Cristina Gelan
Pages 184-194
DOI: 10.5840/cultura20052214
ABSTRACT
The present study is designed as a hermeneutical exercise, drawn from a psychoanalytical viewpoint, which aims at describing the impact that the delirium of a psychotic subject could have, in a moment of psycho-social crisis, on an entire nation; we are talking about Adolph Hitler and the phenomenon called Nazism. The idea central to the entire argumentation of this study may be phrased as follows: Nazism represents the ereation or capital work of an “evil genius”, Adolph Hitler. An important part in the argumentation consists in the understanding of phenomena such as the catastrophic condition of Germany by the end of World War 1, a condition that enlarged the gap between the ideals of political culture and the necessities of the civil society. This ground made it possible for a series of programmes to be implemented (mainly addressed to the young), often of a radical or fanatic nature. The revival of secret medieval chivalric rituals, the imitation of Teutonic knights’ orders (hoods, crosses, horses, boots, spurs), the infusion of German culture with magic motifs and symbols (as in the “Sturm und Drang” movement, in the works of Romantic writers such as Novalis and Kleist or in the architecture), the tendentious interpretation of philosophic ideas and concepts (Fr. Nietzsche, O. Spengler, J. G Fichte) exercised an immediate fascination on the thinking and behaviour of Germans and in particular on the German youth. Also, this direction of political thought was complemented by anti-Semitism and the belief in the purity and superiority of the German race, serving as valid justification for any enterprise. Behind these, the histrionic Fiihrer cynically declared: “I have finally freed men from the degrading prejudice of conscience and