Rolling Back Fascism Is Not Easy, Part One

This was first published in January 2013


I spent a good part of my life reading about a favorite historical subject of mine, World War Two. People my age grew up at a time when the subject of the war was a very hot topic, and movies and documentaries were common fare at theaters and on television. Books on the subject were frequently on the best seller lists. Our fathers, uncles, and neighbors served in the armed forces during the war in some capacity, likely overseas. I'm not deliberately slighting the women, as many women served during the war, and many more left their homes to work in factories and other workplaces to take the place of the men serving in the military, although I don't recall any of our women neighbors or family members having served in the military back then, but if I've erred on this, I'm sure I'll hear, and rightly so. The common thread was the fight against fascism. Perhaps naively, people seemed to believe fascism had been so badly bludgeoned, so overtly exposed as murderous, it would remain relegated to small groups of fanatics. If there was any likely threat of a fascist resurgence, it was thought to be in West Germany, where unrepentant Nazis still lingered among the populace, or in South America, where a number of Nazi bigwigs and ...ah ... "smallwigs," had found sanctuary, at least to some extent, after the war.* Evil adapts to exploit fear and make itself acceptable. Nazis and other fascists made themselves important in the fight against communism (the Cold War), as they had military or economic information on the Soviet Union or scientific expertise for the new era of nuclear weapons and rocketry. Western nations cut some of them slack to an extent, as communism was the feared enemy after World War Two, not fascism. Like "Jason" in the "Friday the 13th" movies, we may think we've killed evil, but it always comes back. We must be vigilant; thus, we must repeatedly remind ourselves "never forget" and "never again."

So what is "fascism," anyway? Attempting to give a concise and comprehensive definition of fascism is pretty much akin to trying to nail gelatin to the wall. There are characteristics of fascism, but one of those characteristics, "extreme nationalism," makes it impossible to lump all fascist elements in the world together, because the very concept of this nationalism means "my country is better than your country," and that kind of shoots the idea of international fascism in the ass... ah, I mean, butt. Fascism rather seems to be "nationalistic," but also with characteristics that draw people from various nations to other characteristics, often anti-communism. Fascist nationalism may become more palatable to segments of a national population when a nation is seen by many of its people as in decline, real or imagined. Fascism likes to dwell on the past, the good old days, when the nation was riding high (see more further below).

During World War Two there were fascist movements throughout Europe, and many men from these movements volunteered to fight in Hitler's campaign against the Soviet Union, even later, when the tide of war had shifted against the Nazi dictator. One of Hitler's devout followers was Leon Degrelle. He was from the Walloon region of Belgium; the Walloons being from the French-speaking southern segment of Belgium, which constitutes nearly 40% of the country. Initially he served in a Walloon unit that had been made part of the German Armed Forces (the "Wehrmacht"), but which then became a part of the Nazi Waffen SS; that is, the militarized branch of the SS.**

Besides the characteristic of extreme nationalism, the two most prominent fascist movements, Italian Fascism and German Nazism, had socialist characteristics. Mussolini had even previously been a socialist and after World War One, Hitler joined the small "German Workers Party," which was renamed the "National Socialist German Workers Party, the shortened form of which became "Nazi." Two powerful characteristics, nationalism and socialism, therefore joined forces and eventually gained power in Germany when Hitler was appointed chancellor in January 1933. The "socialism" of both movements was closely tied to the nationalism and the idea of "national community." Interestingly, fascism is fiercely anti-communist, yet it embraces, in part, the major element of communism... socialism. Hm, you think this might all be about just gaining power, pure and simple?

Other important and generally common characteristics of fascism are domination of the state and anti-democratic ideas, with democracy often seen as weak in the fascist ideal society of "survival of the fittest." Big business tended to support both Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany, since once you've got lots of money, "survival of the fittest" doesn't scare you, but workers and those less well off trying to survive, or advance, can be seen as the enemy. Another element is anti-unionism, as unions represent organized workers, and thus they are a threat to the fascist control of the state. Without unions, business had no organized worker groups to fear. As mentioned earlier, emphasis on a nation's past is an extremely important part of fascism. Both Mussolini and Hitler staged parades and rallies promoting their respective national pasts, with Mussolini tying Italian Fascism to the Roman Empire of about fifteen hundred years before. Hitler and the Nazis linked themselves to Medieval times and knights, but also further back to the time of the old Germanic tribes, seemingly in an effort to unite the Germanic peoples in some sort of world domination, but with certain Germanic physical characteristics being an elite. Interestingly, Hitler was dark haired and not like the ideal Nazi racial type with blond hair and blue eyes, more typical of the Nordic Germanic people,*** than many Germans, who, like Hitler himself, were likely of mixed background, including from various Slavic peoples, Latins, Magyars (Hungarians), Baltic peoples, and Jews.****    

