\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about Himmler\u2019s anticommunism and anti-Semitism; he wiped out both groups mercilessly,\u201d writes historian Peter Longerich, \u201cbut basically he was much more engrossed with Christianity. The conflict with the Christian world, in which he grew up, was of truly existential significance to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Longerich, Himmler considered it his life\u2019s calling to coalesce the fight against Christians with his idea of resurrecting the lost world of (pagan) Germania. While anti-Semitism and anticommunism were core elements of Hitler\u2019s entire National Socialist movement, de-Christianization linked to re-Germanization \u201cwas the quintessential task of the SS in Himmler\u2019s mind,\u201d Longerich writes in his 1,000-[page] tome (Longerich, Peter. Heinrich Himmler, Biographie. Munich: Siedler Verlag, 2008; 275). . . . .<\/p>\n
\nHimmler saw Christianity as an \u201calien, Asiatic\u201d imposition on the Germanic world. . . . \n
Himmler too loathed the Christian virtue of neighborly love, Longerich reports: \u201cThe principle of Christian compassion stands in the way of his (Himmler\u2019s) insistence on an uncompromising treatment of \u2018sub-humans.\u2019\u201d Himmler strove to \u201creplace Christian principles with Germanic virtues, such as toughness, as a precondition to persevere in the struggle against sub-humans and win the future.\u201d He added, \u201cWe live in the era of the ultimate showdown with Christianity\u201d (280).\n<\/p>\n
The post goes on to discuss the movie \u201cValkyrie\u201d\u2013which I finally saw and liked\u2013with some fascinating details about the Christian nature of the German resistance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In browsing through Uwe Siemon-Netto\u2019s blog, I came across his review of a new biography of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Nazi S.S.: \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about Himmler\u2019s anticommunism and anti-Semitism; he wiped out both groups mercilessly,\u201d writes historian Peter Longerich, \u201cbut basically he was much more engrossed with Christianity. The conflict with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n
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