Table Of Content6 × 9 SPINE: 1.32 FLAPS: 0
HE
A N E W Y O R K T I M E S N O T A B L E B O O K A N E W Y O R K T I M E S B E S T S E L L E R
“A remarkable journey by one of the most X
EXPLAINING
original journalists and writers of our time”
—DAVID REMNICK, author of Lenin’s Tomb I
P
H I T L E R
WHEN HITLER’S WAR ENDED IN 1945, the war over Hitler—
T
who he really was, what gave birth to his unique evil—had just begun. L
Hitler did not escape the bunker in Berlin but, seven decades later,
he has managed to escape explanation in ways both frightening and profound.
Explaining Hitler is an extraordinary quest, an expedition into the war zone of A
UPDATED
Hitler theories. This is a passionate, enthralling book that illuminates what Hitler
explainers tell us about Hitler, about the explainers, and about ourselves. L EDITION
I
“Fascinating . . . A provocative work of cultural history that is as compelling
as it is thoughtful, as readable as it is smart. . . . Mr. Rosenbaum has made N
an important contribution to our understanding not just of Hitler, but of
the cultural processes by which we try to come to terms with history as E
well. . . . He has written an exciting, lucid book informed by old-fashioned
moral rigor and common sense.” I
—MICHIKO KAKUTANI, New York Times
N
“Glistens with insight and intelligence and shimmers with originality.”
—GABRIEL SCHOENFELD, Commentary R
“Cultural criticism served up as riveting narrative history . . . with words and
G
ideas that surprise, amuse, and even elevate the reader.”
—MARC FISHER, Washington Post
“A work of importance and fascination”
—GEORGE STEINER, The Observer (UK)
“Intriguing, thought provoking, and intelligent”
R O T
—IAN KERSHAW, author of Hitler: 1889–1936: Hubris,
in The Guardian (UK) O R H
E
N I
G
S
RON ROSENBAUM’s books include The Shakespeare Wars, How the End R I E
Begins, and The Secret Parts of Fortune, a collection of his nonfiction writing which N
A The Search for the
O
has appeared in Harper’s, the New Yorker, and the New York Times Magazine, S R
among other periodicals. He has also edited an anthology about contemporary anti- S o C ORIGINS HIS EVIL
Semitism, Those Who Forget the Past. E f H of
N H
F
B I O
S
$18.99/$22.00 CAN HISTORY A R RO N RO S E N B AU M
E
Da Capo Press U T
V
Aw wMwem.dbaecra pofo pthrees Pse.crsoemus Books Group CCoovveerr dphesoitgong:r aJopnha: t©ha Gn eStatyin Ismbaugryes M I H “Brilliant . . . restlessly probing and deeply intelligent” —Time
L E
Rosenbaum_9780306823183_cvr_R1.indd 1 4/18/14 1:56 PM
ADDITIONAL PRAISE FOR RON ROSENBAUM’S
EXPLAINING HITLER
“In the end, Explaining Hitler therefore achieves something more than what
it sets out to do. Rather than merely explaining the explainers, it brings alive
again the sordid story of Hitler himself, reinvigorating our memory of him
and his milieu. For one more generation, Mr. Rosenbaum has prevented
Hitler from passing into history as a caricature, and that is an achievement
worth admiring.” —Anne Applebaum, Wall Street Journal
“Remarkable. . . . Drawing on his considerable skills as an investigative
journalist, Rosenbaum interviews many of the historians and other
researchers, professional and amateur, who have looked into these matters.
He has a sympathetic ear, a knack for classification, and a sharp, critical
mind.” —Michael R. Marrus, New York Times Book Review
“Brilliant. . . . richly researched and eminently readable.”
—Milton Rosenberg, Chicago Tribune
“Reading this book is like having a long conversation with someone who’s
passionate, brilliant.” —John Dorfman, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Restlessly probing and deeply intelligent. . . . In this brilliantly skeptical
inventory of the world’s Hitler-thinking, Rosenbaum analyzes not only the
multiple Hitler theories but also the agendas and fantasies that the theorizers
bring to their subject. His book may be useful to the surprising number of
people—Flat-Earthers of the moral realm—who, even now, refuse to believe
in the existence of evil.” —Lance Morrow, Time
“A truly brilliant book.” —Frank McLynn, Irish Times
“It is both thoughtful and deeply felt and in some ways its personal
freewheeling qualities enable Rosenbaum to get closer to the demonic
element in Hitler.” —John Gross, New York Review of Books
“Rosenbaum’s bracing, rigorous, exhilarating, and beautifully written book
is an amazing voyage into what must be one of the most confounding areas
of scholarly inquiry.” —Lev Raphael, Detroit Free Press
“Ron Rosenbaum brilliantly explores the origins of Hitler’s evil. . . . Few
contemporary writers are better equipped to pull off this task. Rosenbaum
is a rare triple threat: He is a first-rate thinker, a fine reporter, and a superb
writer. He is also, as this volume proves, in control of a massive body of
scholarly work on Hitler. . . . Personal without being self-indulgent, erudite
without being pedantic, written with passion and moral engagement
worthy of its momentous subject, Explaining Hitler is an exemplary work of
intellectual journalism, an idiosyncratic classic.” —Gary Kamiya, Salon
“A journey of considerable enlightenment. . . . Rosenbaum comes up with
what is real news even for those of us who claim to be knowledgeable about
the era.” —Fred E. Katz, New Leader
“Vintage Rosenbaum: a blend of a newshound’s investigative reporting
with a literary critic’s close textual reading, all wrapped in an elaborate (if
gingerly proffered) bundle of theories.” —David Greenberg, The Forward
“Explaining Hitler blossoms into an absorbing, occasionally suspenseful and
exciting, and genuinely fresh look at a man who already ranked as perhaps
the most thoroughly analyzed public figure in history.”
