Summary of Hannah Arendt's Antisemitism

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The Nazis were not simple nationalists, and their nationalist propaganda was directed toward their fellow-travelers and not their convinced members. The Nazis had a genuine and never revoiced contempt for the narrowness of nationalism, the provincialism of the nation-state, and they repeated time and again that their movement was more important than any state.

#2 The decline of the nation-state and the growth of antisemitism can be explained by the fact that the masses hate aristocrats who are about to lose their power more than they have ever hated them before, because their rapid loss of real power is not accompanied by any significant decline in their fortunes.

#3 The Jews were an entirely powerless group caught up in the general and insoluble conflicts of the time. They could be blamed for them and eventually be made to appear the hidden authors of all evil.

#4 The modern world is ruled by terror, and the victim is completely innocent. The temptation is to return to the scapegoat theory, which explains the victim’s situation by saying that he is guilty of something. But this is only a form of government, and to establish a totalitarian regime, terror must be presented as an instrument for carrying out a specific ideology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822523890

IRB Media

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Insights on Hannah Arendt's Antisemitism

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Nazis were not simple nationalists, and their nationalist propaganda was directed toward their fellow-travelers and not their convinced members. The Nazis had a genuine and never revoiced contempt for the narrowness of nationalism, the provincialism of the nation-state, and they repeated time and again that their movement was more important than any state.

#2

The decline of the nation-state and the growth of antisemitism can be explained by the fact that the masses hate aristocrats who are about to lose their power more than they have ever hated them before, because their rapid loss of real power is not accompanied by any significant decline in their fortunes.

#3

The Jews were an entirely powerless group caught up in the general and insoluble conflicts of the time. They could be blamed for them and eventually be made to appear the hidden authors of all evil.

#4

The modern world is ruled by terror, and the victim is completely innocent. The temptation is to return to the scapegoat theory, which explains the victim’s situation by saying that he is guilty of something. But this is only a form of government, and to establish a totalitarian regime, terror must be presented as an instrument for carrying out a specific ideology.

#5

The scapegoat explanation is one of the primary attempts to escape the seriousness of antisemitism. It states that Jew-hatred is a natural and