The National Socialist Politics of Life
Author(s): Boaz Neumann
Source: New German Critique, No. 85, Special Issue on Intellectuals (Winter, 2002), pp. 107-130
Published by: New German Critique
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TheNational SocialistPolitics ofLife1
Boaz Neumann
"All shaking I raise my eyes to see God .
.
. and
thereI see the faceof an SS guardstandingin front
of the truck.He is still verytired.Dawnis cold, his
handsare in his blackmilitarycoat.In frontof his
eyes is a riverof skeletonsstreamingsilentlyfrom
the block's entranceto the truck.And here, his
mouthis wideopenanda longyawncomesout."2
- K. Zetnik,description
of peoplestandingin line for
the gaschamberin Auschwitz
One is always amazed when confrontedwith descriptionsof death
camps, especially those of people standing in line waiting for death,
conscious or unconsciousabouttheir fate. K. Zetnik defined Auschwitz
as a "differentplanet."3Historians and other scholars followed this
claim, arguing for the limits of representationwhen confrontingthe
did.4In this articlean
questionof the Final Solution,as Saul Friedlainder
attemptis made to interpretthe questionof exterminationin Nazi death
camps out of the Nazi world-view. The secondaryliteratureconcerning
the Final Solution is immense and certainlycannotbe overviewed in its
1. I would like to thankProf.ShulamitVolkov (Tel Aviv University)for her helpful commentson an earlierversionof this paperwhich was a partof a Ph.D. dissertation
writtenunderher supervision.
2. K. Tzetnik,Shivitti(Tel Aviv: HakibbutzHameuchad,1987) 5.
3. K. Tzetnik8-9.
4. Saul Friedlander,ed., Probing the Limitsof Representation- Nazism and the
"FinalSolution"(Cambridge:HarvardUP, 1992).
107
108
TheNationalSocialistPolitics ofLife
entirety. As an introductionI will focus on three, by now classical,
works on Nazi ideology - George Mosse's The Crisis of GermanIdeology, Intellectual Origins of the ThirdReich (1964); EberhardJickel's
Hitler's World View.A Blueprintfor Power (1969); Michael Burleigh
and Wolfgang Wippermann'sThe Racial State, Germany 1933-1945
(1991).5 All have their startingpoint with the Nazi ideology and can be
regardedas representativesof this historicalgenre.
Ideology
Each of the suggested narrativeshas its startingpoint with ideas and
ideologies. Nazi ideology is revealed throughwritten or spoken texts.
George Mosse begins with the volkisch Germanthoughtstemmingfrom
German romanticismat the beginning of the nineteenth century. He
names it "the ideological foundations"of the futureNazi ideology (11145). EberhardJickel claims that one does not have to go as far back in
time as a pre-Naziera in orderto tracethe Nazi world-view.He begins
"It may happenoccasionwith a quotationfrom Hitler's Mein
Kampf'
ally within long periods of human life that the programmaticthinker
and the politicianbecome one" (13). Jaickeltells us that the Nazi worldview was actually self-sufficient. As against Mosse's genealogical
regression, in the case of National Socialism nothing of this sort is
needed. In order to grasp Nazi motivations,ideas and intentions,it is
enough to read Hitler's texts. Accordingto Jickel, the Final Solution
was an implementationof a world-viewdefined long before extermination actuallytook place. Earlyexpressionsof the idea could be found in
the early 1920s when Hitlerwas still the unknownleaderof a marginal
right-wing party in Munich. Burleigh and Wippermann,who investigate the racial origins of the Nazi State, go back to the "racialideologies and theories"of the late eighteenthcentury.They begin the story
with ImmanuelKant's 1775 definitionof the term "race,"moving on to
describethe "racial-hygienictheories"such as those elaboratedby Darwin and Galton,beforereaching"Hitler'sracism"(23-43).
Having definedthe originsof Nazi ideas and ideology, it remainedfor
the historiansto describethe narrativethat led to their implementation.
The differenthistories are thereforenarrativesof ideas, ideologies and
5. MichaelBurleighand WolfgangWippermann,TheRacialState.Germany19331945 (Cambridge:CambridgeUP, 1996); EberhardJickel, Hitler's WorldView.A Blueprintfor Power (London:HarvardUP, 1969); George L. Mosse, The Crisis of German
Ideology.IntellectualOriginsof the ThirdReich (New York:Grosset& Dunlap:1971).
Boaz Neumann 109
theories metamorphosedinto practice.To put it differently,all of them
focus on the process in which thoughtsand words becamereality. Having describedthe "ideologicalfoundations"of the Nazi ideology rooted
in Germanromanticism,Mosse dedicatesthe second partof his study to
of the ideology" that took place
what he calls the "institutionalization
between 1873 and 1918 (147-233). He depicts the appropriationof
these ideologies by the Germanyouth movement,the universities and
other organizationsthrough which they later diffused into the rising
National Socialist associations. For Jickel, Hitler's world-view is a
"blueprintfor power,"i.e., a programthat is to be implementedthrough
concrete steps. Burleigh and Wippermann,for their part, describe how
the racial ideologies in Germanywere "institutionalized,"
thus becomthe
"racial
state
focus
on
Nazi
racial
ing
policy." They
mainly
legislation, on racial research, and on other agencies and institutions that
implementedNazi racialpolicy (44-73).
As against the identificationof Nazi origins with ideas and ideologies, I will argue that National Socialism did not present and experience itself as an ideology but as a world-view. Whereasideology was
conceived as articulatedthroughthe intellectualfaculty and associated
with ideas concerninglife, Weltanschauung
was coupled with life experience and the senses. National Socialism did not offer its followers
ideas, but a life experience. In the case of Nazism, there was no gap
between the idea/ideology and practice. The "idea"of ideology based
on reason was identifiedwith the detestedliberaltradition.(It should be
mentionedthat Jaickelwas among the few historianswho pointedto the
dominance of the Weltanschauungin the case of National Socialism.
But Weltanschauungfor him had the same functionas that of ideology
- it was an assemblageof ideas. The two main ideas characterizingHitler's Weltanschauung,accordingto Jickel, were the conquestof Lebensraumandthe eliminationof the Jews).
Narrativeand death
The fact that the historiansbegan their story with ideology forced
them to write historyas a narrativethat startswith ideas/ideologies/theories and ends with their transformationinto concreteacts, agencies and
policies. The narrativethat begins with the idea of conqueringa Lebensraum unfolds into the Nazi invasion into the Soviet Union. The narrative that begins with the idea of Jewish exterminationends with the
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
110
exterminationin death camps. The shifting perspective from ideology
into Weltanschauung,as I suggest here, enables one to presentthe history of the exterminationnot from a diachronicaspect but from a synchronic one. The synchronic aspect is for me the key point in
interpretingNazi exterminationin deathcamps.