More in Part Two

* The most famous, or I should say, "infamous," of these Nazis was Adolf Eichmann, the SS officer charged with overseeing the transport of Europe's Jews to extermination camps in eastern Europe, where millions died. Eichmann was captured by Israeli agents in Argentina, taken to Israel, tried and executed. The trial reminded the world to some degree of how inhuman the Nazis had been, with actual films taken by Nazis themselves and by Allied photographers as concentration camps were liberated late in the war. I say "reminded the world to some degree," because there is really nothing that can convey the mind boggling atrocities and the horrible suffering and terror of those victims trapped by such evil. 

** The German word "Waffe" is closely related to English "weapon," and indeed, that's what it means. Centuries ago, middle and southern Germanic dialects in central Europe, in generally higher terrain, underwent sound shifts, one of which often changed the "p" sound to "f" or "pf." This all happened after the Anglo-Saxons had already left what is now northern Germany and taken control of a good portion of Britain and were founding England; thus, English was unaffected by this shift, although it likely would not have been affected anyhow, as its close cousins, Frisian and Low German, located in the same area of northern Germany (lowlands), were unaffected by the sound shift. Since the dialects affected were in more elevated, even mountainous, areas, the term "High German" is often applied by many people, although that term also equates to "standard German." .

*** Nordic is usually meant of Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes.

**** Jews had scattered from the Middle East into North Africa and parts of Europe over time. Hitler seemingly was troubled for some time that he might be part Jewish, a distinct possibility, now that we have DNA testing. One of Hitler's secretaries said in an interview from about a dozen years ago (she may have said it previously, too), that if she had a chance to see Hitler again in this life or in another, she would ask him what he would have done if he had found out that he was part Jewish, gassed himself? For more on Hitler's ancestry, see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/10/hitler-jew.html

WORD HISTORY:
Murder-This word traces back to the Indo European root "mer/mor," which meant "die," and its offspring "mertro," which meant "kill." This gave the Old Germanic offshoot "murthran," which meant "murder, death." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "murthor," which meant "sinful act, punishable killing, murder," and also "myrthra," which meant "murder." These later merged to become "murder." The verb form came from Old Germanic "murthjan," which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "myrthrian." Other Germanic languages have: German "Mord" (noun) and "ermorden" (verb), Low German Saxon "Moord" (noun) and some dialects have "morde" (verb), Dutch "moord(en)" (noun) and "vermoorden" (verb"), West Frisian "moard" (noun) and "moardzje" (verb), "Danish "mord" (noun) and "myrde" (verb), Icelandic "Morð" (noun-essentially equivalent to "morth") and "myrða/myrtha" (verb), Norwegian "mord" (noun) and "myrde" (verb), Swedish "mord" (noun) and "mörda" (verb).

The German Question, Part One Hundred Forty-Nine

Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Three/B
"The Greatest Shame of German History"

Not long after the Nazis took power, the first concentration camps were set up. They were prison camps, often for political prisoners like communists, or opponents of the regime, real or perceived. Since German Jews were seen by the Nazis as enemies of the state, some Jews were also incarcerated in these camps during the earlier years of Nazi rule. Prisoners led a wretched existence, often doing forced labor, where they were mistreated and malnourished. Some were executed for any number of reasons. When the war started, the first country to fall, Poland, contained a large Jewish population, although initially, a good number of these people lived in what became the Soviet annexed areas, as much of this territory had belonged to the former Russian Empire, where Jews had been more concentrated in western Russia.* When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, special execution units, called "Einsatzgruppen" (literally "action groups")** followed right behind the army forces to round up and execute Jews, Communist officials, and anyone perceived as a potential threat to the German occupation. Tens of thousands of men, women and children were executed throughout the western regions of the Soviet Union.

