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12
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Wilhelm PrU.1.ler, drafted into tne German Army, not a Nazi,
nas published abooklet : "Diary of a German soldier 11
Re fought wi.tn nis unit on the Russian front •
He writes :
"We reached. our first target Nish Dolgoe, or rather the place
wnere it used to stand up till a few hours ago. The few wooden
huts were blown tQ smithereens by our rocket mortars.
Tony remains - a few strong wooden beams and bits of household
equipment are all that's left. Frightened covilians crwa.ling
out 01· tne cellars , the !'ear of death in their eyes ,
weeping children , grown-ups shaking with fear , the apathy
of the very old ones • '!'hat was Nish Dolgoe •
Dear God, we thank thee that this war must not be fougnt on
German soil • 11
Peter Sichrovslg has written about the children and r.andchildren of Nazi families.
He writes aoout 15 of the , a mixture of important personages
and simple fellow travelers. It was the vast mass of loya
decent oureaucrats, officers, policemen, mayors, railroad
employees, teachers and so on, that greased the wheels
of the Nazi dictatorship.
Says one:, For you gentiles and jews who s~:vived, the
suffering ended with Hitler's death. But for us the children
oft.he Nazi's, it didn't end. When their world collapsed
1n ruins and ashes, the heroes of the Thir
eich staked
another battle ground - the family."
Says another: 11 Once, one single t1me, my father was drunk enough
to talk about i t , how terrible 1t na been, that time
they had to shoot children one by one with a nandgun because
these idiot soldiers had aimed their automatic weapons too
nigh above the heads of the children • 11
I
Jean and I can tell you of our particular experiences, but
we must f it them to the purpose of the whole, with proper
attriDution to the many of our small band who did not live to
see the day of liberation.
We survivors are fast dwindling in numbers; we have the fee l ing
that we are still too close to it to write the definitive
history about i f . The names of them who passed away, mean
little to the generation of today. A few have been commemorated
on monuments or in street J[l'lames. In many cases history
has been falsified: in the period between Sept ember 17, 1944
t o ~ May 1945 , 9 of the 11 provinces of The Netherlanss
remained occupied , and unrepre.s ented in t he government .
In the f reed provinces of Brabant and Limburg a strong minority
existed of dubious loyalty, which has managed that cleansing
the country of Nazi's, collaborators etc. was frustrated .
�The German war industry put Hitler in power in 1933 and 193~ .
Bernt Engelmann came out of an intelligent, liberal minded
German family , and happened to survive Dachau when the A.m erican
armies overran that concentration camp.
In his book : "In Hitler's Germany" he explains , wonderfully
clearly ( and by the way in excelllent translation) how a small
minority of thugs could take over a great power.
What strikes our imagination is the speed with which these thugs
played on the field of geo-politics to set the stage for the
final blow against the Allies.
- - - - - - ---
J
Jan 26, 193~ German-Polish friendship and non-aggression pact.
Feb 7 , 1934 German Defense council orders the economic prepara: ·t ion
for war •
Jun 3u - July 2, 1934 Leadership of the s.A. killed off.
their "leader" R8hm inclu:led •
Aug 2, 1934 German President Hindenburg dies.
The office:;of Reichspresident and Re~chscharmlor
united in the hands of Hitler as:
"Fuhrer and Reichschancelor"
On the initiatmve of General Blomberg-Reichenau
the armed. forces take the oatn of loyalty to
Hitier personally.
July 25, 1934 Austria's democrat ,ically elected chancelor
tloll fusz murdered.
Sept 9, 1934 USSR joins the League of Nations.
T.ne thugs who took over Germany, the Nazi's, never amounted to
more than 10% of the adult popupiQ;tion.
In the other totalitarian country Russia, 7% of the adult
population had membership in the comm.must party.
It does not iake much to destroy freedom.
What followed 193~ what a systematized destruction of useless
elderly people ( 70, uoo Germans were annihilated ), Jews , in Germany
since old times the most nationalistic group, gypsies etc.,
Now we cannot face death without blinking; but to face not
only one's own !'ate , but also that of parents -grandparents,
children, grandchildren, familymembers, friends and acqaintenances simultaneously, is still another dimension.
