Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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' Nazi Study, U By SUSAN HAND SUM Writer Adolf Hitler is not alive and well and working as a lifeguard in Argentina, according to Dr. Robert Herzstein, a USC history professor. Since Israeli agents captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina in 1961, speculation has grown over how many important Nazis survived World War II and W capture by the Allies and are living as normal citizens today. Herzstein, whoteachesa course on Nazism and Fascism at USC, rejects the idea that Nazis like Hitler and his Propaganda Minister Jospeph Goebbels are living today in some "safe" country, such as Argentina. "He (Goebbels) killed himself right after Hitler did, maybe a day or so later," Herzstein said. "There's no question about that. In fact, his remains were discovered by the Russians and photographed. You can recognize him. He still looks like a rodent." HERZSTEIN, who has written five books on Nazism, said, ^ "Hitler was not the first Nazi, technically. He joined the - nnrtv whir?h u/pnt haok tn 1Q1Q onH haH cnma dorlior rnntc ir? ? !??. -~J J WW >> vx >? %/ ? wv?v?k W AVAV uiiva ??uv? uvutv vua ?tVA & wvo, All 1919." "It (the Nazi party) was sort of a fringe force in Munich that didn't amount to much until he took it over. I think jn some ways it became a sort of chemistry between his personality and certain problems and hang-ups among other Germans." According to Herzstein, it was not oply postwar problems that allowed Hitler to take power as easily as he did, but his "remarkable charismatic personality" as well. "He was able to prey upon these hopes and fears, particularly the fears, of the Germans' anxieties." Herzstein said, "Hitler was able to make even the most ^ disfunctional, criminal types functional in certain ways, so ^ they could be useful to him and to the Nazi movement." MANY people have speculated on the reasons for Hitler's T . - J nueiuiuii Ldu 0fie^wn^ / % 3U>n4p4>/M4> / /' ( j jJ 1535 Main St. \ {St4> tnost fetnitutw, te>nteui/an</ xotnu-nfic SPing&tie ewt to loucSi w w. VtSA Phone 803-765-2889 \ ? \ iNow 10% off all $20 purchases |(with this coupon) I ///i/iz/irr/f- '//wy/'wf /.>./.> # Kai'n '( '<>I// [Register to win FREE PEIGNOIR SET r CAREER INFO LIB LIEBER COLLEG NEW HOURS MONDAY - THURSDA' 9am - 9pm ? // SUNDAY )) I pm - 5pm }) "EXTENDED RESUME CLIN 1) Wednesday 2pm 9pm | CAREER COUNSEI UN UU I T ) Workshops ',) CAREER INEO. RESUME WRIT \ INTERVIEWING SKILLS. JOB SE/ nlike Hitler, A violent racism, which became an important part of Nazism, he said. "I think he was more obsessed with the Jews as an emanation of evil than he was with the idea of Aryan purity, which he at times laughed at." "His racism was the more negative type," Herzstein said. "umer people dreamed ot building the Aryan superman, like Himmler. But with Hitler, I think the concentration was strictly upon destruction, mass killing and extermination. In some ways, I think it was the idea of expunging some evil force." Herzstein said Nazism could not have survived without Hitler. "He purposely organized only one source of authority: himself. He never gave them (the German people) a constitution. He encouraged everybody to overlap with everyone else and fight. "I think it's inconceivable that the Nazis could have come out with an orderly structure to preserve this power." NAZISM would have collapsed without Hitler's forceful personality supporting it, according to Herzstein. "I can't picture what else would have made the people around him functional once he was gone. Some would have crawled back into the sewers they came from, and others would have been killing each other." He said power struggles would have taken place between such groups as the political party, the army and the SS, a Nazi Hennrtmpnt in nhartfp nf int#?11ioonr?*? ponfral Qannritv r. ? - "? vv?u w? uvvui IVJ , policing actions and extermination of "undesirables." In past years, Hitler's fellow Axis leader and Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini has established a reputation as something of a buffoon. Herzstein said, however, that Mussolini was the "herald of Fascism, as someone said, and Hitler always had a grudging ffectionand regard for him in that sense." Herzstein said Mussolini had a heavy influence on Hitler. "He was one of the first guys to kick in the door on the liberal state and create an authoritarian Fascist structure." T - il . ies! No Purchase necessary ^ ;rary 1; |g| i c | M -OR Put your knoi ) i I into practice 1 ) I 7fci-?;R 'NG \\ Columbia \RCH I live And Well NO FASCIST countries exist today, according to Herzstein. "you have authoritarian and military dictatorsip (countries, but I think with Fasrism hMiHp? tho niithnnfarianicm *'"11 have to have the mass movement and the trappings of the corporative state, the racial ideology. I don't see anything quite like that (today). Maybe some in the Third World are very close," he said. The neo-Nazi movement recently gained world-wide attention when it was rumored that John Hinckley, accused in an attempt to assassinate President Reagan March 30, had ties to an American group. Herzstein said the American neoNazi movement is comprised of "a bunch of clowns, although Hinckley turned out to be dangerous." However, Herzstein said, the German neo-Nazi movement, which gets most of its literature from the United States, is a more serious matter. "There has been a recent group under a guy named Hoffman. Thev claim to be a snorts prnnn They're getting ready for the day when they'll have to stop the Reds. They're very anti-American. "I don't think, politically, anyone takes them too seriously," he said. "They're concerned but not frightened." HERZSTEIN said, "Given the German experience, you have to be (frightened). You can't just dismiss them as kooks the way you can here." Herzstein, who has been teaching at USC since 1972, has another book planned for release in early 1982. The book, tentatively titled "When the Nazi Dreams Come True," is about Nazi plans for Europe if they hadelaimedWorld War II victory. Herzstein began his career in the field of German intellectual history of the 19th century. He said he may turn to antoher area of study in the future, since he has been in the field of Nazism and Fascism since 1969. Herzstein said, "I don't think I want to spend the rest of my life dealing with mass murder." KMNEERS Reach for a rewarding career as an nncfinppp in thp IJ. S . Air Fnrop. If you're qualified, you can enjoy the status and challenge of work- | k ing with the most advanced |k technology in the world, ilk Engineering positions Hik are now ?Pen : Mgk ELECTRONIC ayden ] 09 i, S. C.