Amok

Since the so-called “Historikerstreit” centered on Ernst Nolte, the debate about the nature of National Socialism has almost come to a standstill. Mirko Wittwar wants to give a new impetus by examining the parallels between National Socialism and a seemingly much more recent phenomenon: the rampage.
In contrast to all previous interpretations, he understands National Socialism as a phenomenon of violent perpetrators, in the context of which not only the members of the SS deluded themselves and everybody else about their true motivations, "because sheer force for its own sake was not tolerable at the time" (Eugen Kogon). The success of National Socialism and the behavior of its supporters only become comprehensible if one recognizes its purpose of pure violence.