This thesis examines the ideological nexus of nationalism and heritage under the social conditions of neoliberalism. The investigation aims to demonstrate how neoliberal economics stimulate the irrationalism manifest in nationalist idealisation of the past. The institutionalisation of national heritage was originally a rational function of the modern state, symbolic of its political and cultural authority. With neoliberal erosion of the productive economy and public institutions, heritage and nostalgia proliferate today in all areas of social life. It is argued that this represents a social pathology linked to the neoliberal state's inability to construct a future-orientated national project. These conditions enhance the appeal of irrational nationalist and regionalist ideologies idealising the past as a source of cultural purity. Unable to achieve social cohesion, the neoliberal state promotes multiculturalism, encouraging minorities to embrace essentialist identity politics that parallel the nativism of right-wing nationalists and regionalists. This phenomenon is contextualised within the general crisis of progressive modernisation in Western societies that has accompanied neoliberalisation and globalisation. A new theory of activist heritage is advanced to describe autonomous, politicised heritage that appropriates forms and practices from the state heritage sector. Using this concept, the politics of irrational nationalism and regionalism are explored through fieldwork, including participant observation, interviews and photography. The interaction of state and activist heritage is considered at the Wewelsburg 1933-1945 Memorial Museum in Germany wherein neofascists have re-signified Nazi material culture, reactivating it within contemporary political narratives. The activist heritage of Israeli Zionism, Irish Republicanism and Ulster Loyalism is analysed through studies of museums, heritage centres, archaeological sites, exhibitions, monuments and historical re-enactments. These illustrate how activist heritage represents a political strategy within irrational ideologies that interpret the past as the ethical model for the future. This work contends that irrational nationalism fundamentally challenges the Enlightenment's assertion of reason over faith, and culture over nature, by superimposing pre-modern ideas upon the structure of modernity. An ideological product of the Enlightenment, the nation state remains the only political unit within which a rational command of time and space is possible, and thus the only viable basis for progressive modernity.

Titel of dissertation: Nazi Germanisation and Settlement Policy in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia This work focuses on land and settlement policies in the territory of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. They are treated as an integral part of a unified Germanisation policy which the Nazi regime had implemented within a broader territory of the German Reich. The aim of this study is to evaluate the structure and organisation of the settlement policy and mechanisms of its functioning on both lower and higher levels within the context of administration and implementation of the settlement process. Germanisation was, within the territory of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, one of the key aspects of German economic policy. Its implementation was based on a combination of assimilation, evacuation, and physical liquidation. In practice, Germanisation measures in the Protectorate took either of the three following forms: 1) transfer of share ownership, 2) Aryanisation of Jewish property, 3) a settlement of Germans on Czech-held land. This sequence more or less corresponded also to the sequence in which the individual measures were to be applied in practice. It was envisioned that Germanisation and settlement policy would be fully implemented and completed only after the end of the war...

