Publication Date: Fall 2007
Pages: 122
Price: Paperback: $23.95
Trim Size: 6 X 9
Hitler's Ideology
A Study in Psychoanalytic Sociology
Richard A. Koenigsberg
Why did Hitler initiate the Final Solution and take Germany to war? Based on analysis of Hitler's rhetoric—the words, images and metaphors contained within his writing and speeches—Koenigsberg's study reveals the "hidden narratives" that were the source of genocide. Hitler's actions—the history he created—followed as a consequence of his fantasy that by destroying the Jewish “disease” Germany might live forever.
Praise for Hitler's Ideology:
"When political figures refer to national crises as "cancers," Richard Koenigsberg feels it's no accident. He feels such expressions are echoes of a nation's hidden belief systems. If you can understand the underlying fantasies that provide politicians with such rhetoric, then you can understand the country. This book presents an ingenious technique for identifying the psychological origins of political and social events." —The Village Voice
"This work deserves to be an instant classic. With care and caution, Koenigsberg remains close to the data. Koenigsberg suggests that what is at stake is larger than an explanation of Hitler, Nazism, or even nationalism: it is, rather, an explanation of culture itself. Koenigsberg's genius has unlocked many of the unconscious secrets of a timeless drama." —Howard F. Stein, Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology
"This is one of the most exciting books to appear in a long time, suggesting implications for a deeper insight into the relationship between the human psyche and social policy. Koenigsberg shows that Hitler's behavior followed as a logical consequence of his perception of reality. The amount of data that Koenigsberg provides is overwhelming, the implications far-reaching." —Ronald A. Brauner, The Reconstructionist