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Act and idea in the Nazi Genocide
Book Reviews
661
accommodation and peace, this did not reflect a lack of ideological commitment, since both sides wanted peace on their own terms. Despite focusing on one county, Eales offers enough of a comparative perspective to suggest that the Herefordshire model might be appropriate for other areas. Not everything is explored as fully as it might have been. We are given some evidence of popular support for both the Crown and Parliament, but no attempt is made to show how popular political identity was shaped in Herefordshire. Gaps in the survival of the appropriate county records partly explain this omission; perhaps it is impossible to discover much about how local inhabitants responded to having a godly magistrate like Sir Robert in their midst. Yet since Eales makes such a compelling case for showing that the local gentry cannot be studied in isolation, a more imaginative attempt to explore the nature of the reaction of those below the county elite to the issues which polarised their social superiors would surely have been worthwhile. Tim Harris Brown University
Act and Idea in the Nazi Genocide, Berel Lang (Chicago, Illinois: University Press, 1990), vii+258 pp., $49.95 (cloth); $14.95 (paperback).
of Chicago
Professor Berel Lang has written a work which is required reading for any student of the Nazi phenomenon. Act and Idea in the Nazi Genocide is, in almost every respect, a very original work, obviously the product of powerful reflection by a first-rate mind upon an issue which, it seems to this reviewer, is sometimes almost too much for him to bear. The work is divided into three general sections: I.The Presence of Genocide; II. Representations of Genocide; and III. Histories and Genocide, with three subsections in each. Basically, Act and Zdea in the Nazi Genocide is concerned with the themes of relationship of intentionality to action-with particular emphasis upon whether the Nazi perpetrators were aware that they were committing evil-, how one should go about the grimly daunting task of trying to represent the Nazi genocide, and with establishing the relationship between this genocide and three historical phenomena: the Enlightenment, Zionism, and what has come to be known as ‘Holocaust Studies’, a term of which the author is not fond. As can be imagined, Act and Idea in fhe Nazi Genocide is an extraordinarily complex work. For most readers, even those with philosophical backgrounds, it will prove to be somewhat ‘dense’. This is primarily because, due to Lang’s obvious concern for brevity, he tends to compress issues and concepts in ways which often challenge the reader’s analytical and empathic abilities. Thus, for the ‘average’ student of the Nazi genocide-if, indeed, there is such a person-this work will not be easily assimilated, even apart from emotional concerns. While probably unavoidable in view of the admirable conceptual rigor which the author brings to bear on the subject, it is perhaps unfortunate, in that this work deserves the widest possible audience. Lang offers extremely persuasive arguments of why attempts to somehow ‘capture’ the nature of the genocide, as well as the actions of victims and executioners, through literature and poetry cannot do justice to the subject without violating the integrity of the event(s) and that of the discipline involved in the effort. For Lang, the Nazi genocide raises profound ethical considerations which must call into question commonly-held shibboleths such as artistic freedom of expression. In view of contemporary cultural concerns, such a judgement has implications which go beyond the subject at hand. In the
662
Book Reviews
