Degradation of Ethics Through the Holocaust

Paul E. Wilson is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Shaw University, USA.

• Part I The Genocidal Priming Phase of the Holocaust.- 1 Introduction.- Shades of Nietzsche and Heidegger in the Holocaust.- The Holocaust as One Way Hatred Grows.- Genocide is a Process.- 2 Antisemitism is a Vicious Racism.- Introduction.- Jews, Christians, and Antisemitism in Supersessionism.- Antisemitism is a Racism.- The Insidious Side of Institutionalized Racism.- Antisemitism as Hate.- Conclusion.- 3 Denial of Rights as a Prelude to Entitlement.- Introduction.- Personal Property Laws and Racism.- Genocide and Deprivation of Victim’s Rights.- How Individuals Come to Be Bearers of Rights: A General Account.- A Conceptual Framework for the Expansion and Contraction of Rights.- Contraction of Rights: The Slippery Slope of Jews’ Loss of Personal Property rights in German.- Ghettos and the Right to Personal Liberty.- Denial of Rights and Statelessness.- Conclusion.- 4 Propaganda for Genocide.- Introduction.- Who Were the Propagandists?.- Hitler as a Propagandist.- Gerhard Kittle.- Joseph Goebbels.- Walter Grundmann.- Julius Streicher.- Heinrich Himmler.- What Shadows of Propaganda were Cast?.- The German Propaganda Diet.- Effects Upon the Prisoners in the Cave of Ignorance.- Conclusions.- 5 Self-Entitlement for the Chosen Few.- Introduction.- A Protocol to Distinguish the Us and Them in the Holocaust.- When Rights become a Matter of Life and Death.- Anatomy of a Mass Murder.- Historical Convergences and Logical Intersections.- License to Kill.- Conclusion.- 6 The Case of the Aryan Jesus Dogma: Enlarging Entitlement through Propaganda.- Introduction.- The Religious Appeal of an Aryan Jesus.- The Theological Support of an Aryan Jesus.- An Aryan Jesus Creed Reconstructed.- The Efficacy and Logic of the Case for an Aryan Jesus.- Conclusion.- Part II The Peak Phase of Genocide in the Holocaust.- 7 The Holocaust and the Ideal of Purity.- Introduction.- The Definition of Genocide.- The Scale of Genocide.- The Failure of Purification as the Ideal of Genocide.- Crafting Moral and Practical Responses to Genocide.- Conclusion.- 8 Resistance and Neighborly Aid.- Introduction.- Becoming Targets of Genocidal Violence.- Resistance for Dignity’s Sake.- Heroic Resistance that Dignifies Human Rights.- Assessing the Utility of Resistance.- The Practicality and Justice of Resistance.- Conclusion.- 9 The Case of the Muselmänner: A Study in the Loss and Reclamation of Dignity.- Introduction.- How the Dignified Should be Treated.- Who the Muselmänner Were.- Denial of Needs and Deprivation of Dignity.- Measured Satisfaction of Needs for the Reclamation of Dignity.- Conclusion.- 10 Ethical Gray Zones in Genocidal Killing Camps.- Introduction.- The Emergence of Ethical Gray Zones.- Entrapment in an Ethical Gray Zone.- Ethics in the Gray Zones.- Return from the Gray Zones.- Transformations.- Conclusion.- 11 Bystanders to Genocide.- Introduction.- Bystanders and Complicity.- Martin Niemöller ’s Courage and Regrets.- A J. Topf & Sons: Manufacturing Hygiene.- Complicity of the Swastika Bedecked German Church.- Complicity of the Silent Neighboring Nations.- Conclusion.- 12 Cry Genocide!.- Introduction.- When and Why to Give the Cry: “Genocide!”.- The Choice to Give the Cry: “Genocide!”.- Some Risks in Raising the Cry of Genocide.- Conclusion.- 13 Postscript.