. Rather, they were a civilized, gentile, educated, religious people who conscientiously embraced a revolutionary scientific ethic. The ability to murder millions of people in such a short period of time requires a few critical ingredients: a motive, the means, and a total failure of any safeguards or limits. Hitler’s revolutionary scientific ethic provided the German Volk with the motive: the total annihilation of the Jewry promised redemption and regeneration of the humiliated national German spirit after the First World War. However, it was modernity that provided the German Volk with the means to accomplish genocide and it was modern rationality that permitted the safeguards against totalitarian politics to fail completely. In more ways than one, the Holocaust was a uniquely modern phenomenon supported by inherently modern resources. According to Zygmunt Bauman, modernity was a necessary and a critical component of the Holocaust’s genocidal mission. The success of the exterminatory form of anti-Semitism depended on the practical policies of a powerful centralized state in command of a massive bureaucratic apparatus with access to advanced technologies. This modern cocktail of social control, which existed pre-Holocaust (and continues to exist today), rendered the German Volk extremely vulnerable to totalitarianism. When Germany went into a state of emergency, totalitarianism was the natural response and Hitler’s national socialism easily took control of every aspect of private and public life. Modern safeguards against totalitarianism, for
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