The emphasis given by historiographyto Nazi ideology, and to its
implementationalong some line of narrative,disregardsone of the most
central issues - death. The Nazis, we are told, arrivedat the idea of
exterminatingthe Jews, and thus did so. The phenomenonof deathitself
was ignored.It was not made the subjectof any historicalinquiry.The
exterminationof the Jews, and their death,was the "terminalstation"of
the story. The Nazis had an idea - "we should exterminatethe Jewish
people" (= the beginningof the story). They made concretethe idea of
"exterminationof the Jewish people," in reality (= the course of the
story). The Jews were exterminated(= the end of the story). The conventional physiological definitionof the term "death"was accepted by
most historians.For them death was, as the Oxford Dictionarydefines
it, "the final cessation of vital functionsin an organism;the ending of
life." I quote Burleighand Wippermannas one example:"Intotal, about
six million Jews were gassed, shot, starved,or beaten to death before
the liberationof these camps by Allied forces. The camps representthe
final transformationof murderinto a dehumanized,bureaucratic,industrial process."6Identifyingdeath with the final cessation of vital functions in an organismblurredall qualitativedifferencesbetween death as
a result of shooting, subjectionto hunger or beating, and death as a
resultof makingpeoplewait in line for the gas chambers.
insteadof on ideology, makes
Focusing on the Nazi Weltanschauung,
it possible to treatthe questionof Nazi exterminationand death in death
camps differently,in such a way thatdeathitself becomes an object for a
Forthis purpose,one has to relinquishthe diachhistoricalinterpretation.
ronic dimension in favor of the synchronicone. Througha synchronic
we may be able to show that the
inquiryinto the Nazi Weltanschauung
the
to
Nazi life experience(reserved
Lebensraum)paved the way to the
death experience (in death camps). Synchronicallyspeaking, the Nazi
life-worldwas antipodalto the Nazi world of death (death camps, Auschwitz). Both worlds shouldbe regardedas the two oppositepoles definOnly then does it become clear that under
ing the Nazi Weltanschauung.
6.
Burleighand Wippermann106-07.
Boaz Neumann 111
deathin deathcampstherewas no Nazi "idea"concerningdeath.Underlying deathin deathcampswas a greatNazi experienceof life. The Nazi
Erleben lay archaeologicallyunderits victims' death.Diachronically,the
experienceof death in deathcamps can be interpretedas an outcome of
a given Nazi idea/ideologyas Mosse, Jackel,Burleigh,Wippermannand
many other historianssuggest. Synchronically,death was the counterexperienceof Nazi experienceof life as revealedin its Weltanschauung.
Thereare three sections in this article.I begin by presentingthe experience of life as revealed in the Nazi Weltanschauung.The second part
indicatesthe origins of death in this experience.The third and last section describesdeath in the deathcamps as the counter-experienceof the
Nazi life experience.Death was not a physiologicalstate but a phenomenon thatthe victim could experience.
The OntologicalConceptionof Life and Lebensraum
Anyone who is not familiarwith the writingsof majorNazi political
leaderssuch as Adolf Hitler,JosephGoebbels,HeinrichHimmler,Alfred
Rosenbergor WaltherDarre,as well as those of Nazi philosophersand
writerslike Alfred Baiumler,ErnstKrieck,HannsJohstand many others,
may initially find himself perplexed.Concerninga political and social
system so obsessed with murderand extermination,a regime which is
identifiedmorethanany otherwith the productionof deathtechnology,it
is peculiarto discover that one of the most commonly used words in
these texts is life. The Germanswere called upon to stimulate and
strengthenthe life of the people,to gatherthe force of life, to expandinto
a living space, to win in the strugglefor life, etc. This word was indeed
one of the most commonin official Nazi languageand there is no doubt,
as I will tryto show, thatthe Nazis wereobsessedwith this phenomenon.
One of the most essentialfeaturesof the Nazi worldview was the constant craving for Lebensraum.Historically,the territoriesin the eastern
parts of Europe constituteda naturalspace for Germanexpansion.As
early as the 19thcentury,Germanywas attractedto the east, in what was
known as the "urgetowardsthe east." The Nazis indeed recognizedthe
potentialof both naturaland humanresourcesembodiedin these territories. They aimed at using them to accomplishtheir imperialand racial
policies;hence the ecologicaland biologicalmeaningof Lebensraum.The
landwas supposedto furnishthe optimalecologicaland biologicalconditions for sustainingthe growing Germanpopulation.Lebensraumwas
112
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
intendedmainlyto enablethe Aryanraceto developitself. This was Himmler's Utopiandreamof a Lebensraumpopulatedby SS soldiersand their
families, working in ruralfarms,which would furnishthe demographic
and racial basis for the ThirdReich.7The first to define these principles
of Lebensraumpolicy was FriedrichRatzel, at the turn of the century.8
They were later developed by Karl Haushofer,whose geopolitics was
very influentialon theNazi conceptof Lebensraum.9
Alongside this concept of Lebensraumas a living space, another,different meaning of the term can be identified.This concept involved a
deeper and more essential interpretationthat can enhance our understandingof the Nazi phenomenon.I will begin to presentit by relying
on a figure who is relativelyunknown,in orderto show that it was not
reservedonly to a thin stratumof politiciansor thinkers.
In 1936, Dr. Ludwig Engelhartwrote a short article in a rathermarginal periodicalconcerningthe way gymnasticteachersshouldstudybiology.1 He begins with a somewhatconventionaldefinitionof biology the science thatdeals with life as such,with living creaturesand otherlife
phenomena.Wheredoes biology begin?In orderto answerthis question,
he startswith the dead humanbody, the study-objectof anatomy,which
in reality is nothingbut the vague reflectionof a once living organism.
The movementof the once living body is now controlledonly by gravity, says Engelhart.The arm that could previouslybe raised, now falls
like a heavy weight. What made the body a wonder - life - has van-
ished. The dead humanbody is nothingbut lifeless material,dissectedby
the anatomistwho cannotreintegrateit. It is a disappointingexperience,
Engelhartwrites, to find that the gap betweenthe dead and living body
cannotbe bridged.And yet thatwas exactlywhathe was strivingfor.
His criticismwas not targetedagainstGod or any otherdivine power,
but ratheragainstthe disciplineof anatomythattreatsboth dead and living bodies alike as lifeless material.It denies life from the humanbody,
by its analytic gaze that dissects it, knife-like. This was the starting
7. HeinrichHimmler,Geheimreden1933 bis 1945 undandereAnsprachen(Frankfurt/Main:Propylien, 1974) 50-51, 157-159, 166, 175, 246.
8. FriedrichRatzel,Der Lebensraum.Eine biogeographischeStudie(Ttibingen:H.
Haupp'schenBuchhandlung,1901).