In Germany, German Jews had dwindled in number since the 1933 appointment of Hitler as chancellor. Many had emigrated, although some did not go far enough, as they crossed into other European countries soon to be taken over by the Nazis. Still others had been put into concentration camps or had already been killed by the time of the early war years. With the occupation of Poland and large areas of the Soviet Union, the Nazis then had control over millions of European Jews, and they planned their destruction, as a businessman would plan to increase production in his factory. It is absolutely mind boggling, and no matter how much actual newsreel footage I've seen over the years, or how many books and articles I've read, it is still difficult to get my mind around these terrible events. And by the Germans! (Although often aided by non-Germans.) Nothing I write here can even scratch the surface of this disturbing subject, which is about sheer evil.

The overall plan for the extermination of European Jews was under the control of Heinrich Himmler's "SS."*** In various parts of Europe, but especially in Poland, camps were set up with the purpose of using Jews (Gypsies were also a major target of Nazi racial theories) for labor purposes, but with the ultimate aim of killing them; that is, if they hadn't already been worked to death. Those deemed unfit for work were killed, often within just a short time after their arrival at a camp. The organization for transporting Jews from across Europe to these death camps came under one SS officer, Adolf Eichmann (he had the right first name, if you get my point).**** Of all of the camps set up in Germany and throughout Europe during Nazi rule, "Auschwitz" was the most notorious, and millions died there. Rooms were made to look like shower areas, but once inside, victims were locked in, and poison gas canisters were dropped inside, killing everyone. The bodies were then burned in huge ovens, "crematoria." Any and all valuables were confiscated from these helpless people. Even when dead, gold or silver fillings were extracted.

Amidst all of the hatred and death, there were still some acts of heroism, and if you haven't seen "Schindler's List," please do so; you will never forget it. Above all, DON'T BE A RACIST OR A HATER!

* This area was known as the "Pale" in Russia. It was the western part of the Russian Empire where Jews were permitted to settle and live on a permanent basis beginning in the late 1700s. Most Russian Jews were not permitted to live east of the Pale (in interior Russia) for any major period of time, but there were exceptions.

** The "Einsatzgruppen" were part of the "SD," the initials of the "Sicherheitsdienst" ("Security Service), which was a branch of the SS.

*** Himmler was a Bavarian, born in Munich, and he joined the Nazi Party in the early 1920s.

**** Eichmann was born in Germany, but his family moved to Linz, Austria when he was just a child. Interestingly, besides the shared first name, Hitler, who was considerably older than Eichmann, had lived in and around Linz as a child, too, and he always considered the city to be his home town, so much so, that he had grand plans to make Linz into one of the primary cities of Nazism, if they had won the war.

WORD HISTORY:
Camp (noun and verb)-This is another one of those words with an uncertain ancient history. What is known is, it goes back to Latin "campus,"^ with the general meaning "open area or field," which then progressed to "field of military contest, battlefield." Old Germanic borrowed the word as "kampan," with this "contest, battle" meaning. This then gave Old English "camp," but with that same "contest" meaning. This also gave Old High German "champf," which then later became "Kampf," meaning "battle, struggle," still in use today, and it is part of the title of Hitler's book, "Mein Kampf," covered earlier in this series on "The German Question." The same word also gave German the verb form "kämpfen," meaning "to fight." English "camp" then got a bit of a twist in meaning via French "camp" (also from the Latin source) in the 1500s, this being a "field used for military training and lodging," which then later in English also came to be applied to non-military situations, and both military and non military senses are still used today.^^ The "contest" meaning died out in English. The verb form, as in, "we'll camp by the river," came from the noun during the 1500s. So here we have English and German with essentially the same word, "camp/Kampf," and both from the same source, but with different meanings; the German word retaining much of the original "contest" notion. By the way, Italian has "campo," obviously from its Latin roots, and it means "field." 

^ "Camp" is related to "campaign" and to "champion" (also the shortened form "champ"), Latin-derived words borrowed by English from French, and to "campus," a word English borrowed directly from Latin.  

^^ Generally, the modern meaning in English means, "a place in the rural countryside, often, but not always, near a lake, river or stream, where people congregate for some temporary purpose, like hunting, fishing, vacationing, recreation, or some educational or instructional purpose, often with tents, cabins, huts or other type of basic shelter. This meaning came from an older meaning in English based around "a place to temporarily stay ("put up/set up camp") to provide shelter to sleep and to fix food around a fire, called a campfire."