Evil again proved more powerful than good. It seems a distinct
entity like a devo31ring flame, like a hcllocaust, like a mighty
storm, like a huge tidal wave.
The slmk to human dignaty A,~l)personal dignity was numbing •
"you are nothing , your country is all" the never ending drumbeat of propaganda droned on: to hate became the goal, and it
_ _ _ _ _____ was carefully taiaght day in day out.
�
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Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection
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Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman)
Termaat, Peter N.
Description
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Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar.
Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II.
Date
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1869 - 2012
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a>
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Netherlands
Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands
Dutch
Dutch Americans
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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RHC-144
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eng
nl
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RHC-144_Termaat_WRI_PNT-Nazi-brutality
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Termaat, Pieter
Title
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Notes on Germany
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Notes by Pieter N. Termaat on Germans and Germany before and after World War II.
Subject
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Germany -- Social conditions
Social conditions
Germany
World War, 1939-1945
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eng
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Anti-Semitism existed in Germany and other European countries for many
hundreds of years. The racist doctrines which made their initial appaerance in the 19th century added momentum to the hatrsd of tne Jews.
In many countries, racist anti-semitism was used as an instrument of
political propaganda to gain the support of the masses. However it was
only in e 1930's with the growth of the National Socialist Party and
Hitler's rise to power in Germany that anti-Semitism was adopted as a
policy by a major political party.
Racisme added new and substantial dimensions to t.radi tio ·inal antisemitism. In the past. hatred of jaws had had specific grounds and
vertain lines of development. The hatred nurtured by ancient Christian
.concepts regarded the jews as the people of Israel and the people of
the Messiah, but also as the people who had re3ected its redeemer
Jesus, and thus had condemned itself to ostracism and the eternal
enmity of the Christian world. The jews had to be kept in a state of
servitude, misery and degradation.
Moreover , their eternal wandering among the nations forever at the
mercy of Christians, seemed. to coni"irm the veracity of Christian
teachings.
Later aniti-semitism was reinforced by a greatre stress on economic
social and pol..J.tical factors.
According to Nazi theorists the danger ca.me only from their tainted
J ew1.sh blood •
The German people constituted. in their opinion the highest stratum
of the Nordic -Aryan race. All others especially jews were sub-humans.
Manifest destiny demanded of the Germans that they wage an uncompromising struggle for their heritage, primacy and power.
According to Nazi theory, humanity is not a homogenous unit, and the
human race has no common denominatot.
On the eve of WWII in January 1939 Hitler said:
11
Today I w111 once more be a propnet • If the 1ntinmational financiers
inside and outside Europe should again succeed in pl~ng the nations
into a world war , the result will not be bolsnevisation of ~he
ear'th and thus the victory of jewry , but the annihilations of the
jewish. race tnrougneut Europe • "
Thus jewry ca.me to be regarded as enemy number one, and the murder
or jews became one of the aims for which the war was being waged.
In 1Y2J the NSDAP attempted a political coup in MUnich.
In 1924 the Nazi's received only J %of tne votes cast and had 14
representatives in the Reiohstag.
In 192~ they received only 2.6% of the vore and had 12 Jllll"epresentatives
in the Reichstag •
However 1Y29 saw the commencement of a worldwide economic crises, with
the accompnaying social ferment and political unrest.
Thus in 1930 the elections gave the Nazi 1 s lb.J %of the vote and 107
seats in the Reichstag •
In 1932 howver they lost 34 or their seats in the elections.
They never gained an absolute majority in a free election, not, even
in the election or March 1933, when they were already in power.
It was Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg who appointea Hitler Chancelor
on the advice of Krupp.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman)
Termaat, Peter N.
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar.
Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1869 - 2012
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Netherlands
Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands
Dutch
Dutch Americans
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Identifier
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RHC-144
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Text
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application/pdf
image/jpeg
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eng
nl
Text
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RHC-144_Termaat_WRI_PNT-Anti-semitism-319
Creator
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Termaat, Pieter
Title
A name given to the resource
Notes on anti-semitism
Description
An account of the resource
Notes by Pieter N. Termaat on the nature of anti-semitism in Europe and Germany.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Antisemitism
Germany -- Social conditions
Social conditions
Germany
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a>
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
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Text
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application/pdf
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eng
-
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1
THE RELIGI ON OF N.Z:tZIS!Vl
The religious qua lity in man is o n e of the things -r:.hctt
distinguishes him from an ima l s .