9. Dan Diner, "'Grundbuchdes Planeten.'Zur Geopolitik Karl Haushofers,"in
Diner, Weltordnungen.Uber Geschichteund Wirkungvon Recht und Macht (Frankfurt/
Main:FischerTaschenbuch,1993) 125-63.
Leibes10. LudwigEngelert,"DerBiologie Unterrichtin derTurnlehrerausbildung,"
iibungenundkorperlicheErziehung1/2 (1936) 7-1 1.
Boaz Neumann
113
point of his proposal for an educationalreform. At the first stage, he
demands,students should be presentedduringtheir studies with living
elements of the humanbody alongsidethe material,lifeless ones. In order
to do so, he suggests incorporatinganatomystudies into biology classes,
and basingboth on the principlesof functionand totality.The functionof
each organ should be presentedas a part within a total organicsystem.
He then arguesthat these same principlesshouldalso be implementedin
physiologyclasses, which would no longerfocus on lifeless materialsystems such as musculature,nervous system, brain, blood circulationor
digestiveorgans,buton the livingphenomenaof humanbeings.
At that point Engelhartfaced a new problem.By definition,the study
of living and vital elements could not be combined with the study of
material elements, anatomical or physiological. Biology contradicts
anatomyand physiology in its object of study:whereasthe formerstudies living phenomena,the latterfocuses on lifeless material.His conclusion is that anatomyand physiology should not be consideredas subdisciplines of biology, but as a part of it. The bordersbetween the differentdisciplinesbecomeblurred,and all of them mergeinto biology.
It was at this point, where the humanbeing is conceived as a living
creature,and his body as an organism,that so-called "liberalbiology"
came to a halt, accordingto Engelhart.It focused only on the individual,
but even this was a mere pretension.It did not even reach the point of
regardingthe humanbeing as a whole organiccreature,because it differentiatedbetweenthe variousdisciplines.Liberalbiology disintegratedthe
humanbody, while Engelhart'sversion of biology transcendedthe individual. As every organ in the humanbody reflects a part of the whole
living body, so is the humanbeing an organof his communityand living environment,i.e., Lebensraum.The humanorganismis not bounded
in his skin, but is ratheran organin an all-embracingorganicunit. And
here Engelhartreacheshis broaddefinitionof biology:
Biologythereforeexploresnot only the structureof this organism,
butits boundingin thepeople,race,landscape,
table,its
genealogical
circles,in short,the manpositionin the family,age andprofessional
ifoldorderof Lebensraum,
in whicheveryindividual
is bounded.11
This concept of biology dissolved the autonomy of anatomy and
11.
Engelhart11.
114
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
physiology as independentdisciplines, and turned them all into biology. This step, according to him, also dissolved the autonomy of
anthropology,for the only relevant question remainingconcerned not
the essence of the humanbeing, but the essence and conditions for the
existence of life as such.
Engelhartopens his argumentby criticizingthe materialisticconcept
of the worlds of anatomyand physiology that can recognize only lifeless phenomena.As againstthat, he aspiresto revive the varioushuman
phenomena by rearrangingthe relations between the different disciplines. The origin of the moment of revitalizationcame at the point
where he could not compromise the harsh distinction between the
human being as a living organism,as conceptualizedbiologically, and
its anatomicaland physiological elements. This logic inherentlyled to
the assumptionof Lebensraum.Only then could he solve the paradoxof
a living humanbeing existing in a lifeless materialworld. This line of
argumenthad to blur all demarcationlines between the differentdisciplines. They were now penetratedby what can be termeda meta-discipline - biology. All borders distinguishing between the different
phenomenawere also dissolved by the respective meta-principle,life.
Engelhart,as a reformerin the field of biology studies in the Third
Reich, wanted to lead studentsfrom a lifeless differentiatedconcept of
the world into a living, non-differentiatedone. The only discipline that
could enable this metamorphosiswas biology. The only phenomenon
thatcould be allowed into this worldwas life.
This conceptualizationof life generally,and Lebensraumparticularly,
can be regardedas an imperialisticone. It recognizedlife in every element and did not, and could not, acknowledge death. Therefore,this
concept of Lebensraum,suggestedby Engelhartand many others,12was
not identicalto Lebensraumin the easternterritoriesof Europe,whose
role was to providethe ecological and biological conditionsfor sustaining a growing population.Engelhart'sconcept of Lebensraumwas not
of a living space, but a life-world. Its role was not to provide the
resources essential for maintaininglife: it was the expression of life
itself. The role of living space was to providethe necessary means for
the existence of life. Withoutit, the life of the Germanpeople would be
endangered,according to the Nazi version. There was no place for
Peter
12. See Anne Biumer-Schleinkofer,NS-BiologieundSchule (Frankfurt/Main:
Lang, 1992).
Boaz Neumann
115
death in the life-world, where even the physiologically already dead
humanbeings were consideredas still alive, i.e., taking part in life. An
example is found in Hanns Johst's descriptionof a journey to Poland,
accompanyingHimmler.Johst,one of the most distinguishedNazi writers, wrote that the newly conqueredterritorieswere like an organism,
and as such had their own blood vessels, blood pressureand blood circulation. But the view from the moving train's window was utterlydifferent. The landscape seemed to have been sentenced to death by
history. He saw neglected fences and roads, desertedcastles, and other
forsaken,uninhabitableplaces. However, the picture changed radically
when he recognizedPolish territoryas part of GermanLebensraum.At
a Polish burialsite, along the new borderlines of the Reich, Johst maintained that the bodies buriedthere were a part of the blood circulation
of the new Lebensraum.13This point of view derived from a broader
perceptionof space as a meta-organism:
The time has come and the greatGermanReichis comingto its
the eruptionsof the hurlingpeople's
completion!The bloodstream,
Thereis no
strengthunifyintoa hugepeople'sbody[Volkskorper].
moreexternalandinternal.All GermanconsciousnessandGerman
existencein thisworldis a unifiedorganismwhichis stimulated
by
a heart,possessedby a soul,masteredby a power,headedby a will
- all builtandledby its FiihrerAdolfHitler!14
Only from such a conceptionof Lebensraumcould the Polish Corridor
that crossed German territorybe considered a "bleeding wound," as
Goebbelsstatedin one of his speeches.15
Engelhartoffered an imperialisticconceptionof life. Whereas imperialism in the living space based itself on the trampling of roaring
tanks and artillerytowardsthe east, in the life-world it based itself on
the penetrationof life into all lifeless materialterritories,thus revitalizing them. It would be wrong, in my opinion, to consider this concept
of the life-world as an ecological or biological one; it would be more
accurateto treat it as an ontological concept. Ontology is the branchof
13. HannsJohst,Rufdes Reiches- Echo des Volkes!Eine Ostfahrt(Munich:Franz
EherNachf.: 1940) 65, 74-75.
14. Johst29.
15. Joseph Goebbels (9 July 1932), Goebbels Reden, vol. I (Munich: Wilhelm
Heyne, 1971) 44.
