Hitler

[Julian.West@mac.dartmouth.edu]

Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu> writes:

>   I, and many to whom I am close, feel strongly that allusion to
>   Hitler in any light (e.g. his human side, attractiveness in the midst
>   of "devil," etc.), however fleeting and cautious, must simply be
>   avoided no matter the temptation.

Michael, it's obvious you have put a lot of thought into this subject, so I'm 
probably not going to change your mind with a casual posting, but I represent
another point of view.  Hitler was not the devil incarnate.  Even as an icon
of Nazism, he did not represent _transcendent_ evil.  He represented _human_
evil, not something which came from beyond ourselves.  The _truly_ scary
about Hitler is that he was a human being, and so were his lieutenants.

_Heads_We're_Dancing_ underlines the fact, often forgotten, that
Hitler was human and had a life before the Holocaust and even before
he became fuehrer.  Thereby it makes his later actions _more_ horrific.

One phrase often used in this context is "the banality of evil."
See, for instance, the recent film about _The_Wannsee_Conference_,
which also portrays leading Nazis as human beings.

All I have said is equally true if you view the Holocaust in a religious
context.  What is frightening is not that a deity, or a demon,
could unleash horror on the earth.  This belief is tempered by
religious belief in a redemptive deity.  What _is_ terrifying is
that we ourselves hold the keys to this horror.  A song which makes
Hitler sound like you or me is _scary_.  The real diminution of the
Holocaust is to insist that Hitler was not like you and me, or that
if _we_ were in 1930s Germany we would not have let it happen.

Incidentally, that a reference is "fleeting and cautious" does not
excuse it.  Rather the reverse.  References to an important subject
should at least meet the subject square on.  (Kate does, I think.)

I'm glad you enjoy the album.  Congratulations on being the only (?)
person to have begun absorbing it and to post thoughtful comments
the day after its release.  I was expecting an e-deluge now that
TSW is on the stands.

 ----------------------------- Julian --------