Summaries in German and English / Diese Arbeit handelt über das Leben und Leitungshandeln des Baptistenpredigers Arnold Köster (1896–1960). Er gilt als einer der kontinuierlichsten und schärfsten NS-Kritiker im Deutschen Reich. Während des „Dritten Reiches“ verkündigte er prophetisch das Wort Gottes und leitete so seine Wiener Gemeinde und stellte gleichzeitig das NS-Regime in Frage. Die Arbeit enthält eine komplette Leitungsbiographie Kösters. Erstmalig liegt ein Gesamtbild von Kösters Prophetieverständnis vor, das mit neueren Entwürfen prophetischer und pastoraler Leitung ins Gespräch gebracht wird. Anhand von Zitaten aus seinen Predigten wird deutlich, dass Köster der ganzen Gemeinde das prophetische Amt zuwies, aber die Bezeichnung Prophet für sich selbst ablehnte (Köster-Paradoxon). Köster wird besonders im Kontext seiner baptistischen Freikirche und ihrem Verhalten in der NS-Zeit betrachtet. Im Kontrast wird deutlich, dass Köster mit seiner Ortsgemeinde kirchlich-prophetischen Widerstand leistete. Schließlich wird herausgearbeitet, was heutige Leiter von Köster lernen können / This thesis is about the life and leadership of the Baptist preacher Arnold Köster (1896–1960). He is considered one of the sharpest and steadiest NS critics in the Third Reich. During the Third Reich he prophetically proclaimed the word of God while leading his church in Vienna and, at the same time, questioning the Nazi regime. The work contains a complete account of Köster’s leadership. It presents, for the first time ever, an overall picture of Köster’s understanding of prophecy and discusses more recent models of prophetic-pastoral leadership. Based on quotations from his sermons, it becomes clear that Köster assigned the prophetic office to the entire congregation, but rejected the term “prophet” for himself (Köster’s paradox). The emphasis here is on Köster in the context of the German Baptist Union and its conduct during the Nazi era. By way of contrast, it is clear that Köster, along with his local fellowship, put up resistance on the subject of church-prophecy. Finally, with the matter of what today’s leaders can learn from Köster is addressed / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Christian Leadership)

La présente recherche doctorale retrace l’histoire de la politique de « formation idéologique » (weltanchauliche Schulung ou weltanschauliche Erziehung) mise en oeuvre entre 1933 et 1945 par la SS (Schutzstaffel), organisation qui se voulait l’élite du nazisme. Elle s’attache à croiser quatre approches : L’histoire du réseau des institutions chargées de l’elaboration et de l’application de cette politique, au centre duquel se trouvait l’ « office de l’instruction » (Schulungsamt) de la SS, qui supervisait le travail d’un « appareil d’instruction » (Schulungsapparat) de plus d’un milliers d’instructeurs présents a tous les échelons de l’organisation; l’étude des discours idéologiques et des pratiques éducatives élaborés par ces institutions et de leurs tentatives pour vulgariser et transmettre l’ideologie nazie ; les biographies des hommes qui animèrent ces institutions, constituant un groupe particulier au sein de la hiérarchie nazie; et enfin l’analyse de l’impact de ces politiques sur la masse des militants et hommes des unités militaires et policières SS. En analysant la nature de la formation prodiguée par la SS à ses hommes – à la fois tentative de forger par l’education un homme nouveau considérant tous les domaines de l’existence à l’aune du national-socialisme et volonté de constituer un corps homogène de « soldats politiques » au service du regime – et en reconstituant l’evolution de cette formation dans le contexte de la croissance, de l’expansion et des transformations de la SS, cette étude tente d’apporter une contribution à la compréhension des mentalités des hommes qui se sont engagés et ont persécuté, combattu et tué au service du « Troisième Reich ». / The following doctoral research traces the history of the policy of « ideological schooling » (weltanschauliche Schulung or weltanschauliche Erziehung) developed between 1933 and 1945 by the SS (Schutzstafel), the organization that considered itself the elite of Nazism. It combines four complementary methodological approaches: an institutional history of the network of organizations tasked with elaborating and implementing the SS’s schooling program, at the center of which stood the SS-Schulungsamt (educational office), that oversaw the work an « educational apparatus » (schulungsapparat) of more than a thousand instructors present at all levels; an analysis of the ideological discourses and teaching methods elaborated by these institutions in their attempts to relay nazi ideology to the rank and file of the SS; the biographies of the men who operated the « educational apparatus », constituting a specific group of perpetrators in the Nazi hierarchy; and an evaluation of the way the SS’s own brand of education impacted those who served in its civil, military or police units. By assessing the nature of the ideological training the SS provided to its members, fruit of the attempt of forging both a new man seeing all fields of life through the lens of Nazi ideology and an homogenous troop of « political soldiers » at the service of the regime, and tracing the evolution of this educational project within the framework of the SS’s growth and transformations, this study seeks to bring a new perspective to the understanding of the mentalities of the men who committed to the cause of the « Third Reich » and fought and murdered in its name.