116
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
metaphysics dealing with the nature of Being. Whereas a biological
conceptionof life defines it as a mode of being in a time span between
birth and death, an ontological conception of life identifies it with
Being itself. In an ontologicalconceptof life, even physiologicallydead
human beings are consideredalive. As I will try to show in the next
section, this concept of ontological life reverseditself in a world ruled
by death, i.e., in death camps, where physiologically living human
beings were consideredas alreadydead.
The most concreteimplementationof the Nazi ontologicalconcept of
life was in the political and social spheres.The Nazi philosopherErnst
Krieckarguedthat the ThirdReich was based on an organicworld-view
[Weltanschauung]subordinatingall particularprinciplesof every social
domain to the general principleof life-wholeness. Every aspect of the
ThirdReich was identifiedas a partof the totalityin which it was articulated and developed. This new configurationnot only made each and
every part an element in a totality, but also enabled the totality to be
articulatedthroughit. This principledid not only position the individual within Lebensraum,but also createdthe essential bond between different aspects of life. Whereas liberalism, according to Krieck,
acknowledgedthe autonomyof the state, religion, language, economy,
law, society, culture, science, education, and the school system, the
Nazi world-view perceived them as expressions of the people's life wholeness, maintainingthe organicexchangerelationsbetween them.16
Krieckdid not acknowledgethe differencebetweenthe variousdomains
of life, just as Engelhartdid not differentiatebetween the skeleton,
humanbeings, peoples,races, landscapes,etc.
This concept of life was also expressed in propagandaspeeches. In
a speech made by Goebbels in 1935, he explained the meaning of
Nazi politics to his audience. There were those, he argued, who conceived of National Socialism as a political doctrine. As such, it was
supposed to deal with politics only. According to this conception of
politics, art belonged to the artists, economy to the businessmen, the
bourse to the bankers,agricultureto the farmers,the small business to
the small businessmen, and crafts to the artisans.With time, however,
this could lead to the destructionof public life. This was the actual
liberal state of affairs. Nazism was not a political doctrine but a total
16. ErnstKrieck,NationalsozialistischeErziehunggegriindetaus der Philosophie
der Erziehung(Osterwieckam Harz:A. W. Zickfeldt,1933) 9.
Boaz Neumann 117
and comprehensive view of all public domains. This world-view
should be also the guiding principle of life wholeness in the Third
Reich. The same Deus ex Machina which appears in Engelhart's and
Krieck's arguments,saving life from disintegration,appearshere too:
"We hope that a day will come in which we will not have to speak
aboutNational Socialism. It will be the air thatwe breathein."17
From the ontological concept of life, one can better understandthe
meaning of Nazism presentingitself not as an ideology but as a worldview. In order to understandthe meaning of Weltanschauung,I will
present some qualities attributedto the practice of Anschauung[seeing]. Anschauungis derivedfrom emotions,experienceand life, in contrastto the scientific and philosophicalway of conceiving things. Alfred
Rosenbergdefinedthe Nazi world as the world of the eye in contrastto
the Greektheory.This worldof the eye:
smashes the egalitarianismof the democraticworld of
andwillingexistthoughtsandbringsbackthe emotional/intuitive
ence of the nationwith the eternallaws of nature.It has always
been the most decisive momentin the evolution of National
Socialismmovementthat it derivedsolely from small, but very
decisive,principles;thatdid not striveto realizeitselfthroughtheories, but was anxiousto put the experiencedlife in frontof the
then we mean
eyes. But when we speak of Weltanschauung,
immediatelywhatthe Germanwordstates,i.e., a certainAnschauungof the world.Thismeansthatwe grantournaturaleyes (and
throughthemthe uninhibitedinstinct)with immediatevalue, and
notclevertheorieshollowedwithfantasies... 18
In an SA textbook, it was arguedthatAnschauungis contradictoryto
the mind, which is alienated to life. Whereas the activity of mind is
based on ideas, Anschauungenables one to experience life as a living
experience: "The National Socialist Weltanschauungis a life doctrine
thatmustbe experienced."l'9
Weltanschauungwas not only contradictoryto the mind, but also to
17. Goebbels(17 Jun. 1935) 227.
18. Alfred Rosenberg,Festhaltungder Idee - Reden und Aufsatzevon 1933-1935
(Munich:Zentralverlagder NSDAP, FranzEherNachf., 1936) 140-41, 145. Cf. Krieck
88-96; Baldur von Schirach,Die Hitler Jugend Idee und Gestalt (Leipzig: Koehler &
Amelang, 1934) 93.
19. Handbuchder SA (Berlin:Verlag"OffeneWorte,"1939) 63.
118
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
the faculty of thought. The viewing-of-the-worldwas opposite to the
thinking-of-the-world.Whereas the Anschauung experienced life,
thought conceived it only throughconceptions,calculationsand theories. Alfred Baiumler,another major Nazi philosopher,argued that
whereas Nazism was a Weltanschauung,all that liberalismcould offer
was an opinion regardingthe world.21Anschauung,as an inner illumination, was also contradictoryto the externalone. Baldurvon Schirach,
the head of the Hitler Youth movement,said that educationshould not
be based on Aufkldrungbut on Anschauung:"Whattake roots today in
the ranks of the young people requiresan education for Anschauung
and not a political Aufkldrung.The more they learnto see, the stronger
will be theirattachmentto the law of the new state."22
The culture of Aufkldrung,in contrastto that of Anschauung,was
identified by the Nazis with the detested eighteenth-centuryAge of
Enlightenment,as well as with the Jewish tradition.One symptom for
the Nazi turningaway from mindto the practiceof seeing was the official alterationof the notion describing criticism of art that was officially bannedandreplacedby the new formalartobservation.23
Another characteristicof Weltanschauungwas its capacity to conceive of the world as a living organism.In the first decades of the twentieth century, it was the philosopherLudwig Klages who proposed a
systematicinterpretationfor this concept. Klages differentiatedbetween
two types of seeing, one based on the mind and the other on the soul.
The formercapturedthe world as an aggregateof objects,judging them
and conceptualizingthem via language. The latter enabled one to see
the world as images and to experiencethem throughsymbols. A gaze
based on the mind was an act of perceptionwhereas the other was an
event of seeing.24In a speech given at the 1933 NUirnberg
party rally,
HitlerdefinedNationalSocialismas a Weltanschauung:
20. Georg Schott, Das Volksbuchvom Hitler (Munich:HermannA. Wiechmann,
1924) 281-82, 310, 312-13.
21. Alfred Bdiumler,Politik und Erziehung- Reden und Aufsdtze(Berlin: Junker
und Dtinnhaupt,1937) 101.
