“Everyone is sure they know what Fascism is,” wrote the historian Robert Paxton in his 2004 work The Anatomy of Fascism. I can vouch for that. Whenever I comment publicly on Fascism, my inbox and social media feeds populate with comments from people who repeat right-wing talking points and falsehoods about the regimes of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler for my edification.
“Show me what you are allowed to remember, and I can tell you who is your master”- Dr. Tim Snyder ( on Memory Laws, racism, fascism, Identity politics, post truth politics is not leadership)
I have gotten into arguments with several people on various social media sites about fascism. There is the thought that fascism is a socialist concept because the word "socialist" is in the name of the NAZI Party. The far right wants so badly to believe that fascism is a left leaning concept that they are willing to rationalize it via confirmation bias/ motivated reasoning. Of course, Hitler used the word "socialist" merely as a ploy to attract the working class into his fold. Those on the far right ignore the fact that many of those whom were sent to death camps were socialists/communists. It makes no sense whatsoever that Hitler would send these people to these camps if fascism were about socialism. Fascism survives through fantasy thinking of its followers, and our far right has become overwhelmed with it. They are using projection to cast blame on the left for fascist atrocities, while all along, it has been far right movements that were to blame.
Each fall semester my university brings to campus guest speakers, presentations and events to educate the campus and community about the historic and contemporary incidents of genocide and encourage participants to take an active role in responding to its aftermath. It is called the “The Lichtman-Behm Genocide Lecture Series” to honor the survivors and liberators of all forms of genocide, such as the Holocaust, which is defined as “the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group.” The series began in 2010 and is inspired by the life and experiences of Mr. Don Behm, Heidelberg Class of 1951, a U.S. Army veteran, and the late Mr. James “Jimmy” Lichtman, a Holocaust survivor, who was born in Szatmar, Romania in 1925. In 1942, Jimmy Lichtman was expelled from school for being Jewish, and two years later went to Auschwitz and the Mauthausen/Gusen concentration camps in Austria. After his liberation in May 1945, he returned to Budapest and Szatmar to learn that his mother had survived Auschwitz but his father was murdered in Gusen. In 1947, Jimmy immigrated to the U.S. and settled in New Jersey. Both men witnessed the horrors of genocide firsthand during World War II.
The most unforgettable event for me was the viewing of the film shortly after I arrived on campus in 2012 of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (based on a novel by John Boyne) which is a devastating depiction of the Holocaust through the eyes of children. “During World War II, 8-year-old Bruno and his family leave Berlin to take up residence near a German concentration camp where Bruno’s father was just promoted to commandant. Unhappy and lonely, Bruno runs through the forest behind his house to what he thinks is a farm and finds Shmuel, a Jewish boy of about the same age. Though the barbed-wire fence of the concentration camp the boys begin a forbidden friendship with unexpected consequences and are unaware to the true nature of their surroundings.”…….But there is nothing in that film that saves the viewer for the heartbreaking and senseless ending!
One could also understand fascism as an extreme endpoint of the (human) need to forcefully dominate, terrorize, and even annihilate others. Many people, including Dr. Bandy Lee and James Gilligan have researched how and why some people need to violently dominate others, often leading them to join groups that impose their will through terror. No surprise that it often starts in childhood when boys are regularly humiliated and rendered powerless to such an extent that they become driven to turn the tables, to humiliate others and render them powerless. Years ago a psychologist named Mary Armstrong wrote an article called, "The Price We Pay for Shaming Little Boys." To me this is the most important cause of the perpetuation of violence on the planet; abusively shamed little boys grow up driven to achieve the feeling of having power over others. Their spirits were annihilated and now they are going to do the annihilating. In many countries, emotional and physical abuse has been a common way of rearing children for thousands of years.
From more than two years ago in the “The New Yorker’s” April 20, 2020 Issue,
an excellent Book Review by Madeleine Schwartz (April 13, 2020) of Annie Ernaux “A Memoirist Who Mistrusts Her Own Memories” (…twenty books) was reposted this week as French author Annie Ernaux just won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature! The excellent review focuses on how Annie Ernaux has devoted her writings to “the excavation of her own life.” Announced in Stockholm, she was given the prestigious award "for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory."
Annie Ernaux’s uncompromising writings focus on the “reconstruction of events” and the “deconstruction of feelings” which shine light on important aspects of class, family and gender for everyone. And for those of us in the United States, Ernaux’s writings have so much to say about reproductive rights, abortion, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade as well as the “?confirmation?” of Judge Brett Kavanaugh in light of the testimony of Professor Christine Blasey Ford.
Travel safe. Anti-semitism is certainly on the rise here, as well as the world. We must never allow our "Reprieve" to lead to false hope. It is, and will, happen here. Jews have always been a target and will continue to be so. Fascism needs a religion. If one is not Christian Nationalist, we will become a target. History is full of this insanity. This is part of Putins behavior, one religious identity.
