Longerich "Himmler"

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michael mills
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Re: Longerich "Himmler"

#16

Post by michael mills » 01 Feb 2012, 06:44

One can make a reasonable judgement about a person's character based on their observed actions, on what they say, and what others say about them.

For example, whether a person takes pleasure in the act of killing (as Nancy Wake obviously did, by her observed actions, by the remarks of those who knew her, and by own admission) or only kills out of duty, despite a normal aversion to it.

That is quite a different matter from a detailed psychological analysis, such as the rather dubious one that was done on Hitler during the war.

michael mills
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Re: Longerich "Himmler"

#17

Post by michael mills » 01 Feb 2012, 07:01

This is from the overy review of Longerich's book on Himmler and Gerwath's on Heydrich that was linked in an earlier post:
The striking thing about both men is their superficially unprepossessing appearance and character. They were weak personalities sheltering behind a show of strength; both had problems of self-esteem compensated for by a facade of hardness and exaggerated self-control; both had awkward relationships with women; both were, perhaps as a result, fiercely homophobic; both shied away from actual violence.
That is the sort of psycho-babble that I was referring to.

How can anyone really know wheither either Himmler, or Heydrich, or both, were weak personalities sheltering behind a show of strength? Or that they had problems of self-esteem?

On the other hand, it is possible to observe character traits, such as whether either of them personally enjoyed inflicting violence (neither did).

In any case, I see that there is a copy of the original German version of the book on Himmler at the National Library of Australia, so I will go and read it there one day.

And there is the problem of interpretation. For example, Heydrich was a bit if a daredevil who volunteered for combat missions as a Luftwaffe pilot; he was even shot down on the Russian Front. Does that mean that he was a weak personality hiding behind a show of strenth? Or that he was a brave man who believed that he should not hide from the danger to which his subordinates were exposed?

And Overy's comment that Heydrich had an "unprepossessing appearance" is simply nonsense; in fact Heydrich was physically quite striking, and an excellent athlete.

The comment might more easily apply to Himmler, but that is perhaps because images of Himmler almost always show him frowning, The few that show him in a happy mood, with a smile on his face, give the impression of a rather nice man, a cheery, avuncular sort of person.


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Attrition
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Re: Longerich "Himmler"

#18

Post by Attrition » 01 Feb 2012, 10:01

~~~~~And Overy's comment that Heydrich had an "unprepossessing appearance" is simply nonsense; in fact Heydrich was physically quite striking, and an excellent athlete.~~~~~

When I read some stuff like this in Liaison 1914 (Spears) it occurred to me that he took it seriously(!). It was like realising that the ancient Greeks were serious about religion. There does seem to me to be a bit of this pseudoscience creeping back into (pseudo-) academic discourse.

panzerplatten
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Re: Longerich "Himmler"

#19

Post by panzerplatten » 01 Feb 2012, 13:08

Picked up a copy of longerich's himmler yesterday, looking forward to starting it this weekend, just finished reading gerwaths bio of heydrich, very good read indeed, 6 years of reasearch in the making, gerwath does make references to longerich on a few occasions the two professors crossed referenced sources and material during writing. Gerwath does not attempt to psychoanalyse heydrich the only ref to how his position affected him is from his wife Lena. Regards mark.

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Longerich "Himmler" Amazon review

#20

Post by Cold Spring Child » 05 Feb 2012, 15:33

This review is from: Heinrich Himmler: A Life (Hardcover)
I'll not synopsize, as the two previous reviewers have done so quite adequately. Having read Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, and Evan's Third Reich trilogy (Coming of..., ...In Power, and ...At War), I was adequately prepared for Longerich's tome. I appreciated the fact that he did not, while providing this biography, feel obliged to recount the details of the surrounding melieu; for me, this was perfect. On the other hand, I would not recommend this book as an introduction to the Third Reich; without an effective and reasonably detailed pre-existing knowledge of the Reich's broader history, I fear much of the nuance of this masterpiece would be lost on the casual reader.

That said, there's nothing nuanced about being one of the most notorious mass murderers in human history, and Longerich skilfully guides the reader along the path that lead a schoolmaster's good son to such an end. Heinrich Himmler was not born bad, but how he turned out that way makes for fascinating reading...he was a product of his genes, he would have insisted, but also of his environment. The truly chilling subtext for Longerich's readers today lies in the conditions that allowed HH to become who he did: economic crisis, bitter political polarization, political domination by the wealthy elite, endless streams of propaganda urging more polarization and extreme remedies, erosion of civil liberties and the rule of law, and acceptance of the belief that noble ends justify any and all means. Heinrich Himmler did not reach his zenith in a vacuum--he did it with the complicity, or at least silent acquiescence, of millions of his countrymen; that is a warning to us all.

Stu

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