Hitler's Genealogy Of Morals Analysis

Hitler’s Misinterpretation of Nietzsche No serious thinker has done more unintentional harm to the Jewish people than Friedrich Nietzsche. Following his death, Nietzsche’s writings served as an inspiration and philosophical justification for Adolf Hitler and Nazism. Quite paradoxically, Nietzsche was far from anti-Semitic; in fact, many considered Nietzsche to be one of the more pro-Jewish philosophers of his era. Although Nietzsche’s position against anti-Semitism seems clear in the second and the third essay of The Genealogy of Morals, it is possible to misconstrue comments within the first essay as anti-Semitic. Yet considering the totality of Nietzsche’s writing in his The Genealogy of Morals, the Nazis wrongly regarded
Having demolished the claim that science opposes the ascetic ideal, Nietzsche now inquires about the status of modern historiography. This inquiry furnishes the pretext for his tirade against the sham idealism of the historians, which he subsequently expands to include others, such as the anti-Semites, who also promote bogus ideals. Specifically about anti-Semites, Nietzsche rants, “I like not, again, these newest speculators in idealism, the Anti-Semites, who nowadays roll their eyes in the patent Christian-Aryan-man-of-honour fashion, and by an abuse of moralist attitudes and agitation dodges, so cheap as the exhaust any patience, strive to excite all the blockhead elements in the populace” (Nietzsche, 3.26). Thus, Nietzsche clearly expresses his vehement dislike of the German Anti-Semites. Nietzsche’s expressed disdain for anti-Semites provides incontestable evidence that he would not have been a supporter of the Nazi regime had he been alive during its
The popular anti-Semitic belief in Germany held that Jesus and Christianity stood in complete opposition to Judaism; that is, Christianity represents “good” and Judaism represents “evil.” However, Nietzsche contests the German anti-Semitic movement of his time by interpreting Jesus and Christianity not as the opposite of Judaism, but rather, as its most refined expression. What Nietzsche finds egregious in Judaism, he finds even more so in Christianity. Whatever the anti-Semites detest about Judaism is actually more characteristic of their own Christianity. Furthermore, Nietzsche’s well-known observations about the contrast between master morality and slave morality also lead to misinterpretation. Ignorant and careless reading of Nietzsche by individuals motivated by hatred of Judaism such as the Nazis results in the false assumption that he was an anti-Semite or a Nazi who encouraged the Aryan master races to eradicate Jewish slave