“Show me what you are allowed to remember, and I can tell you who is your master”- Dr. Tim Snyder ( on Memory Laws, racism, fascism, Identity politics, post truth politics is not leadership)
Excellent essay, Ruth, if very chilling, especially that last paragraph.
I have gotten into arguments with several people on various social media sites about fascism. There is the thought that fascism is a socialist concept because the word "socialist" is in the name of the NAZI Party. The far right wants so badly to believe that fascism is a left leaning concept that they are willing to rationalize it via confirmation bias/ motivated reasoning. Of course, Hitler used the word "socialist" merely as a ploy to attract the working class into his fold. Those on the far right ignore the fact that many of those whom were sent to death camps were socialists/communists. It makes no sense whatsoever that Hitler would send these people to these camps if fascism were about socialism. Fascism survives through fantasy thinking of its followers, and our far right has become overwhelmed with it. They are using projection to cast blame on the left for fascist atrocities, while all along, it has been far right movements that were to blame.
Each fall semester my university brings to campus guest speakers, presentations and events to educate the campus and community about the historic and contemporary incidents of genocide and encourage participants to take an active role in responding to its aftermath. It is called the “The Lichtman-Behm Genocide Lecture Series” to honor the survivors and liberators of all forms of genocide, such as the Holocaust, which is defined as “the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group.” The series began in 2010 and is inspired by the life and experiences of Mr. Don Behm, Heidelberg Class of 1951, a U.S. Army veteran, and the late Mr. James “Jimmy” Lichtman, a Holocaust survivor, who was born in Szatmar, Romania in 1925. In 1942, Jimmy Lichtman was expelled from school for being Jewish, and two years later went to Auschwitz and the Mauthausen/Gusen concentration camps in Austria. After his liberation in May 1945, he returned to Budapest and Szatmar to learn that his mother had survived Auschwitz but his father was murdered in Gusen. In 1947, Jimmy immigrated to the U.S. and settled in New Jersey. Both men witnessed the horrors of genocide firsthand during World War II.
The most unforgettable event for me was the viewing of the film shortly after I arrived on campus in 2012 of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” (based on a novel by John Boyne) which is a devastating depiction of the Holocaust through the eyes of children. “During World War II, 8-year-old Bruno and his family leave Berlin to take up residence near a German concentration camp where Bruno’s father was just promoted to commandant. Unhappy and lonely, Bruno runs through the forest behind his house to what he thinks is a farm and finds Shmuel, a Jewish boy of about the same age. Though the barbed-wire fence of the concentration camp the boys begin a forbidden friendship with unexpected consequences and are unaware to the true nature of their surroundings.”…….But there is nothing in that film that saves the viewer for the heartbreaking and senseless ending!
“Their lost voices must continue to be heard.”
One could also understand fascism as an extreme endpoint of the (human) need to forcefully dominate, terrorize, and even annihilate others. Many people, including Dr. Bandy Lee and James Gilligan have researched how and why some people need to violently dominate others, often leading them to join groups that impose their will through terror. No surprise that it often starts in childhood when boys are regularly humiliated and rendered powerless to such an extent that they become driven to turn the tables, to humiliate others and render them powerless. Years ago a psychologist named Mary Armstrong wrote an article called, "The Price We Pay for Shaming Little Boys." To me this is the most important cause of the perpetuation of violence on the planet; abusively shamed little boys grow up driven to achieve the feeling of having power over others. Their spirits were annihilated and now they are going to do the annihilating. In many countries, emotional and physical abuse has been a common way of rearing children for thousands of years.
http://primal-page.com/shaming.htm
Just this one essay is worth the monthly price of admission.
From more than two years ago in the “The New Yorker’s” April 20, 2020 Issue,
an excellent Book Review by Madeleine Schwartz (April 13, 2020) of Annie Ernaux “A Memoirist Who Mistrusts Her Own Memories” (…twenty books) was reposted this week as French author Annie Ernaux just won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature! The excellent review focuses on how Annie Ernaux has devoted her writings to “the excavation of her own life.” Announced in Stockholm, she was given the prestigious award "for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory."
Annie Ernaux’s uncompromising writings focus on the “reconstruction of events” and the “deconstruction of feelings” which shine light on important aspects of class, family and gender for everyone. And for those of us in the United States, Ernaux’s writings have so much to say about reproductive rights, abortion, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade as well as the “?confirmation?” of Judge Brett Kavanaugh in light of the testimony of Professor Christine Blasey Ford.
Travel safe. Anti-semitism is certainly on the rise here, as well as the world. We must never allow our "Reprieve" to lead to false hope. It is, and will, happen here. Jews have always been a target and will continue to be so. Fascism needs a religion. If one is not Christian Nationalist, we will become a target. History is full of this insanity. This is part of Putins behavior, one religious identity.