Louis Nizer

“ It is really a devil's brew, to unseat the mind and deprive it of all critical qualities. It implants fanaticism and the desire to murder. Those who cannot understand the relentless cruelty of the German people marching off to kill and plunder, must study German education, brought to its extreme perfection under the Nazis. Their incredulity will disappear. Mein Kampf sets forth the objective:
"The whole end of education in a people's state and its crown, is found by burning into the heart and brain of the youth entrusted to it an instinctive and comprehended sense of race ... ”

“ All sorts of mystical properties were claimed for sovereignty. It became a supreme and ineffable being in itself. It developed its own will, residing in a super-organism called the state. A nation ceased to be merely an organization to carry on the business of its citizens. It became an entity with its own destiny, its own desires, as though it existed entirely apart from its citizens. Nationalism became an ideal in itself, and patriotism the fanatical devotion to it. A sort of religious aura hovered over the subject and the consequent loyalty depended on faith, not reason. ”

“ In the realm of international relations we must have the strength to decree just punishment to the unjust, particularly when their wickedness has exceeded all concepts of horrifying brutality of which the mind is capable. Let no voice, confused by good intentions, be heeded which advises us to cast down the sword of justice after we have been mutilated by the sword of conquest. The whole world demands punishment, legally administered, and commensurate with the crime of each individual. ”

“ It is as urgent as our "arrogance" in disarming Germany, depriving her of sovereignty and placing her on probation. If nothing else, it is a self-protective measure. We must unwind the German so that he will not spring at us again. It is a preventive and defensive measure, and it derives the fullest justification from its service to world peace. We shall send food but we must feed the mind, too, with all the nourishing vitamins of a full democratic diet until the patient loses his morbidity, his sullen ugliness and, in full mental comprehension, becomes a useful member of society. ”

“ The Germans have developed a philosophy which makes a religion of war and a cult of mass murder. They consider it their mission to subjugate all other peoples to slavery. They exclude the doctrines of the sacredness of human life and liberty and substitute for it the ideal of war. The unique phenomenon of Germanism is that its conspiracy against world peace is not mere gangster- ism or nihilism. It is an intellectual movement, if you please. It is supported by a philosophy carefully devised, nurtured and inculcated into every citizen. ”

“ Lightning Struck Twice Never again must we be deluded into misplacing responsibility for German aggression. It is not the leader of the day, whether he be Charlemagne, Barbarossa, Frederick Wilhelm, the Great Elector, Frederick the Great, Bismarck, the Kaiser or Hitler, who wages war against mankind. It is the German people. Conditioned by centuries of false indoctrination of a mad philosophy, of an absurd "soil-blood" racial theory, of a mystical paganism, the German people have ever been arch-conspirators against civilization. ”

“ Of course, the program of "devastating their borders" and committing "acts of brigandage" has remained a constant aspiration of the Germans. Most striking is the selection of a leader, the oath to follow him blindly, and the ritual of obedience. All who disagree are traitors. Is not this self-appointed, selfannointed leadership and blind fealty a description of Hitlerism? It is to precisely this tradition in German history that the Nazi leaders have appealed.
Always in German history the inverted pyramid has been the governing form. All authority rests on the apex. ”

“ Thought goes before the deed as lightning before the thunder. German thunder is indeed German, and not in a hurry, and it comes rolling slowly onward ; but come it will, and when ye hear the crash as naught ever crashed before in the whole history of the world, then know that der Deutsche Donner, our German Thunder, has at last hit the mark. At that sound the eagles will fall dead from on high, the lions in remotest deserts in Africa will draw in their tails and creep into their royal caves. ”

“ The law should not permit an offender to shift responsibility to his superior and entirely absolve himself. One who commits a crime acts at his peril, irrespective of orders, and we have seen that infractions of International Law, even during war, are crimes. The profession of a soldier is a hazardous one and the risk should include his responsibility for an illegal act even when ordered to commit it. To adopt any other view would lead to absurdity the successive shifting of responsibility from superior to superior until every one was exculpated except the commander-in-chief. ”

“ By any criterion, the burdens of a prolonged occupation are a cheap price for this contribution to peace.
Unlike German occupations, it will be benevolent and friendly as well as firm. There will be no plundering, mass executions or hostages. But we will not heed any nationalistic protests about Germany's right to independent action and sovereignty as a nation. The criminal state may no more demand its freedom than the individual criminal. Confinement is the result of its own conduct, and a necessity for maintaining peace. ”

“ And what were the toasts, the slogans, the anthems, the battle cries of this people? "Der Tag" when Germany will rule the world. "Deutschland uber Alles". "Tomorrow we will rule the world." "The destiny of Germany is to rule the world." Rule the world! Rule the world! No people who can thrill to such a mission are innocent victims of wicked leaders. ”

“ Who knows what new industries will arise? Who knows what new secrets advancing chemical knowledge will unfold? And how can we judge in advance what newly developed materials or products will be required, or in what parts of the world they will happen to be situated? Who can say what new technological processes will have to be financed, and whether it may not be advisable to exploit German efficiency and skill along peaceful lines by setting up some of these new industries in her midst for the benefit of world economy as well as her own? ”

“ Emil Ludwig, while conceding that the intellectual leaders applauded the conquests of the Kaiser and provided him with a philosophy to support his invasion, blames it all on the German admiration for violence and respect for uniforms. But he, too, contends for the noble exception and illustrates it by a two-tier bus, the upper passengers having a broad view but having no control of the direction below. Whether the intellectual in Germany has merely forfeited his rights, or whether he, too, finds the wine of national conquest too heady, does not alter the conclusion. ”

