Hitler and the Amazons

I have recently been indulging the guilty pleasure of watching old BBC programs on WWII as I exercise. The Nazis never cease to fascinate. To those of my generation, they are part of our creation myth, the representatives of pure evil.

A few reflections based on the BBC series so far:

In practice, the essential government approach of the Nazis was to give bureaucrats absolutely free rein. Hitler concentrated all power in his person, then did not often formally exercise it. He mostly just slept in, watched movies and orated to his syncophants. As a result, functionaries at all levels were free to do just about as they wished, subject to eternal jockeying for position against other bureaucrats. So were the self-regulating professions.

In other words, one way to look at Nazism as it transpired in Germany is to see it as what bureaucracy leads to: let it have its way, and this is what you end up with.

The Nazis were also sexual libertines. This is worth stressing, because there is much jive about these days likening those who insist on traditional morality to Nazis. There was no question of sexual “repression.” Sex was good—it increased the race. There were states-sponsored bordellos. The “Night of the Amazons” Festival was held annually in Munich, featuring lavish displays of topless local beauties.