Nations Have the Right to Kill: Hitler, the Holocaust and War For information on purchasing this book through Amazon at a special rate, click here. “An intriguing exploration. Koenigsberg concludes that both the sacrifice of German soldiers in glory on the battlefield, and the sacrifice of victims in the gas chambers, served essentially the same purpose: to feed the sacrificial bloodlust of the national deity.”   —Journal of Genocide Research “Two terrors from long ago haunt us. The Holocaust: that cold-blooded massacre of millions. And the ability of leaders during two World Wars to convince people that slaughtering their neighbors was patriotic. How was this possible? No single answer will exorcize our terrors. But Koenigsberg’s bold and original approach, clearly and precisely presented, will help us, if not to expel them, at least, finally, to comprehend them.”    —Robert Whalen, Queens University of Charlotte, author, Bitter Wounds: German Victims of the Great War, 1914-1939

You will soon receive a series of Newsletters in which I lay out the ideas—the thought processes—that generated the Holocaust and Second World War. My most recent book on these topics was published in 2009. The following issues of the LSS Newsletter update and crystallize my findings.

What is the purpose and value of understanding Hitler and the massive forms of violence generated by the Nazis?

The Nazi case (up until recently) was viewed as an anomaly. While undeniably the magnitude of destruction generated by Hitler and his cohorts is nearly beyond comprehension, it is not the case that the ideas underlying mass-murder were unusual or unique.

Hitler’s thinking revolved around nationalism (please refer to my online publication, “Nationalism, Nazism—Genocide).” Hitler glorified Germany—and identified national “enemies” that had to be destroyed if Germany was to maintain its purity and greatness.

What Hitler did was to carry ordinary political ideas to an extreme, bizarre conclusion.

How may we account for the power of the murderous ideology of Nazism? Perhaps by understanding Hitler we can begin to “Awaken from the Nightmare of History”—comprehend the dream of political violence in which we continue to be immersed.

I’ve presented my ideas in small “chunks” to make them easier to assimilate. My objective is psychic—as well as intellectual—change.

I hope you’ll take a few moments to read each of the Newsletters to follow.

Best regards,
Richard K.

Richard A. Koenigsberg, Ph.D Director, Library of Social Science Telephone: (718) 393-1081 Fax: (413) 832-8145 rak@libraryofsocialscience.com Richard Koenigsberg is an author widely known as an authority on political violence. The mission of Library of Social Science, is to publicize significant scholarship. LSS Book Exhibits, founded in 1990, has organized displays at over 650 conferences. The LSS Newsletter reaches 35,000 scholars, professionals and students around the world.