end, he suggests, an historical approach to the Nazi genocide is to be preferred. It is through historical representation, the author suggests, that this terrible occurrence can best ‘speak for itself. There is, in my opinion, a problem here, to which we will return. Lang deals with an issue which is of crucial importance in the conversion of ‘idea’ into ‘act’. This is the question of whether or not the Nazis knew that what they were doing was wrong. Examining the various euphemisms which they used to cover their actions‘Endl&mg’ being a good example-he concludes that they were aware of this. Here again, this presents problems for the reviewer. For me, as an historian, Lang’s suggestion that history can best provide for a sense of immediacy, something which will allow the genocide to articulate itself in its own terms, raises a problem. History, at least as I see it, is by nature mediation, no matter how sharply-honed the investigative empathic tools happen to be. What Lang is calling for would necessitate crossing that thin boundary which Croce laid down between History and aesthetics, and this would militate against the author’s conclusion that the historical approach, as compared to literary ones, is the best possible one in dealing with the Nazi genocide. Admittedly, however, this caveat might be more of a commentary upon the reviewer’s own concept of historical understanding than one upon Professor Lang’s hypothesis. As for his argument that the Nazis knew that they were doing evil deeds, I think that such might have been the case with regard to the activities of the lower and middle echelons of the movement. As for the leadership, this reviewer is not convinced. Here, I think that one should ponder an important, and accurate, point raised by Lang, namely, ‘that the practice of torture can be held to have been intrinsic to the [Nazi] system’ (p. 46). This suggests that the Nazis had created an, up to this point, uniquely solipsistic universe, within which linguistic distortion, designed as it was to shield various functionaries and the German people as a whole from having to confront the consequences of their actions in such a way as to perhaps inhibit them from further ones deemed ‘necessary’, had an ethical value of its own. From the ‘outside’, the hideously disingenuous nature of this was and is obvious. For those in charge, however, things might well have been different, especially inasmuch as they were, in my opinion, animated by principles more religious than political in nature. The mentality involved can be seen as analogous in form, if not in content, to that of the 13th Century prelate who, when confronted with the possibility of ‘accidentally’ killing true believers during the course of the anticipated Albigensian Crusade, replied, ‘Kill them all. God will know His own’. Thus, the reviewer has some disagreements with Lang on several crucial issues. Act and Zdea in the Nazi Genocide, however, is without question an extraordinary work which will become a classic in the field, and one which any serious student of the Nazi genocide must read and ponder. It will remain such long after this review of it is forgotten. Robert University
of Colorado,
A. Pois
Boulder
Subject and Consciousness: A Philosophical Inquiry Into Self-Consciousness, (Savage, Md. Rowman and Littlefield, 1990), 214 pp., n.p.
Oded Balaban
For more than thirty years structuralist and deconstructionists have proclaimed the death of the self, the ephemeral nature of consciousness and the death of God. Oded Balaban takes no heed. Subject and Consciousness: A Philosophical Inquiry Into Self-
661
accommodation and peace, this did not reflect a lack of ideological commitment, since both sides wanted peace on their own terms. Despite focusing on one county, Eales offers enough of a comparative perspective to suggest that the Herefordshire model might be appropriate for other areas. Not everything is explored as fully as it might have been. We are given some evidence of popular support for both the Crown and Parliament, but no attempt is made to show how popular political identity was shaped in Herefordshire. Gaps in the survival of the appropriate county records partly explain this omission; perhaps it is impossible to discover much about how local inhabitants responded to having a godly magistrate like Sir Robert in their midst. Yet since Eales makes such a compelling case for showing that the local gentry cannot be studied in isolation, a more imaginative attempt to explore the nature of the reaction of those below the county elite to the issues which polarised their social superiors would surely have been worthwhile. Tim Harris Brown University
Act and Idea in the Nazi Genocide, Berel Lang (Chicago, Illinois: University Press, 1990), vii+258 pp., $49.95 (cloth); $14.95 (paperback).