This thesis examines how the concept of evil was understood by opposing German perspectives during the era of National Socialist rule (1933-1945). The rise of Nazism in Germany marked a period of massive political upheaval wherein the National Socialist government encouraged the masses to view the world in terms of a great struggle between forces of good and evil. This was the central theme of their propaganda, which zealously encouraged racialist beliefs in the popular consciousness, and was based on assumptions of German superiority and Jewish evil. Despite Hitler's apparent success in creating an obedient nation, a significant number of Germans opposed his rule, amongst whom a small group of writers expressed their discontent through creative fiction. Through a comparison of the worldviews communicated through political propaganda and anti-Nazi literature, it is revealed that the crux of the divide between their opposing perspectives hinged on the meaning of evil. Since evil is a concept with many meanings, this thesis approaches the subject thematically. The comparison begins by focusing on the perception of evil as an all-corrupting force that had taken hold of Germany, followed by an exploration of how power and brutality were understood, ending with a comparison of views on how the struggle between good and evil took place on both a social and individual level. In addition to demonstrating the subjectivity of moral perspective during a tumultuous period of the recent past, this research reveals how the struggle against Nazism existed as a conflict of ideas. Moreover, the comparison of cultural sources (including Nazi art, visual propaganda, written texts such as Mein Kampf, and anti-Nazi creative fiction) demonstrates the value of art as a tool for conducting historical enquiry. Since the legacy of the Third Reich continues to directly influence modern perceptions of evil, exploring how evil was understood according to contemporary Germans – from both pro and anti-Nazi perspectives – is of particular historical interest.

Le fait que dès ses années d'exil scandinave, entre 1933 et 1947, le jeune Willy Brandt se lance dans le débat sur l'avenir d'une Europe unifiée et en propose des conditions concrètes de réalisation est encore très largement méconnu. Pourtant, la question de l'Europe jalonne les écrits d'exil du jeune socialiste réfugié en Norvège. Cette thèse de doctorat met en lumière ces primes idées européennes, le « rêve des Etats-Unis d’Europe », que Willy Brandt développe en exil. Elle interroge non seulement le rôle de l’exil scandinave dans l’émergence d’une pensée fédérale européenne chez Brandt, mais également la teneur de son projet et son éventuelle originalité. Cette étude repose sur un corpus de textes écrits de la main de Willy Brandt en Scandinavie entre 1933 et 1947. Dans ses ouvrages consacrés à la politique internationale, dans ses articles rédigés pour la presse ouvrière mais aussi, parfois, dans sa correspondance personnelle, l’objectif est d’identifier, dans une perspective d’analyse du discours, le motif de l’Europe unie et de l’analyser en contexte afin de le comprendre et de discerner ses potentielles évolutions. Cette étude se base sur des sources originales et pour partie non exploitées, ce qui a nécessité un travail conséquent de recherches en archives mais aussi, dans la mesure où Brandt publie à cette époque en norvégien et en suédois, l’apprentissage des langues scandinaves. Cette thèse de doctorat montre que par son influence contextuelle et culturelle, l’exil scandinave a marqué la pensée européenne de Brandt et que son modèle d’Europe sociale et démocratique porte indéniablement l’empreinte du socialisme scandinave. / The fact that during his Scandinavian exile between 1933 and 1947, the young Willy Brandt has been engaged in the debate about the future Europe and even proposed concrete conditions for its realization is still largely unknown. Still, the question of Europe marked out his exile writings and was as such the focus of particular attention from the young socialist refugee in Norway as early as 1939. This doctoral thesis aims to highlight these early European ideas, the “dream of the United States of Europe”, that Willy Brandt developed during his exile. It shall question not only the role of his Scandinavian exile on the emergence of a European federal thought in Brandt’s exile writings, but also the content of his project, its particularities and furthermore its possible originality. At a time when resistance groups were massively discussing the idea of the European unification, what may characterize Brandt's proposal for Europe? And how did these first European ideas evolve during the Second World War