Will Smith, Hitler and the Holocaust's Unanswerable Question

Will Smith found himself in hot water last week after making a statement to a Scottish newspaper that Adolph Hitler "didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today.' I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was good."

Smith's quote was preceded by the interviewer's gratuitous observation, "Remarkably, Will believes everyone is basically good." So websites pounced on Smith for allegedly believing that Hitler was "a good person," even though Smith said no such thing.

The Jewish Defense League said Smith's words "spit on the memory of every person murdered by the Nazis" and called on theaters to boycott Smith's new movie. It looked like another Mel Gibson moment in the making.

But what was lost in the controversy is that Smith's actual statement -- not that Hitler was a good person, but that Hitler thought he was a good person -- lies at the heart of one of the most baffling questions about Hitler that historians and philosophers have grappled with since the Holocaust.

The most cogent discussion of that question is laid out in Ron Rosenbaum's brilliant book Explaining Hitler, which ought to be required reading for anyone interested in deciphering the worst villainy in modern history.

Rosenbaum examines various attempts by historians and philosophers to explain "what made Hitler Hitler." And one of Rosenbaum's most interesting discussions centers on the very issue Will Smith addressed:

Did Hitler, Rosenbaun asks, "believe in some deeply deluded way that he was doing good?" In other words, was he "convinced of his own rectitude," as Hitler biographer Hugh Trevor-Roper and many other scholars have argued? Or was Hitler "deeply aware of his own criminality," as philosophers such as Berel Lang and others maintain?

To frame this discussion, Rosenbaum points to a tradition in Western philosophy going back to Plato that draws a distinction between two concepts: "evil" and "wicked."

In this tradition, "evil" can describe people who do terrible things but who think, in their own deluded way, that they are actually doing good. "Wickedness," on the other hand, is reserved for people who do terrible things "knowing they are doing wrong."

In the case of Hitler, the question of whether he knew he was doing wrong and just did it anyway, or whether he actually thought he was doing good despite his horrific acts, bedevil all attempts to understand the worst crime of the twentieth century.

And interestingly, lots of scholars come down on the side of Will Smith, arguing that Hitler was "convinced of his own rectitude."

Not all of these people are philosophical hairsplitters, either. Rosenbaum finds, for example, an "unexpected echo of this rectitude argument" in Israel's chief Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wisenthal Center.

"When I asked Zuroff....whether Hitler was conscious of doing wrong, he was even more emphatic than Trevor-Roper. 'Of course not!' he practically yelled at me. 'Hitler thought he was a doctor! Killing germs!...He believed he was doing good, not evil.'"

Rosenbaum himself is not convinced. Later in his book he writes that he is "more inclined to see Hitler as a vicious, cold-blooded hater who fabricated, counterfeited a mask of rectitude for the sake of history and expediency."

But while many agree with Rosenbaum, many principled scholars, biographers, philosophers -- even Nazi hunters -- do not.

In fact, when you look at Will Smith's actual quote, he describes the "rectitude" argument rather concisely. Hitler, he said, did not use logic but rather "a twisted, backwards logic" to do not good but "what he thought was good." Zuroff could hardly have put it more succinctly.

As soon as the controversy erupted, Will Smith issued a statement clarifying his belief that Hitler was "a vile, heinous vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet."

Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League accepted the clarification. "We welcome and accept Will Smith's statement that Hitler was a 'vicious killer,'" Foxman said, "and that he did not mean for his remarks about the Nazi leader to be mistaken as praise."

Foxman pointed out that words "can be twisted by those with hate and bigotry in their hearts. This is why all celebrities bear a special responsibility to weigh their words carefully, and an obligation to speak out against racism and bigotry whenever even a whiff of it appears, as Will Smith has done in this instance."

Well said. But journalists, bloggers and anti-hate groups also have a responsibility to weigh their words carefully, and not to stifle or demonize attempts to understand the nature of Nazi evil.

That evil stands at the center of modern history -- and modern life. Did Hitler represent, as Emil Fackenheim has said, a unique "eruption of demonism into history" -- in which case he stands at a comfortable remove from the rest of us? Or was Hitler simply a more extreme version of something much more familiar -- a person who thought he was doing good, even if it had to be accomplished by terrible means? In which case his misdeeds are much more troubling, because they are at least somewhat recognizable.

