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Quote by Christopher Browning

“The various Eichmann testimonies are truly staggering in their total volume. But how, if at all, can they be used? Even more than most memoirs, the Eichmann testimonies, both before and after capture, are consciously calculated attempts at self-representation, self-justification, and legal defense. It must be said as emphatically perpetrator testimony as possible that, at the core of these testimonies, there are three monstrous falsehoods that are central to his whole enterprise. -- Perpetrator Testimony: Another Look at Adolf Eichmann, pages 8-9.”

Quote by Christopher Browning

Book:Collected Memories: Holocaust History and Postwar Testimony
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Collected Memories: Holocaust History and Postwar Testimony

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Christopher Browning

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“Plato's proposals in this matter are abhorrent to all true Christians. His intentions were, of course, excellent, for he desired the greatest possible improvement of the human race; but his good intentions led him to the proposal of measures which are necessarily unacceptable and repugnant to all those who adhere to Christian principles concerning the value of the human personality and the sanctity of human life. Moreover, it by no means follows that what has been found successful in the breeding of animals, will also prove successful when applied to the human race, for man has a rational soul which is not intrinsically dependent on matter but is directly created by Almighty God. Does a beautiful soul always go with a beautiful body or a good character with a strong body? Again, if such measures were successful — and what does "successful" mean in this connection? — in the case of the human race, it does not follow that the Government has the right to apply such measures. Those who to-day follow, or would like to follow, in the footsteps of Plato, advocating, e.g. compulsory sterilisation of the unfit, have not, be it remembered, Plato's excuse, that he lied at a period anterior to the presentation of the Christian ideals and principles. — 230”

ValuesChristianityPlatoUnbornEugenicsProlifeEugenicist
Book:A History of Philosophy, Vol 1.1 Greece and Rome
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“Nationalism is the belief that your nation is superior to all other nations, which means all other nations are inferior to your nation. You then believe everyone else is subhuman; they’re not as good as you. If you are a mediocre person with mediocre IQ, mediocre life, believing you’re from the master race, you can look down on everybody else. It gives people, who have a meaningless life, a false sense of meaning and a false sense of value. Nationalism has been around for 230 years, making the world a really crappy place. There is no nation that is better than the next, and people who believe that are just stupid and haven’t traveled enough.”

IgnoranceEqualityNationalismSuperiorityMediocreInferioritySubhumanMaster RaceFalse MeaningFalse Value
Author:Roy Casagranda
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“В Германии практически каждый знал о Холокосте — ведь он начался с массовых убийств в Восточной Европе, в которых приняли непосредственное участие десятки тысяч немцев. Сотни тысяч, если не миллионы, знали об этом; вероятно, чуть ли не каждый немецкий солдат на Восточном фронте. И мы знаем, что они писали об этом домой. Я полагаю, что Холокост как факт был широко известен задолго до того, как был устроен Освенцим. А после войны пришли американцы и британцы и обнаружили лагеря смерти. И они спросили у немцев: "Вы знали об этом?" И получили вполне правдивый ответ: "Нет, мы не знали точно, что там происходило". Так лагеря заслонили собой Холокост. И по сегодняшний день Холокост у немцев ассоциируется прежде всего с лагерями смерти, хотя на самом деле он был сравнительно мало связан с ними [161].”

MemoryHolocaustAuschwitzComplicitySubstitutionDeath Camps
Book:Украинская история, российская политика, европейское будущее
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“THE THING WAS AN EXPERT IN HORROR, BUT THIS HUMAN HORROR INDEED EXCEEDED ANY OTHER POSSIBLE FATE. NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS WITHOUT MERCY, BUT BECAUSE IT WAS ACTED UPON RATIONALLY AND WITHOUT COMPULSION. IT WAS A CHOICE. THE KILLING WAS UNRELATED TO THE LARGE WAR, AND IT SERVED NO OTHER PURPOSE THEN EVIL. MEN CHOSE TO DO THIS TO OTHER MEN AND INVENTED REASONS AND PLACES AND MYTHS IN ORDER TO SATISFY THEIR DESIRE IN A LOGICAL AND METHODICAL WAY.”

HorrorWorld War 2Death CampsThe Strain
Book:The Strain
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“Een drama in ons leven wordt altijd door de metafoor van zwaarte uitgedrukt. We zeggen dat we een zware last dragen. We kunnen die last aan of we bezwijken eronder, we struikelen of we gaan ertegenaan, we verliezen of we overwinnen. Maar wat is Sabina dan overkomen? Niets. Ze is weggegaan bij een man omdat ze bij hem weg wilde. Achtervolgde hij haar soms? Wreekte hij zich? Nee. Haar drama was niet een drama van zwaarte, maar van lichtheid. Sabina ging niet gebukt onder een last, maar onder de ondraaglijke lichtheid van het bestaan.”

LevenBestaanLichtheidZwaarte
Book:The Unbearable Lightness of Being
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“Echt serieus zijn namelijk alleen maar de vragen die zelfs een kind kan formuleren. Alleen de naïefste vragen zijn echt serieus. Het zijn vragen waarop geen antwoord bestaat. Een vraag waarop geen antwoord bestaat, is een barrière waar je niet aan voorbij kunt. Met andere woorden: juist door vragen waarop geen antwoord is, worden menselijke mogelijkheden beperkt, worden de grenzen van het menselijk bestaan afgebakend.”

BestaanVragenOnbeantwoord
Book:The Unbearable Lightness of Being
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