as the contexts of conception and communication also changed. To answer these questions, this PhD thesis is based on the analysis of texts written by Willy Brandt in Scandinavia between 1933 and 1947. The corpus consists of three types of documents: books or monographs about the war and the global international context, journalistic writings (newspaper articles, brochures, pamphlets, conference manuscripts all signed by Brandt between 1933 and 1947) and personal correspondence. The objective has been to identify in all these exile writings the motive of Europe as well as any other element relating to the theme of a united Europe or likely to be part of a more general reflection on international politics and the new post-war European order. This thesis has the particularity of being based essentially on original documents and hitherto largely unexploited sources, which has required a considerable amount of archival research. Moreover, since the sources used in this PhD thesis were written in Norwegian, Swedish and German, learning two Scandinavian languages, namely Norwegian and Swedish, was necessary. This study shows that through its contextual and cultural influence, the Scandinavian exile marked the emergence and evolution of Brandt’s European ideas between 1933 and 1947. The model of a social and democratic Europe the young Brandt dreamed of and developed during the Second World War undeniably bears the imprint of Scandinavia, and in particular Scandinavian socialism. By doing so, the thesis sheds new light on Willy Brandt’s political foothold and shows the importance of his exile years in the formation of a statesman and his foreign and European policy. / Die Tatsache, dass Willy Brandt während seines Exils in Skandinavien zurinternationalen Diskussion über die Zukunft eines vereinten Europas beigetragen, und sogarkonkrete Bedingungen für eine künftige Einigung des Kontinents vorgeschlagen hat, ist nochkaum beachtet worden. In seinen Exilschriften tauchte das Thema „Europa“ allerdings immerwieder auf. Vor allem ab 1939 schenkte der junge Flüchtling dem Projekt einer künftigeneuropäischen Einigung besondere Aufmerksamkeit. Zum ersten Mal wird in der vorliegendenForschungsarbeit ein eingehender Überblick über Willy Brandts Europavorstellungen im Exil,deren Ursprung und deren Entwicklung, angeboten, und zwar im Rückgriff auf ursprüngliche,zum Teil bisher unbenutzte Quellen aus deutschem und skandinavischem Archivmaterial.Die Dissertation setzt sich zum Ziel, die Entstehung und die Entwicklung von WillyBrandts frühen Europavorstellungen im besonderen Kontext des skandinavischen Exilszwischen 1933 und 1947 zu analysieren, und fragt folgendes: Inwiefern hat das Exil inSkandinavien die Entstehung und die Ausformung von Brandts außenpolitischenKonzeptionen dauerhaft geprägt? Willy Brandts journalistische und literarische Schriften aus der Exilzeit zwischen 1933und 1947, die ein umfangsreiches Archiv aus Zeitungs-, bzw. Zeitschriftenartikeln, Büchern,Broschüren und gemeinsamen Veröffentlichungen bilden, liegen der vorliegendenForschungsarbeit zugrunde. Ziel ist es gewesen, in diesen Exilschriften das Motiv „Europa“sowie jedes andere Element zu identifizieren und zu erörtern, das sich auf das Thema einesvereinten Europas beziehen oder Teil einer allgemeineren Reflexion über die internationalePolitik und die neue europäische Nachkriegsordnung sein dürfte.Die Besonderheit dieses Forschungskorpus besteht in seiner Mehrsprachigkeit. Die imRahmen des vorliegenden Forschungsprojekts benutzten Texte und Manuskripte wurdennämlich auf Deutsch aber auch auf Norwegisch und auf Schwedisch verfasst. Wichtig war esin dieser Hinsicht, die Originalfassungen heranzuziehen, und damit der gesamtenForschungsarbeit nicht nur Authentizität sondern auch Originalität zu verleihen. In diesemZusammenhang gehörte das Erlernen von zwei skandinavischen Sprachen, nämlichNorwegisch und Schwedisch, natürlich auch zu den Grundlagen des Projekts.Diese Studie hat gezeigt, dass das skandinavische Exil die Entstehung und dieAusformung von Brandts frühen Europavorstellungen zwischen 1933 und 1947 kontextuellund inhaltlich geprägt hat. Im Modell des sozialistischen und demokratischen Europa, wovoner im Exil träumte und das er im Laufe des Zweiten Weltkrieges weiter entwickelte, lassensich nämlich etliche programmatische, kulturelle und politische Einflüsse der skandinavischen– und insbesondere der norwegischen – Sozialdemokratie erkennen. Dabei hat die vorliegendeDissertation die Bedeutung des skandinavischen Exils für die menschliche und politischeEntwicklung des Willy Brandt sowie für die Entstehung eigener außenpolitischer, ja sogareuropäischer Konzepte beim späteren Staatsmann nachvollziehen können.

