Atrocities Don't Need to Be Popular

Some ugly lessons from Goebbels

I just finished Peter Longerich’s lengthy 2015 biography of Goebbels. It’s a meticulous account of Goebbels life, mostly relying on his diary—which is good for what it is, but I’ll admit I was hoping for maybe a little more theoretical oomph. Longerich’s main insight/argument is that Goebbels was a narcissist who idolized Hitler, which you could probably have figured out without reading 700 pages.

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Still, there are a lot of interesting details. In particular, I had not realized that the policy of forcing Jewish people in Germany to wear yellow stars mostly originated with Goebbels in September 1941.

I also hadn’t known how unsuccessful the policy was. In the first place, soon after the badges were introduced, the policy of mass deportation to concentration camps was moved into high gear—a policy that Hitler wanted kept quiet in order to avoid international censure. In that context, making Jewish people more visible was actually counterproductive.

Even beyond their role in the logistical vacillations of genocide, though, the badges were unsuccessful on their own terms as a propaganda measure. Goebbels thought that making Jewish people visible would lead to more overt antisemitic violence and harassment; he hoped the badges would whip up hatred of the Jews.

Instead, per notes of a propaganda briefing that Longerich quotes, “the Jewish badge had produced expressions of sympathy from a section of the population, particularly from the better off.” (Goebbels responded by referring to the educated classes in Germany as “filthy swine.”)

You could argue that this anecdote (confirmed by other sources) is somewhat heartening. Even in the heart of Nazi Germany during the height of Nazi power, grotesque antisemitism was not especially popular. When the regime targeted Jews, the response of most Germans was to side with the Jews, not with the Nazis. In order to entirely end social interaction between Jews and non-Jews, Goebbels had to threaten to punish fraternization with three months in a concentration camp. Compliance, at least in this case, was through force, not acclaim.

And that’s the reason it’s not heartening—because the regime did enforce compliance, even to policies that weren’t popular. The German people overall were not enthusiastic about targeting Jewish people in grotesque and violent ways. Nonetheless, Goebbels and Hitler and the Nazis managed to murder 6 million Jews. They didn’t need atrocities to be popular to accomplish atrocities.

The parallel with our bigoted fascist regime is not encouraging. Hatred of trans people, for example, is a minority position and bigotry towards trans people doesn’t seem to be a winning issue with voters. That’s good to know—but the Nazi precedent suggests it’s not necessarily a bulwark to rely on. You need some public support to commit a genocide, but not that much if you are determined and have the right levers of power.

People sometimes present the Nazis as a horror because they were uniquely evil and headed a uniquely oppressive and totalizing regime. But often the most chilling thing about Nazi Germany is that it really wasn’t a fantasy movie dystopia populated by supervillains. The Nazis were just people. The regime often fucked up; it didn’t have support for many of its policies; genocidal antisemitism was not universal and was not even all that popular. None of that really helps the dead, though.