of Chicago
Professor Berel Lang has written a work which is required reading for any student of the Nazi phenomenon. Act and Idea in the Nazi Genocide is, in almost every respect, a very original work, obviously the product of powerful reflection by a first-rate mind upon an issue which, it seems to this reviewer, is sometimes almost too much for him to bear. The work is divided into three general sections: I.The Presence of Genocide; II. Representations of Genocide; and III. Histories and Genocide, with three subsections in each. Basically, Act and Zdea in the Nazi Genocide is concerned with the themes of relationship of intentionality to action-with particular emphasis upon whether the Nazi perpetrators were aware that they were committing evil-, how one should go about the grimly daunting task of trying to represent the Nazi genocide, and with establishing the relationship between this genocide and three historical phenomena: the Enlightenment, Zionism, and what has come to be known as ‘Holocaust Studies’, a term of which the author is not fond. As can be imagined, Act and Idea in fhe Nazi Genocide is an extraordinarily complex work. For most readers, even those with philosophical backgrounds, it will prove to be somewhat ‘dense’. This is primarily because, due to Lang’s obvious concern for brevity, he tends to compress issues and concepts in ways which often challenge the reader’s analytical and empathic abilities. Thus, for the ‘average’ student of the Nazi genocide-if, indeed, there is such a person-this work will not be easily assimilated, even apart from emotional concerns. While probably unavoidable in view of the admirable conceptual rigor which the author brings to bear on the subject, it is perhaps unfortunate, in that this work deserves the widest possible audience. Lang offers extremely persuasive arguments of why attempts to somehow ‘capture’ the nature of the genocide, as well as the actions of victims and executioners, through literature and poetry cannot do justice to the subject without violating the integrity of the event(s) and that of the discipline involved in the effort. For Lang, the Nazi genocide raises profound ethical considerations which must call into question commonly-held shibboleths such as artistic freedom of expression. In view of contemporary cultural concerns, such a judgement has implications which go beyond the subject at hand. In the
662
Book Reviews
end, he suggests, an historical approach to the Nazi genocide is to be preferred. It is through historical representation, the author suggests, that this terrible occurrence can best ‘speak for itself. There is, in my opinion, a problem here, to which we will return. Lang deals with an issue which is of crucial importance in the conversion of ‘idea’ into ‘act’. This is the question of whether or not the Nazis knew that what they were doing was wrong. Examining the various euphemisms which they used to cover their actions‘Endl&mg’ being a good example-he concludes that they were aware of this. Here again, this presents problems for the reviewer. For me, as an historian, Lang’s suggestion that history can best provide for a sense of immediacy, something which will allow the genocide to articulate itself in its own terms, raises a problem. History, at least as I see it, is by nature mediation, no matter how sharply-honed the investigative empathic tools happen to be. What Lang is calling for would necessitate crossing that thin boundary which Croce laid down between History and aesthetics, and this would militate against the author’s conclusion that the historical approach, as compared to literary ones, is the best possible one in dealing with the Nazi genocide. Admittedly, however, this caveat might be more of a commentary upon the reviewer’s own concept of historical understanding than one upon Professor Lang’s hypothesis. As for his argument that the Nazis knew that they were doing evil deeds, I think that such might have been the case with regard to the activities of the lower and middle echelons of the movement. As for the leadership, this reviewer is not convinced. Here, I think that one should ponder an important, and accurate, point raised by Lang, namely, ‘that the practice of torture can be held to have been intrinsic to the [Nazi] system’ (p. 46). This suggests that the Nazis had created an, up to this point, uniquely solipsistic universe, within which linguistic distortion, designed as it was to shield various functionaries and the German people as a whole from having to confront the consequences of their actions in such a way as to perhaps inhibit them from further ones deemed ‘necessary’, had an ethical value of its own. From the ‘outside’, the hideously disingenuous nature of this was and is obvious. For those in charge, however, things might well have been different, especially inasmuch as they were, in my opinion, animated by principles more religious than political in nature. The mentality involved can be seen as analogous in form, if not in content, to that of the 13th Century prelate who, when confronted with the possibility of ‘accidentally’ killing true believers during the course of the anticipated Albigensian Crusade, replied, ‘Kill them all. God will know His own’. Thus, the reviewer has some disagreements with Lang on several crucial issues. Act and Zdea in the Nazi Genocide, however, is without question an extraordinary work which will become a classic in the field, and one which any serious student of the Nazi genocide must read and ponder. It will remain such long after this review of it is forgotten. Robert University
of Colorado,
A. Pois
Boulder
Subject and Consciousness: A Philosophical Inquiry Into Self-Consciousness, (Savage, Md. Rowman and Littlefield, 1990), 214 pp., n.p.
Oded Balaban
For more than thirty years structuralist and deconstructionists have proclaimed the death of the self, the ephemeral nature of consciousness and the death of God. Oded Balaban takes no heed. Subject and Consciousness: A Philosophical Inquiry Into Self-