Will Smith may not be a scholar, historian or philosopher, but he was expressing a widely-held and respected side of that question. It's a question that can never be answered. But merely asking it, merely pondering it, represents a small step in humanity's struggle to assure that what Hitler did, for whatever reasons he did it, is less likely to happen again.

Comments

[keriheb]

What is sad is the misunderstanding of the language used by Will Smith and what could appear to be the JDL's overly sensitive reaction to what that organization may view as its exclusive area as it defines itself as the defining expert on the holocaust. As many commentaries have noted "Holocaust" is not the exclusive experience of European Jews, and which victims experience was more barbaric to me misses the point.

The European holocaust was not just a Jewish tragedy, but rather, a Human Tragedy. It was a part of our collective pain and shame. In my opinion before we are Christians, Moslems, Hindu or Jews we are part of the human collective. Our faith is not genetic but a matter of consciousness and spiritual growth. This tragedy was a human failure that because of our global ghetto mentality of petty nationalism, we have placed at risk the whole of humanity. These Jews needed to have their humanity protected and celebrated as well as their religion and faith. And on this point we are all entitled to speak and contribute to the collective discourse and growth of our shared humanity. Carving out European Jews as their exclusive domaigne does not solve the problem but possibly perpetrates it further. As long as we can see humans as those people over there, we can objectify or rationalize their mistreatment for some rationalized political or religious reason. When these people are thought of as family, the Human Family, then they deserve the dignity and treatment of any of our family members.

What I find particularly beautiful in these comments is the effort by many to recognize our collective pain and collective needs and their efforts to engage in discourse to explain their understanding of a human problem. This ability to discuss has been greatly suppressed since 9/11 and before that limited with middle eastern issues and economic issues in other parts of the world. I pray we can all find more words to express ourselves and use less guns to resolve our collective human issues in the future. God Bless You All!

[Newfycrat]

Will Smith said:
"I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good.'" Smith told the paper.
*****"Stuff like that just needs reprogramming."*****


There are two parts to this. The discussion of the nature of evil,
and this whole bit about "reprogramming" solving it all.
While everyone is focused on the first, most are totally ignoring the second part of his quote. I personally don't think Mr. Smith would have brought up the first unless he believed that the second would cure it. His recent quotes about Scientology suggests to me that this is all about how that religion would have cured Hitler, and it totally fits with how Scientology markets itself that they would have a celebrity bring up their philosophy to be printed in a newspaper to bring about discussion and converts.

[AMolinaro]

Mr. Smith stated exactly what I believe to be the truth about Hitler. In every text I have read on Nazi Germany, and I have yet to find one that makes even the slightest attempt to paint Hitler as a sympathetic character, there is the overriding theme that Hitler was doing what he believed to be best for his country. None of this makes him any less reprehensible, and Mr. Smith didn't make any claim to the contrary.

I had no plans to see "I Am Legend," but if simpletons are going to call for a boycott because of Mr. Smith's entirely neutral comments, I'm going to see it this weekend.

[ArchAngel]

The take away lesson from all of this is that the ends never justify the means. Never again.

[humbug]

Will Smith offered an astute observation that happens to be shared with most thoughtful and rational people. Abraham Foxman makes the error that is often made, both by my fellow Jews and by opportunistic politicians. They cannot separate the horror of events from the intrinsic motivation. Hitler led Nazi Germany to engage in unmitigated horror, never before seen. But he believed, like a sitting president I could name, that he could not possibly be wrong. This belief in their own infallibility reveals a narcissism and grandiosity that, were we possessed of a magic crystal ball, we would take note and never allow them to lead anyone. Unfortunately such leaders do believe they are doing the best thing. We should all learn that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Take a note Mr. Foxman!

[charon]

Mr. Smith was making the same point that Kant made 200 years ago. Kant correctly pointed out that people do not act in a way they consider wrong at the time. Later they may come to admit it was wrong, or not, but the actions, such as murder, at the moment of the act, are justified to themselves, whether because they think they are carrying out God's will, or because they think they are killing weak, inferior, hairy yellow subhumans, or lopping off heads of lettuce.

The wife-beater feels he is right because his wife cheated on him, etc; the thief deserves what is not his because he has the power to take it, in his view. The list goes on. People, even bad ones, have a need to maintain the illusion that they are right. Later they may change their minds, but when they decide to act they justify it as right, and since it is (to them) right, it is (in their mind) okay.

