The soil and roots of Nazism: Two approaches

pages: 187-205

Abstract

The paper discusses two different approaches to Nazism and the Holocaust. The first approach is different versions of the Sonderweg thesis arguing that the explanation of the "German catastrophe" should be sought in the particular features of German history. The second approach rests on searching for external, exogenous factors that played a formative role in the emergence of National Socialism. The examples illustrating these two approaches are recently published books by Aleksandar Molnar and Michael Kellogg, reviewed in detail in the paper. Starting from an interpretation of these books, the author argues that the limitations of both approaches result from the complexity of a historical experience that resists rationalization. Keywords: Nazism, Holocaust, Sonderweg, bolshevism, Russian emigration