“ All the usual arguments against education by compulsion are advanced. This view sincerely holds that the democratic Germans within Germany must undertake this problem; that interference by the United Nations would inflame the German youth and thus defeat its own purpose. Some justify this inevitable resentment, and observe that we would react no differently. Others regret it, but reach the same conclusion.
It is the earmark of a difficult problem that any solution is open to criticism. But progress cannot wait for perfection, nor be unduly sensitive to chilling words. ”

“ Thus it is proposed that we go back to old-fashioned military alliances, with all the acknowledged evils they present in inciting rival alliances, with all the consequent tug and pull of balances of power, all to avoid tarnishing the bright luster of the sovereignty doctrine. It does not matter that the alliance proposed is wise and benevolent, nor that it may be the first practical step toward a genuine association of nations, to whose limited sphere of authority over international peace all nations will be subordinated. ”

“ We are not thinking of the Europe of today, which is too con- temptible to have any value. We are thinking of the Europe of yesterday and whatever thereof may be salvaged for tomorrow. We are thinking of the Germany of all time, the Germany of a two-thousand years past, the Germany of eternal present which dwells in the spirit but must be secured in reality and can only so be politically secured. The ape and tiger in man are threatening. The shadow of Africa falls across Europe. It is our task to be guardians on the threshold of values. ”

“ By depriving them of sovereignty we will only have relieved them of the burdens of state for which they are now unprepared. By punishing their war criminals we will have removed the most violent and revengeful in their midst, and thus have given them the freedom to reform without the relentless watchfulness of their prior overseers. By economic relief and opportunity we will have made it possible for them to make restitution and pay reparations without exhaustion and collapse, which their enormous obligations would ordinarily insure. ”

“ Would not the present generation of German children, dispersed throughout the world, defeat the purpose?
Above all, religious and ethical concepts deprive us of the will to abolish a people. The horror of scientific mutilation is stronger than all the cold justification which logic can marshal. For though inhumanity begets inhumanity, we are ashamed of the offspring. The moral restraints upon us are the residue of centuries of slow civilizing processes. ”

“ Might we not have refused to become the arsenal of democracy? Suppose Hitler had possessed an infinitesimal part of Napoleon's, or even Frederick the Great's, administrative capacity, he might have created a "new order" in the conquered territories, which might have given the semblance of security, peace, and a little justice. Then millions of exhausted, disillusioned people might have accepted their conqueror and eased his problems. ”

“ One nation, however, can seize civilization as it climbs slowly upwards and drag it down through the centuries to barbarism. Germany has chosen this pagan role with a persistence and venom which has confounded all men of good will. We resolve solemnly that she must not do so again. We back that profound determination with a program.
Punishment Having determined where the responsibility rests, we apply the sword of justice in all its measured impartial fury.
First, we forfeit Germany's sovereignty as a nation, to be restored if, and when, she ceases to be a menace to the society of peoples. ”

“ To eradicate her military clique down to its very roots, we decree capital punishment for the most conscienceless murderers in history. At the same time we free the German people from the leadership, subterranean or openly avowed, which has encouraged its repeated orgies of war lust.
By restitution in the form of property and labor, we return to the victims some of the works ruthlessly stolen or destroyed. At the same time, the German people will be learning, too. They will learn the simple American slogan that crime does not pay. ”

“ It permits all the devices of indecision commissions, committees, experiments, debates.
The day is approaching when another chance, perhaps the last chance, will be given to us to win a renowned victory for peace. On that day word that the war has ended will be flashed around the world and will be echoed by gleeful church bells and hysterical whistles. Millions of hearts will stop for a second in solemn prayer. Then a wave of ecstacy will sweep across the world. Emotional riots will break out everywhere. Hundreds of New Year celebrations will be crowded into one night of delirious joy. ”

“ We recognize the necessity of feudlessness in society. We shall deal with the constructive plans for developing international relationships freed from the hunger of lingering revenge. But no hopes for a brotherly society can be realized by ignoring hideous crimes in the hope of appealing to the criminal's good will. Such a program would be an unforgettable injustice to the survivors of the German terror. They can hate, too, and they would hate with all the bitterness of disillusionment as well as betrayal, if penalties were not imposed on the wrongdoers. ”

“ It is difficult to believe that wrong is deliberately preached as right; that our virtues are scorned by them as stupidity and weakness; and that their vices are brazenly announced as national policy and part of their divine mission. Yes, theirs is a German conspiracy against world peace and against every free man in any country. It is a conspiracy which has never died with defeat. It is ingrained in the people and sustains them in every dark period until Der Tag. ”

“ There are undoubtedly many, very many, who would view any restriction upon national sovereignty with outraged patriotism and who would spring to heroic postures ready to forfeit their lives for their misguided loyalty. Such thalamism is the motive power for war. It is national emotion out of control. To those who cannot take the first step of organization to peace, the second, that of a supra-national police force, is of course even more offensive. ”

“ If the destruction of religion is essential to the program of world conquest, then even religion, the profoundest of human emotions, is yielded up by great masses of Germans as a willing sacrifice. We can weigh right and wrong only in scales of an accepted standard. But weights are meaningless where the standards are reversed and we encounter a double set of morals. In the Nazi and Fascist world, where lying is a virtue as well as a practical weapon ; where treachery and treaty-breaking are admirable devices for national achievement ”

“ Therefore, it becomes impossible to indict a whole people in the sense that every individual is personally responsible. But we cannot reject common responsibility simply because of individual innocence. If no fact about a people could be stated unless it had been unanimously established by them, then we could never generalize about group conduct. We need not therefore heed the objection that no general conclusions can be drawn about the responsibility of the German people. We do not hesitate to say that Italians are a musical people though many of them are tonally deaf ”