Tuesday, March 08, 2016

When to censor?

I have gotten very interested in finally really learning about WWII and in particular how Nazi Germany came to be.  So, I turned to what I was told was the definitive book on the subject, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer.

I read about 100 pages before I started getting a queasy feeling, and it wasn't long before I closed the book in disgust and started to do more research on Shirer and his monumental tome.  It turns out that what stopped me cold is something that others have also had trouble with, and this is Shirer's blatant homophobia. At first I thought his mention of the many homosexuals who figured in the high ranks of the early Nazi party was just an odd, off-hand comment.  But then, he went on a tirade about sexual perverts (meaning homosexuality) and characterized them as part of the dregs of society.

This is one of the best articles I found that articulates clearly the problems with Shirer's book.

Homophobic histories of Nazism ignore Hitler's war against gay men, by Peter Tatchell

The Amazon blurb on the book pretty much sums up what is the conventional wisdom about this book:
Hailed as “one of the most important works of history of our time” (The New York Times), this definitive chronicle of Hitler’s rise to power is back in hardcover with a new introductory essay by Ron Rosenbaum (Explaining Hitler and How the End Begins) commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of its National Book Award win.
The fiftieth anniversary edition of the National Book Award–winning bestseller that is the definitive study of Adolf Hitler, the rise of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and World War II. This special edition now features a new introduction by Ron Rosenbaum, author of Explaining Hitler and How the End Begins.
I read the introduction by Ron Rosenbaum, and feel like he should have addressed Shirer's bias and skewing of history in order to reflect his own prejudices.  I've read some comments that Shirer's homophobia reflect the societal norms of 1960.  I actually don't buy that, and even if it were true, Rosenbaum doesn't share that excuse.

Interestingly, I'm also currently rereading Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and I cringe every time Dickens uses the term "the Jew" to refer to Fagin.  I am excusing Dickens because he is using a label for an individual character, as opposed to talking in general about a set of people but it still makes me cringe.  And it's not clear that he is using the term "the Jew" to convey characteristics about Fagin, or just trying to make the story readable.

I can't excuse Shirer, or Rosenbaum, though.  And, it bothers me that this book is routinely praised to the skies.  I'm not in favor of banning books, but I would hate for students to read this book and think that Shirer's comments should be taken as truth.

Now, once again, I'm in search of a good book that will explain the rise and fall of the Third Reich, and what should I do with the copy I have?  I really don't feel like I want to pass it on to a fellow unsuspecting reader.

14 comments:

  1. Maybe you could turn it into book art; it's got a lot of pages to work with. :) Sorry it ended up being an unreadable read for you. I've never tried Shirer, and I'm thinking I'm not going to any time soon.

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    1. Not crafty enough for book art, I think. I'll probably just shelve it, or maybe use it as a reference if I want to look something up.

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  2. I'm with you. If biased, bigoted books like Shirer's keep getting praised and accepted, aren't we falling into the same patterns as 1930s Germany? There's enough hatefulness in the world today already. Good for you for speaking out!

    And I feel your discomfort with Victorian writers, though, to his credit, Dickens got better later in life. After backlash against his earlier depiction of Jewish characters, he included a very admirable Jewish character in one of his last books, I think it was Our Mutual Friend.

    I'm reading Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope, and though it's mostly wonderful, there's a villainous Jewish character that makes me very uncomfortable. I hate to think that one of my favorite authors could be bigoted.

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    1. Yes, it is ironic that Shirer perpetuated the same hatefulness as the Nazis he was writing about.

      I think it depends on whether Trollope resorts to stereotype or whether his villainous character happens to be Jewish, or if he is portrayed as villainous because he's Jewish. There's where I am with Dickens and Fagin--certainly Sikes is a worse person than Fagin.

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  3. Though I always have really been opposed to homophobia, when I read in my early twenties I think that the homophobia went over my head.

    This is a pity that the book contains this. It is not acceptable. I will no longer recommend this to folks as I have done so in the past.

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    1. It really mars what is a monumental and mostly important book. I know when I said I was going to read it, you did recommend it, but now we both know that Shirer let his own biases undermine the history he was trying convey. It's such a shame.

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  4. I vividly remember my father reading that book when I was a little girl. He found it completely absorbing (and I wouldn't be surprised if he shared Shirer's views). I think for his generation (my dad's), Shirer's book was the first one to reveal such a wealth of information about the Third Reich. I never knew about his homophobia, which is disgusting. Some of Georgette Heyer's books also use the term, "the Jew" when referring to moneylenders. It really makes me shudder every time I stumble across it.

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    1. I know about Heyer--I was appalled when I read The Grand Sophy. Really changed my opinion of her. I still read her sometimes, but not as big a fan as I could have been.

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  5. There's a series by Richard Evans about the rise of the Third Reich. I've only read to first one, but it was very readable and fascinating. As for the book you have, I would say burn it, but then I would sound like Hitler.

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    1. Thanks for the recommendation, Shelley. I have the first book in the series on order.

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  6. As soon as I wish up to any kind of bias in a book, then I wonder what other bias I may be missing in a book or what other ways the author has inserted his opinions into the work.

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    1. Exactly--that kind of bias undercuts credibility of the author.

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  7. Very disturbing. I have always heard this book praised, but have not read it myself. I'll make sure to put this on my "do not read list" and look for a better history that is not so biased. Thank-you for your honest review!

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  8. Thanks for the warning on the book. I guess I wouldn't mind reading this well-known book but I'm glad to know beforehand. I'm sure it will be disturbing to me as well

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