This is what I think Smith meant. He was trying to make the point by using a very extreme example of evil and show how even Hitler didn't think he was doing wrong, but was a good (or more likely, great) person in his own mind since he thought he was doing something like "purifying the race." We can call such an obviously absurd rationalization psycho- pathological, but Hitler did not see it as anything but the truth.

Smith was not saying that Hitler was justified in what he did because he believed it was right. Jack the Ripper may have thought he was cleaning up the streets of bad girls, but Smith, and most of us, would consider it murder.

Mr. Smith was only making that point, whether or not we agree with it, and never meant in any way to say Hitler was right. People who cannot understand that simple point are either prejudiced against Mr. Smith or are too ignorant to understand it. A very sad commentary on the state of contemporary culture.

[elcid66]

Why is it no one can say Hitler's name without eliciting hysteria?

[Dap]

Dear Mr. Rotello,

What a remarkably eloquent and profound essay/post. Kudos.

Here's my two cents:

Will Smith's (et al) argument, is clearly based in psychological, and empirical facts by weight. Those on the others side have based their arguments in subjectivity and with clear bias in their method, clearly sophism.
Agape.

[Tankan]

An interesting psychological profile of Hitler, circa 1934 may be found at:

http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hitler-adolf/oss-papers/text/profile-index.html

[llozano]

I agree that Will Smith did not imply that Hitler was a good man and that he did good. Where this line of reasoning has me baffled is that to do good he had to commit some hedious crimes. I cannot reconcile his intentions with the actions. He played on people's fears and prejudices and used it for his own power. I cannot help but believe that he had no soul or conscience as most mass murderers.

[Fukai]

Gabriel Rotello makes a good point. However, I think that there are other factors that need to be examined. In particular, it seems obvious that Hitler's ambition as well as his personal failures contributed greatly to the onset of the Holocaust. It seems to me that Hitler was controlled more by emotion than any sort of morality, and as such I find it strange to try to analyze his actions solely in terms of intentions.

[FogBelter]

To echo Nommo, Mr Rotello, as Euro-Americans settled the West and extirpated the Native American population, did they view their actions as evil? Did Slave owners previous to the Civil War view themselves as evil? Did American pilots creating firestorms in German and Japanese cities during WWII see their actions as evil? Did the pilots that dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki view themselves as evil?

How many Americans today view themselves as evil for the actions of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan?

The list goes on, and on, and on.

I'm in no way an apologist for Hitler (My great-grandfather lost his parents and 14 brothers and sisters in the Holocaust), but Will Smith is right, people, like Hitler, wake up in the morning asking "How can I do good?" not "How can I do evil?"

That reality, astutely recognized by Will Smith, should terrify us all.

[MagisterLudi]

The artificial categories of ethical discourse are powerless to define the phenomenon of National Socialism in Germany in general, and Hitler in particular.
One can participate in any number of post-modernist language games and come up ewith insufficient definitions.
Hitler was a complex personality, whose main drive was will to power, everything else was most likely secondary.
As he grew in power, his appetites grew and he became more emboldened.
The tragedy was that unlike in the case of clueless Italian fascists or Japanese overreaching imperialists, into Hitler's hands fell a well-educated,highly industrialized nation with a military caste all used to obedience and "Ordnung."
It was this lethal combination that allowed Hitler and his semi-educated thugs to attempt implementation of some of the most hallucinatory political projects of all times.

Yet, there are always people who can't help but be impressed by mass murders in attractive uniforms ( esp. SS and Gestapo uniforms).
Miniscule-time power mongers like Louis Farrakhan, always went on about Hitler's great leadership and accomplishments achieved for Germans( although did realize that Hitler though blacks were even lower than Jews).
But that's human nature. Those who will power are more apt to model Hitler than Gandhi.

[middleoftheroad]

That reporter needs "reprogramming"!

[larstein]

Hitler considered himself to be God's instrument on earth. Sound familiar? Every crackpot psycho from Napoleon to suicide bomber thinks himself to be at the right hand of God. If the Bush years have taught us anything, it's an awareness of what megalomania looks like. There is an unsettled frenzy in the eyes, as if behind the macho pose is fire, chaos and rage. Previous generations have identified this pathology as the "devil". It is really an addiction to power itself. The rush that comes knowing you have earth shaking firepower at your command has to be potent enough to make a weak mind go crazy. Killing folks, for these types, becomes an abstraction that only God's approval will justify.