22. Schirach86.
23. Karl Heinz Brackmann& RenateBirkenhauer,NS-Deutsch. "Selbstverstdndliche" BegriffeundSchlagworteraus der Zeitdes Nationalsozialismus(Darmstadt:Straelener Manuskripte,1988) 118; Joseph Wulf, ed., Die BildendenKiinsteim Dritten Reich.
Eine Dokumentation(Leck-Schleswig:Rowohlt,1966) 136.
24. Ludwig Klages, Vom kosmogonischenEros (Jena: Eugen Diederichs, 1926)
119-29. 161-76.
Boaz Neumann 119
Already in the word 'Weltanschauung'lies the solemn proclama-
tion of a decisionthat all acts are basedupon a certainpoint of
view anda visibletendency.Sucha view canbe trueor false:it is
and events
the startingpoint for everyopinionon the appearance
of life, andis thereforea bindingandobligatinglaw for everyact.
The moresuch an opinioncoversthe naturallaw of organiclife,
the betterits consciousutilitycan be appliedfor the sake of the
people'slife.25
The ability to see was also racially attributedto the Aryans. Such a
claim appeared in Hans Gtinther'sstudy of races. He distinguished
between the dark-eyedhuman being who watched, observed, noticed
things and looked aroundand the Nordic eye that looked more deeply at
things andviewed them.26
The act of Anschauungindeed became one of the dominantpolitical
practices in Nazi politics. Contactbetween the Fuihrerand his audience
was mainly experiencedas eye contact.Veteransof WorldWarI waited
for five hoursto see their Fiihrer"going from one man to the other,just
to look into everyone's eyes."27On anotheroccasion his meeting with a
groupof SS soldierswas described:
...
slowly ... very slowly ... he passes from one man to the
other ... and looks into everyone's eyes ... every individual ...
and everyoneof themlooks backat him with a silentand serious
glance ...
you are the Fiihrer... we belong to you .
. .
do what-
everyouwishwithus ... whateveryouwish... 28
Nazi assemblies were dominatedby the gaze of Hitler and he was
attributedwith the abilityto look into the eyes of everyone,thus creating
the people's community.29Young people arguedwhetherhis gaze had
25. Adolf Hitler,"Nationalsozialismus
als Weltanschauung"
in JuliusStreicher,ed.,
Reichstagungin Niirnberg(Berlin:Vaterliindischer
Verlag,E. A. Weller, 1933) 75-76.
26. Hans GUinther,
Rassenkundedes deutschen Volkes(Munich: J. F. Lehmann,
1939) 76, 196.
27. AlfredKotz, FiihrenundFolgen. Ein Katechismus
fir Hitlersoldaten(Potsdam:
LudwigVoggenreiter,1934) 8, 20.
28. WilfridBade, Die SA erobertBerlin. Ein Tatsachenbericht(Munich:Knorr&
Hirth,1938) 143.
29. Goebbels (3 Apr. 1933) 80. Cf. Bella Fromm,Blood and Banquets.A Berlin
Social Diary (London:GeoffreyBles, 1943)40; WilhelmLotz(1938) quotedin Wulf, Die
BildendenKiinsteim DrittenReich 267.
120
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
met theirs.30Variouscapacitieswere attributedto his penetratingglance.
It was claimedthat, with his eyes, he could experiencethe Germanpeople's soul and even heal it. With a glance, he could convince political
opponentsto change their political convictions.After looking into his
eyes, people felt they had been converted.They were the source of the
Germanpeople'smetamorphosis
frommassesintoa bondedpeople.31
Weltanschauungemphasizedthe visual elements in politics. Here lies
one of the reasons for the importancethe Nazis attributedto aesthetics.
Nazism, wrote Ernst Krieck,preferredthe piercing visual capacities of
symbolismto the use of rationalideas, hence the importanceof swastikas, Nazi salutes, etc.32 The appearanceof communityin the stadiums
had a biological meaning as well: it was an articulationof the lifeworld:"Thecelebrationsare high momentsof representationof the people's force in their Lebensraum.The community alone brings this
potentialof life force (biologically)and desire for life (politically) into
effect throughits clenches."33
One of the most importantinitiatorsof the huge Nazi rallies was the
Ministerof Propaganda,Goebbels. The importanceand meaningof the
visual element could be traced back to his novel Michael, written in
1923, in which he glorified the idea of Weltanschauungas a principle
of life, thus echoing the relationbetween Weltanschauung
and the experienceof life so endorsedby the Nazis:
Indeed!Weltanschauung
is: I standon a firmpointandlook froma
certainangleof view at life andat the world.It has nothingto do
withknowledgeor education.If thispointis right,andthe angleof
view straight,then the Weltanschauung
is clearand good, and if
is
blurred
and
it
bad.34
not,
30. Ian Kershaw,Der Hitler Mythos- Volksmeinungund Propagandaim Dritten
Reich (Stuttgart:DeutscheVerlag-Anstalt,1980) 30.
31. Goebbels,Der Angriff Aufsatzeaus der Kampfzeit(Munich:Zentralverlagder
NSDAP. FranzEherNachf., 1935) 126; FranzKiener(1937) quotedin Wulf, ed., Presse
und Funk im DrittenReich. Eine Dokumentation(Leck-Schleswig:Rowohlt, 1964) 206;
Fritz N*ille (1936) quoted in Wulf, ed., Literaturund Dichtung im Dritten Reich. Eine
Dokumentation(Leck-Schleswig:Rowohlt 1963) 417; Schott 27, 311-12; Fridel Schlitzberger(1933) quotedin Wulf,LiteraturundDichtungim DrittenReich 128.
32. Krieck38.
33. Johannes Dannheuser & Amo Kreher, Zur Methodik einer politischen
Leibeserziehung(Berlin:WilhelmLimpert,1937) 99-106.
34. Goebbels, Michael - Ein deutsches Schicksal in Tagebuchblattern(Munich:
Verlag FranzEherNachf., 1923) 20.
Boaz Neumann 121
Historiographygenerallytends to conceive Nazism as an ideology,35
butNazism conceivedof andpresenteditself as a Weltanschauung.
Therefore it should not be regardedas anotherideology among the 20th century ideologies,alongsideItalianFascismor Soviet Communism.Nazism,
as the French philosopherVladimir Jankelevitchargued, was not an
not only differedfrom ideology
"opinion."36The Nazi Weltanschauung
but contradictedit. Ideology is based on ideas, whereasNazism rejected
ideas for life experience.In contrastto an ideology that one can accept/
embraceor decline,NationalSocialismwas a life experiencethat as such
was not subjectedto the individual'sfree choice. The Nazi Erlebniswas
indifferentto any contingency.It was as if the individualdid not think
about/experienceNational Socialism, but National Socialism articulated
itself throughhim, as describedby a warveteranwhojoinedthe SS:
I.. I am a NationalSocialist,by birthratherthenby conversion.It
meansadmittingthe consequencethat I becameand am an S.S.
man,andthatI wantnothingbetterthanto servein a blackHitler
regiment.I alwayswas a NationalSocialist.The nameof the concept is immaterial.TodayI know that I was a NationalSocialist
beforetherewas a nameforthatidea.Today,whenthe conceptand
the namehavebeenestablished,
I knowthatI ama NationalSocialist andwill remainone. Therewas neverany questionof compulsion. No outwardpressurewas broughtto bear on me; nor did
reasondictatethisnecessity.Myheartcommanded
it.37
Nazism offereda new kind of approachto life.
