Hitler Exhibition: It takes a country to raise a dictator

The Hitler Exhibition at the German Historical Museum in Berlin is showing the world just what it takes to raise a dictator.

The focus is not upon the machinery of war – it is instead upon the props of war.  These props are much more likely to be found in homes and schools than they are to be found on battlefields.  At least initially…  Without the bottom-up support of everyday families, these same battlefields might never have become so bloodied. 

What do these props look like?  They look like tiny toy Hitlers that lurk beneath the Christmas tree.  They look like swastika-laden lanterns that hang in living rooms.  They look like playing cards that advertise Schutzstaffel (SS) faces.  Perhaps worst of all – they look like church-woven tapestries that integrate the Lord’s Prayer with Nazi imagery.

Calling Hitler the one-and-only monster has been the commonly preferred means of coping with Nazi horrors.  This practice of scapegoating (putting collective blame upon one individual) goes back to ancient times.  Leviticus 16:1-10 tells about Aaron’s God-given task of presenting two goats as offerings - one to the Lord, and the other to Satan.  Collective sinfulness therefore bleeds into scapegoat sinfulness.  Atonement could then become more about sacrificing goats than about reeducating people.

Today’s systems-theory psychology closely examines the group dynamics of scapegoating.  Family therapist Murray Bowen notes triangulation patterns in which tension between two people is deflected onto a third party.  For example, a husband and wife are arguing in the kitchen until their child wanders in for a snack.  Suddenly, the child is being “ganged up on” for not having done the dishes.  The child now becomes the

“bad guy” so that the parents can feel better about themselves and their own relationship.  Nothing like a common enemy to quickly unify a group…

However, scapegoating is not nearly as effective in the long run.  Collective guilt tends to fester when not acknowledged.  In all countries, history tends to repeat when not truly atoned for…

Resources

http://www.vosizneias.com/66097/eid/52798338

http://ldolphin.org/scapegoat.html

http://family.jrank.org/pages/1707/Triangulation-Systemic-Structural-Family-Theories.html