Hannah Arendt on the History of the Modern Jew and its Ties to Totalitarianism German-born, Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt made her literary debut with her book The Origins of Totalitarianism which she published in 1951 to discuss the roots of Naziism, Jewry, and totalitarianism as present in current society. Arendt’s work can still be looked at today as an analysis of how totalitarianism can come to be. Additionally, it can be used as a warning for signs of totalitarianism today and help prevent it from coming to power. Arendt claims modern Jewry, a product of the French Revolution, was followed by the development of anti semitism which led to the Holocaust and totalitarianism in Germany. Towards the end of the French Revolution in the …show more content…
Hitler came into power because people were scared, and when people are scared they look for an easy solution. The easy solution that Hitler provided was to blame the Jews. As people began to support Hitler, others followed due to the fear and the mob mentality. The concept of having Jews as the “objective enemy” is important to totalitarianism because it keeps the fear in the society which causes people to search for guidance in their leader. Arendt argues that it is insignificant who the enemy is, and that they can change. Additionally, she says “totalitarian regimes are not afraid of the logical implications of world conquest even if they work the other way around and are detrimental to their own peoples' interests” (416). She is explaining how even if it will hurt a society in the long run, the goal of totalitarianism is to further the movement which only works with an objective enemy like the Jews in Hitler’s Germany. For example, Nazis creating the “Aryan” race would be bad for Germany in the long run because it would lead to uniformity, but it does not matter because once people are on board, it is crucial to keep them there using terror in order to promote the movement. Arendt believes that terror is to keep people in line, not to get people in …show more content…
Isolation prevents independent thought and was done as an experiment to see what would happen when people were stripped of their freedoms to the point where they are less than animal. When people are isolated and become atomized as in a concentration camp, their existence for the sake of individuality is replaced by existence as a piece of the puzzle that is the historical process. They no longer have individuality, but exist to show movement. Loneliness is a product of isolation and lack of ability to act politically which leads to superfluousness as those who are isolated become abandoned by the community who learns to carry on without them. Loneliness already exists without totalitarianism so if totalitarianism were to take over, it would be a serious threat to society and lead to major