As a Weltanschauung,
Life was no longer a biological category,but an ontological one. It did
not acknowledge any differentiationinside the notion of life itself, for
example,betweena good or badlife, a moralor immoralone, andso on. It
conceivedof life as an all-embracingphenomenon.The only questionthat
remainedrelevantwas whetherone ontologicallytookpartin it or not:
Our most decisive questionconcerningthe humanbeing is not
35. See Jickel 1981; WernerMaser,Hitler's Mein Kampf An Analysis (London:
Faber & Faber, 1970) 11-12, 38; WoodruffD. Smith, The Ideological Origins of Nazi
Imperialism(Oxford:OxfordUP, 1986) 238.
36. VladimirJankdl1vitch,L 'imprescriptible
(Paris:Seuil, 1986) 34.
37. "The Story of a Soldier"in TheodoreAbel, WhyHitler Came Into Power. An
AnswerBased on the OriginalLife Stories of Six Hundredof His Followers (New York:
Prentice-Hall,1938) 244, 251, 278, 296.
122
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
about his 'ideals' ... We do not ask aboutthe usability, activity or
capacityfor workof the humanbeing;norwhetherhe is 'good' or
'bad,' whetherhe 'gets himselfthrough'['sich durchsetzen']or
staysfruitless,whetherhe is energetic,practical,quickin his political or otherconvictions.We do not ask abouthis clevernessof
intelligence.The only questionwe raiseconcernshis bioticstatus,
his takingpartin thedeeplevelsof life.38
Nazi ethics did not decree that humanbeings live their life so that it
will be worth living, but that they live it so it will be experienced.It
demandedthat its subjects live, and not just exist.39Life did not need
any justification, beyond the fact that it was experienced. It was the
most radicalversion of existentialism.J.P. SterndescribedNazi politics
as politics of Erlebnis. It was a translationof the "notionsof genuineness and sincerity and living experience(designatedin Germanby the
word 'Erlebnis' and its variouscompounds)from the privateand poetic
sphere into the sphere of public affairs.'40 Victor Klemperer,in his
reflections on Nazi language,noticed that it distinguishedbetween the
humanbeing who only lived his life and he who could experience it.41
The formerwas often identifiedwith the bourgeoisand liberal Weimar
Republicway of life, contrastedwith the experiencedlife, activatedlife,
feeling of life, life wholeness,andtotalityof life offeredby the Nazis.42
Origins of Death
Having describedthe Nazi ontological concept of life, one question
remains concerning death. Where can death be traced in a political
system so obsessed with life? Is there in fact any place left for it in a
in WernerDeubel, ed., Deutsche Kulturrevolu38. Hans Kern,"Weltanschauung"
tion. Weltbildder Jugend(Berlin:VerlagflirZeitkritik,1931) 21-22.
39. Kern 17.
40. J. P. Stem, Hitler: The Fiihrer and the People (Berkeley: U of CaliforniaP,
1975) 24.
41. Victor Klemperer,LTI- Notizbucheines Philologen (Leipzig: Reclam, 1993)
258.
42. Richard Benz, Geist und Reich. Um die Bestimmungdes Deutschen (Jena:
Eugen Diederichs,1933) 175; ArthurMbllervan den Bruck,Der politische Mensch(Breslau: Korn, 1933) 65; HermannGOSring,
Reden undAufsatze(Munich:Zentralverlagder
NSDAP, FranzEherNachf., 1938)22; Rosenberg,Der Mythusdes 20. Jahrhunderts.Eine
Wertungder seelisch-geistigen Gestaltenkampfeunserer Zeit (Munich: Hoheneichen,
zum "Zuchtwart"
1928)41-42, 68 1. Cf. CorneliaBering, Vom"Abstammungsnachweis"
Vokabulardes Nationalsozialismus(Berlin:Walterde Gruyter& Co., 1964) 120.
Boaz Neumann 123
Lebensraum?The answersto these questionsopen a new possibility for
understandingthe Nazi phenomenon,and especially the issue of extermination. Only a world-view based on a concept of Lebensraum,and
this is my main contention,could fantasizeandcreatea deathworld.
One example,amongmanyothers,of the concreteand immediatemanner in which exterminationderived from the Nazi concept of life and
Lebensraumis foundin a lectureheld in 1932 by ErnstBergmann,a professor at the Leipzig university.43The subjectof the lecturewas "Idealism of the GermanBildung,"and it was one in a series entitled "The
Nazi Weltanschauung."
It attemptedto redefinethe idea of Bildung from
a Nazi perspective.The Nazi novelty,Bergmannargued,was in abandoning the idea that humanitycould be improvedexclusively by education.
Nazism aimed at a new and much more broadenedconcept of humanism, which he named a philosophyof life. Accordingto it, one should
renouncethe common distinctionbetween body, soul and mind, regarding the body as an inferiorelement, for a new understandingof every
facultyas a partof an organictotality.This totalitydid not exist in a vacuum, but in a Lebensraum.Having defined the Nazi philosophyof life,
he proceededto describethe three means necessaryto achieve this new
Nazi Bildung: immigrationcontrols, eliminationof populationgroups
defined as living life incapablefor living and selections. Bergmanndid
not evade the moralandjudicial issues concerningthe act of killing. He
distinguishedbetween the liberal principleof freedom of life and the
Nazi concept of allowing one to live. The former,he claimed, was supportedby those who believed in the rule of law, accordingto which the
right to live and the freedomof life was grantedto anyone who did not
breakthe law. The latterwas supportedby those who believed first and
foremostin the biologicalfutureof the people. ThereforeNazism focused
itself on the momentof birth.The new Nazi humanismwas a pre-natal
Humanism.It redeemedthe humanbeings at their moment of birth, in
contrast with the Christianconcept of salvation after death. As such,
Nazism did not offer humanitysalvationfrom life afterdeath,but salvation duringlife. Christianity,accordingto Bergmann,treatedthe human
beings in a clinical manner,strivingto redeemthem of his actualphysiological state of flesh and blood by sending them beyond life. This was
one of the reasons for the Nazi denial of Jesus. They saw themselves as
43. Ernst Bergmann,Deutschland,das Bildungslandder neuen Menschheit.Eine
nationalsozialistischeKulturphilosophie(Bresalu:FerdinandHirt, 1933) 9-45.