—San Jose Mercury News
“Rosenbaum has one of the most interesting minds and compelling voices in
contemporary journalism. . . . The result is an extremely contemporary book
that uses Hitler as a way to address the most profound questions of Western
philosophy.” —Robert S. Boynton, New York Newsday
“Rosenbaum lays claim to no final answers, but by deploying and
interweaving techniques proper to both history and literature, he uniquely
illuminates one of the darkest corners of modern experience.”
—Steve Dowden, Boston Sunday Globe
“It is toward understanding the ways our culture has tried for more than
half a century to make sense of Hitler and what he wrought that this book
makes its real contribution.” —Michael Andre Bernstein, Los Angeles Times
“A remarkable study, as rich in humanity as a fine novel.”
—Algis Valiunas, American Spectator
“A thinking person’s blockbuster.” —Austin American Statesman
“Smart, scrupulously reported.” —Newsweek
“A superb history.” —Miami Herald
“Profound and provocative. . . . A resourcefully imaginative examination of
our desperate search for an explanation of ultimate evil.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Offers groundbreaking insights into the enigma of Hitler’s psyche.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Bold and provocative. . . . Illuminates the most perplexing unsolved mystery
of the twentieth century. In Explaining Hitler, profound historical questions
spring urgently and hauntingly to life.”
—Sam Tanenhaus, author of Whittaker Chambers
“A work of exceptional scholarship. Ron Rosenbaum has written a fascinating
and thought-provoking study that is a must-read for anyone interested in
trying to understand Hitler.”
—Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed and Hitler’s Children
“A remarkable book, a major contribution. Ron Rosenbaum gives us his
often dramatic discussions with the major analysts of Hitler’s career and
personality. While highly readable, it goes deep into the basic issues of ethics,
of free will, and the problem of evil.”
—Robert Conquest, author of Stalin and The Great Terror
“This is a wonderfully thoughtful investigation. The great strength of the book
is the empathy Rosenbaum displays for the points of view he examines. It’s
a masterful job of listening, of tuning in to some great intellects of our era
as they debate the subject—one that allows us all to participate in our own
search for Hitler.” —Charles L. Mee, Jr., author of Meeting at Potsdam
“Ron Rosenbaum has brought his searching style of inquiry to the darkest of
twentieth-century questions—the nature of evil in one man, in Adolf Hitler.
By visiting and examining the experts and their testimonies, he has written
a bewildering Rashomon tale, seen in a multifaceted mirror. Explaining Hitler
is a remarkable journey by one of the most original journalists and writers
of our time.” —David Remnick, author of Lenin’s Tomb
EXPLAINING HITLER
EXPLAINING
HITLER
THE SEARCH FOR
THE ORIGINS OF HIS EVIL
UPDATED EDITION
RON
ROSENBAUM
Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Copyright © 1998 by Ron Rosenbaum
Preface and Afterword copyright © 2014 by Ron Rosenbaum
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America.
For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02210.
Designed by Tanya M. Pérez-Rock 1998
Set in 10-point Photina by the Perseus Books Group
Portions of this work were originally published in The New Yorker in different form.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint
previously published material:
Basic Books, a subsidiary of Perseus Books Group LLC: Excerpt from The
Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler, by Robert G. L. Waite. Copyright © 1977 by
Robert G. L. Waite. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books, a subsidiary of
Perseus Books Group LLC.
Diane Cole: Excerpts from an interview between Diane Cole and Lucy
Dawidowicz.
Used by permission of Diane Cole.
Neal Kozodoy, Literary Executor for the Estate of Lucy Dawidowicz: Excerpts
from The War Against the Jews, by Lucy Dawidowicz, Reprinted by permis-
sion of Neal Kozodoy, Literary Executor for the Estate of Lucy Dawidowicz.
Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
First Da Capo Press Edition 2014
ISBN: 978-0-306-82318-3 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-306-82319-0 (e-book)
Published by Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.dacapopress.com
Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by
corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the
Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200,
Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail:
[email protected].
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To those who survived, and to those who did not
