Episode 144 [2/3]: Emily Ruhl: Religiously-defensible, divinely-supported genocide

Activist #MMT - podcast

Welcome to episode 144 of Activist #MMT. Today's part two of a three-part conversation with historian, author, and Harvard master's graduate, Emily Ruhl, on her new paper and master's thesis, In League with the Devine: How Religion Influenced Nazi Perpetrators of the Holocaust. You will find my detailed question list at the bottom of the show notes for part one. Also, be sure to see the list "audio chapters" in all three parts (look below!) to find exactly where each topic is discussed.

A full introduction can be found at the beginning of part one, but for now, let's get right back to my conversation with Emily Ruhl. Enjoy.

Audio chapters

• 2:43 - German pseudo-religion: three parts: anti-Semitism, Blut und Boden (blood and soil), and Volksgemeinschaf (the German worldview)
• 3:50 - Racism is an impossible concept. The only way to preserve the German Aryan theory is to exterminate anyone not "definitely" Aryan.
• 7:21 - The order in which you kill changes it from murder to sanctioned by God
• 11:12 - Religion is both coercion and a salve once what they were coerced to do is done.
• 20:31 - The biggest bias in sources is the power of those who created (wrote, filmed, etc.) it.
• 29:21 - "No punishment" for those refusing to kill, but only if they didn't threaten the regime.
• 30:12 - Religious symbols: pins (SS lightning bolts), belt buckles, architecture, white doctors coats.
• 44:28 - Symbols in architecture
• 48:59 - Different levels of Nazis: killing versus deciding who to kill (doctors, commandants, soldiers)
• 55:30 - Duplicate of introduction, with no background music (for those with sensitive ears)