124
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
the new Jesus:"We wantto be physiciansand saviorsandrescuersof the
people accordingto our heroic ethic. We want to cure and redeempeople whenthey areborn,not whenthey die."44
God's role was to help the physician,the soul researcher,the social
andall thosewho are in chargeof racialbreeding,to redeem
anthropologist
the humanbeing at birth,so thathe wouldnot sufferduringhis life. Bergmann'sidea of removingunworthylives expresseda moralact, as he saw
it. He did not suggest at the outset to kill humanbeings, but to prevent
them frombeing born.This was the real Nazi humanism,as describedin
Das SchwarzeKorps in 1937: "Whensomeone says that a man has no
rightto kill, it shouldbe arguedthathe has a hundredtimes less rightto
bunglenatureandkeepalivesomethingthatwas notbornto live."45
In Bergmann'slecture we witness the formulathat enabled the Nazi
to conclude the ontological state of death from the ontological concept
of life. The Nazi political system based itself on an imperialisticconcept of life, which took over every humanaspect without acknowledging the dialectic relationbetween life and death.A political system that
accepts the dialectic relation between life and death can define opponents as worthy to die because they oversteppedthe bounds of justice,
or as an outcome of a ruler's will. Nazi politics conceived its subjects
as a priori belonging,or not, to life. As such, the Otherin the Nazi system did not belong to the categoryof life because he was a criminal,or
as an outcome of a decision by the Fiihrer.His belongingto this category was ontological:it had nothingto do with his actual and concrete
being, but with his ontological state of Being, and as such no explanation or justification was necessary. In politics based on a dialectical
relationbetween life and death,the act of killing is conceived as a punishment.Every humanbeing is regardedas being bornin orderto die at
the end of a life span. Politically,the rulercould have his subjectkilled
because biologically, he alreadypossesses the germs of his death. The
act of execution is nothing but an artificialspeeding up of a predetermined biological process. In contrast,the Nazi act of exterminationwas
a realizationof right,as Adornoput it.46It was not a punishment,as the
44. Bergmann38-39.
45. Das SchwarzeKorps (18 Mar. 1937) quoted in JohannesTuchel, ed., "Kein
Rechtauf Leben"- BeitrcigeundDokumentezur Entrechtungund Vernichtung"lebensunwertenLebens"im Nationalsozialismus(Berlin:WAV, 1984) 49.
46. TheodorAdorno,NegativeDialectics (London:Routledge& KeganPaul, 1973)
362-63.
Boaz Neumann 125
Nazis conceived it, because the victim of the exterminationprocess
never really belonged to the category of life. The Nazi language
describedthe act of killing in many differentways such as finishing off,
wiping out, destroying,annihilating,exterminating,slaughtering,massacring, branding, rooting out, eliminating, treating in a special way,
etc.47 All these expressions, whether euphemistic or revealing, were
ultimatelyeuphemisticregardingthe real state of the victims. The Other
was not defined as "worthyto die" but as "unworthyto live." Only politics based on an overall sweeping concept of life could take away life
by defining the Otheras unworthyto live his life, as incapableof living or as not suitable/goodenoughfor living.48
Dialecticalconceptof life
Ontologicalconceptof life
Life UnworthyLiving
The existentialopponentsof the Nazis could not be finishedoff, wiped
47. Bering 31-32; Siegfried Bork,Miflbrauchder Sprache. TendenzennationalsozialistischerSprachreglung(Bern:Francke,1970) 32-33.
48. Bergmann26, 27, 28; Tuchel; MatthesZiegler, SoldatenglaubeSoldatenlehre.
Ein deuisches Brevierfiir HitlerSoldaten(Berlin:Nordland,1939) 20-21, 33. The firstto
give a systematic interpretationof the expression"life not worthy of living" were Karl
Bindingand Hoche Alfred.See KarlBinding& AlfredHoche,Der Freigabe der Vernichlung lebensunwerienLeben.IhrMafrundihre Form(Leipzig:Felix Meiner,1920).
126
TheNationalSocialistPolitics of Life
out or destroyedbecause, ontologically,they did not belong to life. No
one can kill someonewho is alreadydead.Thatwas one of the reasonsfor
the victim's inabilityto graspthe idea of his being exterminated,for who
can conceive himself as being deadwhile he is still physiologicallyalive?
Auschwitz, as PrimoLevi wrote, was an impossiblefact.49Thatwas the
difference between the act of ordinarykilling and that of ontological
extermination:the formeraimed at the humanbeing's biological state,
while the latteraimed at his Being. The first was conceivable,while the
latterwas not: "Deathwe can anticipate;but extermination... ?,,50
The Nazi startingpoint,therefore,was life, andnot death.They did not
offer an ideology of death.51Deathwas the by-productof a certainphilosophy, religionor revolutionof life thatprecededandconditionedit.52The
Nazi tidingsto humanitywere not of deathbutof life, thatdeterminedthe
fate of those who, by an historicalcontingency,did not belongto life.
Death as experience/Erlebnis]
The Nazi concept of humanbeings who do not belong to the category
of life was not only a theoreticalone, but also led to the concretepractice
of death camps. The ontological concept of life in the Lebensraum
reverseditself in a worldruledby death.Whereasthe ontologicalconcept
of life defined even death as a part of life phenomena,the ontological
concept of death in death camps defined even the state of physiological
life as death. That was the paradigmaticvictim's state of (non) Being;
even thoughphysiologicallystill alive, he was alreadyontologicallydead.
This experienceis best articulatedin JorcheSemprun'stestimony:
... the essentialthingaboutthisexperienceof Evilis thatit will turn
out to have been like the experienceof death... And I do mean
'experience'... Becausedeathis notsomethingthatwe brushedup
against,cameclose to, onlyjust escaped,as thoughit werean accidentwe survivedunscathed.
We livedit ... we arenotsurvivors,but
49. PrimoLevi, TheDrownedand the Saved(New York:Summit, 1988) 164-65.
50. G. Peter quoted in Lawrence Langer, Holocaust Testimonies-The Ruins of
Memory(New Haven:Yale UP, 1991) 29.
51. John Weiss, Ideologyof Death (Chicago:I. R. Dee, 1996).
52. Bergmann17; Deubel xii, xiii, 4; Otto Dietrich,Die philosophischen Grundlagen des Nationalsozialismus.Ein Rufzu den WaffendeutschenGeistes (Breslau:Ferdinand Hirt, 1935) 9; HarryGriessdorf,Unsere Weltanschauung(Berlin:Norland, 1941)
102-04; Hans Heyse (1935) quoted in Joseph Wulf & Leon Poliakov, eds., Das Dritte
Reich und seine Denker.Dokumente(Berin:Arani, 1959) 274-75; Schott 13. Cf. Robert
Pois, NationalSocialismand the Religionof Nature(London:CroomHelm, 1986).
