Horyzonty Wychowania (Mar 2017)
Wenn das Böse wie das Gute aussieht...
Abstract
On the example of Rudolf Höss, the commanding officer of Auschwitz,theauthor ponders over the fact how man, who was not a sadist by nature, man who was not mentally ill, who was a loving husband and father, could become the greatest perpetrator of genocide in history? He also gives some thought to the essence of a complete loss of humanity. Thecausesofsuchbehaviouraresoughtfirstofallinthenegativeexperiencesoflovetakenfromhome,whoseconsequence isbreakingoffanycontactswithfamily,withdrawingfromChurch and disavowing Catholic faith, and finally joining NSDAP (National Socialist German labour party). ThenextreasonforHöss’sbrutalconductisdiscernedbythe authorinthenational-socialistideologyheadopted.Accordingto theauthor,itisNazism,which limited people to animal-like conduct(intheliteralmeaningoftheword)anddeprivedthemofany dignityandfreedom,thatmadeHöss’sconscienceappeaseand drew out his sensitivity to other man’s suffering. TheauthorcontraststhecruelconductofthecommandingofficerofAuschwitzwithhishumanity.Heshowstheexistingtracesof goodness, which were supposed to become a sort of protest againstevil,whichwascausedbyhimandwhichshapedhiswork and conduct. His deliberations are based mainly on the period RudolfHössspentinprison.Theauthorstressesthatitwasthere thathisinternaltransformationtookplace,thepricksofconscience andtheawarenessofbrutalityappeared.ItwasonlyinPolishprisons,asaresultofhumanetreatment,thatHössfoundhishumanity,convertedintoCatholicismandapologizedforhiscrimes. Concluding, the author deliberates on whether one can talk about man’s guilt in the case he was wounded by improper Catholic upbringing as a child, then his conscience was drawn out by the national-socialist ideology, to finally discover his humanity and dignity anew in Polish prisons.