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The National Socialist newspaper “Der Freiheitskampf” was published nearly daily from August 1st 1930 to Mai 8th 1945. In addition to articles from all areas of politics, economics and society, it contained information on dates, events and persons of regional importance in Saxony during the era of the Third Reich and before. Because of its character as official press organ of the NSDAP in the Gau Saxony, the newspaper is suitable to compensate missing historical evidence caused by the systematic shredding of files in spring 1945 and a lack of documents in Saxon archives. This paper presents a joint project of the Hannah Arendt Institute for the Research on Totalitarianism at the TU Dresden (HAIT) and the Saxon State and University Library, Dresden (SLUB), which aims to enhance the usability of “Der Freiheitskampf” – not only for scientific purposes. The combined digitization of the (nearly) complete source and its deep indexing result in a presentation in an elaborated database (the years 1930 to 1934 are covered at present). This database provides more effective possibilities for answering scientific (interdisciplinary) questions, not only on the establishment of National Socialist rulership in Saxony. The paper also discusses the possible worth of the usage of the newspaper and its representation in a database for purposes of political education.

Ce mémoire consiste à étudier l’apport de la culture jeunesse dans l’acceptation des valeurs nationales-socialistes par les jeunes Allemand(e)s, via la problématique suivante: Comment la culture jeunesse a-t-elle agi à titre de véhicule de propagande sous le Troisième Reich et quels en ont été les répercussions sur la jeunesse allemande? En abordant cette éducation informelle diffusée par la culture jeunesse, c’est-à-dire par la littérature jeunesse, puis par les jouets et les jeux de société, cette recherche offre une définition renouvelée des mécanismes de propagande déployés par le régime nazi et propose une conception nouvelle du phénomène d’endoctrinement de la jeunesse durant cette période. En diffusant des idées comme la quête de la race pure, la conquête, l’antisémitisme à travers une expérience émotionnelle immersive (par l’exercice du jeu et de la lecture), la culture jeunesse est parvenue à susciter l’enthousiasme des jeunes Allemand(e)s à l’idée d’incarner les acteurs d’un monde régi par le nazisme. De plus, nous constaterons que le caractère divertissant de cette propagande culturelle a fait de la violence et de l’exclusion, intrinsèques à la vision nationale-socialiste du monde, des euphémismes, par sa capacité à banaliser la gravité de ces derniers. Ce phénomène nous permet de saisir pourquoi les Allemand(e)s persistaient, même après la guerre, à concevoir leur enfance sous le régime nazi comme une expérience relativement positive. L’aspect culturel de l’endoctrinement de la jeunesse allemande constitue une dynamique encore peu connue de l’histoire allemande que nous proposons d’explorer à travers ce mémoire. / This thesis studies how culture propagated by the Nazi regime during the Second World War influenced young Germans and contributed to their acceptance of National Socialist values. It asks: How did youth culture act as a vehicle of propaganda under the Third Reich and what impact did it have on German youth? By focusing on the hitherto under researched areas of children’s literature, toys and games, my research helps us to better understand the nature of Nazi propaganda, in particular the importance of informal education. Through play and reading young Germans were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology about the quest for a so-called pure race, conquest and expansion in East and West Europe, and anti-Semitism. These cultural activities led to an immersive emotional experience for young Germans which aroused their enthusiasm for contributing to and benefiting from a world ruled by Nazism. The entertaining nature of this cultural propaganda turned the violence and exclusion intrinsic to the National Socialist vision of the world into euphemisms, by trivializing their seriousness. This phenomenon helps us to understand why, even after the war, Germans persisted in seeing their youth under the Nazi regime as a relatively positive experience. The cultural aspect of the indoctrination of German youth is an underexplored dynamic of German history that I explore in this thesis.

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