Boaz Neumann 127
ghosts,revenants... it's notbelievable,it can'tbe shared,it's barely
- sincedeathis, forrationalthought,the onlyevent
comprehensible
... thatcannotbe grasped
thatone canneverexperienceindividually
orfatallonging... Inthe
exceptin theformof anguish,of foreboding
futureperfect tense, therefore...
And yet, we shall have lived the
the
experience,
experienceof deathas a collective,andevenfraternal
of ourbeing-together
... Likea Mit-sein-zum-Tode.53
foundation
Death experience,accordingto Semprun,was like the experienceof an
anteriorfuture,i.e., an experiencethat refers to a futureevent that has
alreadyoccurred.The victim was always in an anteriorfuturetime vis-avis his own death.He was always dead,even if he was not yet dead. Semprunexperiencedhis futuredeath in the presenttime. Death experience
proved Wittgenstein's mistake; according to that "idiot," as Semprun
refersto him, deathwas not an event thatbelongedto life. No one experienced death.54In the campsone could indeedexperienceone's own death
while still being alive:
Anyway,I hadn'treallysurvived.I wasn'tsureof beinga truesurvivor.I'd passedthroughdeath,whichhadbeenan experiencein my
life. Therearelanguagesthathavea wordforthissortof experience.
In German,thewordis Erlebnis... life as anexperienceof itself.55
The Nazi politics of Erlebnis,or its categoricalimperativeof life experience as elaboratedabove, appearedin the death camps as a counterexperience.In the world of death,the humanbeing experiencedhis death
as an Erlebnis, i.e., while still being alive. Having referredto the Nazi
conceptionof life as an ontologicalone, in the same mannerone should
regarddeathin the campsas an ontologicaldeath.The biologicalmeaning
of deathconcernsthe humanbeing's physiologicalstate;he is considered
alive as long as his organismstill functions.By contrast,an ontological
death is indifferentto his real physiological state of being. One can be
ontologicallydeadeven while still being physiologicallyalive.
53. JorcheSemprun,Literatureor Life (New York:Viking, 1997), 88-89. Cf. Jean
Amery,At the Mind's Limits- Contemplationsby a Survivoron Auschwitzand its Realities (Bloomington:IndianaUP, 1980) 86; CharlotteDelbo, Aucun de nous ne reviendra
(Paris: Minuit, 1970) 106, 115, 176; K. Tzetnik, quoted in Israel Gutmann,Men and
Ashes. TheStoryofAuschwitz-Birkenau(Merhavia:SifriyatPoalim, 1957)261; Levi 128.
54. Semprun170, 192-93.
55. Semprun138.
128
TheNationalSocialistPolitics ofLife
Death in the camps became a state of Being. The momentof physical
killing throughgas in the gas chamber,and the actualmomentof physiological death,were no morethana symbolicgesture.It merely sealed the
fact thatthe personneverreallyexisted,as HannahArendtput it.56
Auschwitz.Theyaredead.Theyaregoingto die.
How can one experience one's own death? In order to experience
something,one must be alive. The only way to resolve this paradoxof
being able to experienceone's own death,as reportedby survivors,is to
understanddeath as experiencing itself through the human being. In
death camps, I will argue,humanbeings did not die; ratherdeath knew,
or articulateditself, throughthem. Death in the death camps was not a
syndrome.A syndromeis defined as a state that appearsthroughother
"parasitic"elements, for example, AIDS. People do not die from AIDS
56. HannahArendt,The Originsof Totalitarianism(London:G Allen and Unwin,
1966) 452.
Boaz Neumann 129
but from diseases triggeredby the AIDS syndrome.It can similarlybe
argued that death is a kind of syndrome- no one dies of death. The
momentof deathis nevermadeout of "death"itself. Death itself does not
appearduringthe process of dying. In other words, death is not a phenomenon. What was remarkablein the death camps was that death did
appearin a concreteway, articulatedin humanbeings. The cause of death
in the deathcampswas deathitself. IsabellaLeitnerwrote accordinglyas
a motto for her memoir,"Youdon't die of anythingexcept death.Suffering doesn't kill you. Only death."57
Death in the deathcampswas not an act of killing, or a negationof life,
because ontologically,the victim was alreadydead. Death was therefore
the negationof deathitself. It took the possibilityof dying fromits victim.
Thuswe find manyutterancesconcerningthe victim's cravingandyearning for death:"Dying,it mustbe beautiful,but living here, it's horrible!..
. Days of executionaredays of f&tefor us. Dying in Birkenauis not a punishment"58and, . . . (in Auschwitz)"only deathcould bringdeliverance,
the final rest, oh, rest."59
Anyone who speaks about death as a wonderfulthing, as a cause for
celebration,as a kind of deliverance,as a final rest, is someone from
whom death has been taken away. Outside the death camp, death is
regardedas a part of life. Death frees man from his life. But death in a
deathcamphad no meaningof freedom:"Dueto overcrowdingin the gas
chambers,victims remainedstandingaftertheirdeath."60
Anyone who "survived"the death camps was thereforenot someone
who was saved fromdeath,but one who had earnedit. He could returnat
last to his actual and concrete being, i.e., he could finally die. Adorno
wrotethata novel horrorrevealeditself in deathcamps.Since Auschwitz,
fearing death means fearing something worse than death.61Since Auschwitz, being afraidof deathmeansbeing afraidof being deadwhile still
alive. Only the deathof deathis worse thandeathitself.
Vladimir Jank6lvitch wrote that Auschwitz was an outcome of an
57. Isabella Leitner,Fragmentsof Isabella - A Memoirof Auschwitz(New York:
ThomasY. Crowell) 1978.
58. Desire Hafnerquoted in Thmoignagessur Auschwitz(Paris:Editionde L'amicale des Deportesd'Auschwitz, 1946) 71, 74.
59. TadeuszStabholz,SiedemPiekiel (Tel Aviv: Ministryof Defense, 1992) 108.
60. Shlomo Dragonquotedin GideonGreif, WirweintenTranenlos- Augenzeugenberichtederjiidischen "Sonderkommandos"
in Auschwitz(K61n:Bohlau, 1995) 67.
61. Adorno371.
130
TheNationalSocialistPolitics ofLife
"ontologicalevil."62An ontologicalevil that led to a state of ontological
death prohibits naming the victim before Auschwitz as a "person,"in
Auschwitz as a "prisoner"or, after liberation,as a "survivor."As ontologically dead, he was, is, and will be a "victim"- before, during and
afterAuschwitz.63
62. Jankdlevitch25.
63. I have developed this issue elsewhere naming death in Auschwitz as 'Ugly
Death.' See Boaz Neumann,"Death in Auschwitz as 'Ugly Death'," in Igal Halfin, ed.,
Language and Revolution:Making Modern Political Identities (London: Frank Cass,
2002) 317-19.
ATLAS OF A TROPICAL GERMANY
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