Rise of Nazis

Nazi/Third Reich terminology in popular culture

See main article, Hitler in popular culture.

The multiple atrocities and racist ideology that the Nazis followed have made them notorious in popular discourse as well as history. The term "Nazi" has become a genericised term of abuse. So have other Third Reich terms like "FÐ"јhrer" (often spelled "fuhrer" or less often, but more correctly, "fuehrer" in English-speaking countries), "Fascist", "Gestapo" (short for Geheime Staatspolizei, or Secret State Police in English) or "Hitler". The terms are used to describe any people or behaviours that are viewed as thuggish, overly authoritarian, or extremist.

The terms are also used to describe anyone or anything seen as strict or doctrinaire. Phrases like "grammar nazi", "Feminazi", "Open Source Nazi", and "parking [enforcement] nazis", are examples of those in use in the USA. These uses are offensive to some, as the controversy in the popular press over the Seinfeld "Soup Nazi" episode indicates, but still the terms are used so frequently as to inspire "Godwin's Law".

More innocent terms, like "fashion police", also bear some resemblance to Nazi terminology (Gestapo, Secret State Police) as well as references to Police states in general.

Another similar effect can be observed in the usage of typefaces. Some people strongly associate the blackletter typefaces (e.g. fraktur or schwabacher) with Nazi propaganda (although the typeface is much older, and its usage, ironically, was banned by government order in 1941). A less strong association can be observed with the Futura typeface, which today is sometimes described as "germanic" and "muscular".

In popular culture such as films like the Indiana Jones series, Nazis are often considered to be ideal villains whom the heroes can battle without mercy.

Dr. Cube from Kaiju Big Battel is depicted as a Nazi plastic surgeon gone mad.

Video game website IGN declared Nazis to be the most memorable video game villains ever [9].

Nazi locations

Nazism, both before and after World War II, was a quasi-religion to its followers, and like many world religions, Nazism had its own venerated locations or sites, as opposed to Holocaust sites. National socialist Savitri Devi visited many of the Nazi sites during a tour of the sites circa 1953: [22]

Ð'* Berchtesgaden, home of the Berghof;

Ð'* Braunau am Inn, birthplace of Adolf Hitler (in Austria);

Ð'* Feldherrnhalle, site of the failed Munich Putsch;

Ð'* Leonding, where the parents of Adolf Hitler were buried;

Ð'* Linz, where Hitler went to school;

Ð'* Landsberg am Lech, where Hitler was imprisoned;

Ð'* Nuremberg, site of the enormous Nazi rallies;

Ð'* Wewelsburg, headquarters of the Schutzstaffel (SS); and

Ð'* Wunsiedel, burial site of Rudolf Hess.

Devi also visited some sites, not directly connected to Nazism, but perceived to be of spiritual or German-national significance: [22]

Ð'* Externsteine, pre-Christian mountain-pillar formation; and,

Ð'* Hermannsdenkmal, statue of Germany's national hero Arminius the Cheruscan.

References and notes

1. ^ a b "Nazi Party - EncyclopÐ"¦dia Britannica" (overview), EncyclopÐ"¦dia Britannica, 2006, Britannica.com webpage: Britannica-NaziParty.

2. ^ a b c d e f g "February 24, 1920: Nazi Party Established" (history), Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, 2004, webpage: YV-Party.

3. ^ a b "Australian Memories Of The Holocaust" (history), Glossary, definition of "Nazi" (party), N.S.W. Board of Jewish Education, New South Wales, Australia, webpage: HolocaustComAu-Glossary.

4. ^ a b "The History Place - Hitler Youth" (history), The History Place, 1999, webpage: HPlace-HitlerYouth.

5. ^ a b c d "Kriegsverbrechen der alliierten SiegermÐ"¤chte" ("war crimes of allied powers"), Pit Pietersen, ISBN 3-8334-5045-2, 2006, page 151, webpage: GoogleBooks-Pietersen: describes Hitler as "Propagandachef" and becoming chairman on July 29, 1921.

6. ^ a b c d e "MAGIC REALISM - A book review by William Main" (on Nazi occultism), William Main, Fidelity magazine, South Bend, IN, December 1994, EWTN.com webpage: EWTNcom-Nazi-Occult.

7. ^ "Timebase Multimedia Chronography - Timebase 1912" (events list), R.H. Perez, 2001, Humanitas-International.org webpage: web.

8. ^ "UPDATE: The National Review labels Joschka Fischer as Nazi Propaganda Minister" (news), Atlantic Review (online), July 2006, AtlanticReview.org