,-:es h.im
maJ
There is something in man that
seek for some Great Power, Perfect Being , or
Autho r ity as an object of worship and a source of inspirdtion .
Nazism was ab l e to satisf y these religious needs by establish in g
the " racial sou l" as a higher power and by inspirin g the German
people t o strive toward the atta.inme nt of purity and p e rf e ction .
The appeal of t he Nazi religion is r ooted in the ego of ma n.
Nazism is self-g l or i fy i ng .
of a god .
Man can rai se himself to the p o sition
The attainment of perfection is within his reach .
When beginning a study of the Nazi religion , it is
important to real ize that, unl i ke oth e r rel i gions , Nazism did not
hold to be liefs that transcended beyond th is world to some
heavenly region .
In fact, Nazism made no attempts to ide ntif y a
re a li ty outside the bounderies of political power and social
order.
It was a se cul ar iz ed re lig i on.
Nazism, however , like any
religion, d i d have its own gods , but the god of the Na ~i religion
was not some supernatural being .
It was rather the natural (the
German race) raised to a supernatural level.
This transformation
of the natural into the superna tural is exemplified by the
deification of Nazi l e aders , the establishment of the will of the
people , as it was expressed by the Fuhrer, as the divi~e wi ll,
�2
and the Nazi belief that supreme truth and perfection would be
reveale d by the purification and domination of the Arya n r ac e .
In short, Nazism turned the human into the divine .
Vol k becarne the object of worship.
had become their own gods.
The people or
In a sense, the German p e ople
The personal God that is revered by
othe r relig ions as an all-powerful, supernatural b e ing is openly
denied by Naz ism and regarded as a myth.
Althou gh the seculari zed religion denies t he existance of
the all-p owerful, supernatural being that other religions reve r e
as God, Nazism.does contain many religious e l ements .
We will n ow
begin our ana lysis of the Nazi reli g ion by identifying s e vera l
elements of Nazism that are comparable to those f ound i n other
more familiar reli g ions.
To beg in with, Nazism, like all other r e ligions, had its
own ceremon i es , rituals, and sacre d meetings .
The public ralli e s
and mass-mee ting s were a time of inspiratio n and were ce l ebrat ed
as sacred actions by the enthusiastic f o ll owers of thi s
nationalistic religion.
be minimized.
The influence of these me e ti ngs must n o t
They were instrumental in uniting the people to
join in the p ursuit of a common goal.
However, it mus t be
emphasized that it was not the content of the spoken mes sa ge s at
these me etings that was the critical factor; rath e r, i t was the
way the messages were presented that caused the population t o
take up the battle cry and r a l ly under ·c.he cornmon banner of a
....
deified national soul.
The atmos phere of the meeting s had almost
mystical power t o inspire, excite, and uplift the spirits of the
pe op le.
�3
The Nazi religion also had its own "creed".
Nazi f ol lowers
placed their faith in themselves and in the power o f t h e i r ra ce
In order to re ach
to raise the world to a state of perfection.
this ideal state, they had to overcome the opposing evil fo r ce
which was the Jew.
This conflict between the goodne ss ,
perf e ctio n, and purity of the German race and the e v il, d ecadent,
a nd defiled Jewish p e ople was the basis around which all o the r
Nazi beliefs revolved.
Nazi doctrine exhorted the German s t o
maintain racial purity and promote cultural rebirth.
The
followin g three fundamental Nazi beliefs, as presented b y
Geoffrey Fie ld, adequately summarize the Nazi creed:
An obsession with racial "purity," the conviction
that the modern era was characterized by a worl d
struggle b e tween Aryan and J·ew, and the belief t hat
other nations had become miscegenated and decadent ,
l e aving Germany as the standard-beare r of
Aryanism. '
1'he principal element of any reli g ion, however, i s its go d.
The god o f Na zism, which was identified a nd briefly discu ssed
earlier in this paper, is now considered in greater detail as we
examine how the German "racial soul 1 ' was spiritualized, the
result o f this spiritualization, and the unwavering d e v o tio n of
Nazi disciples.
Volkisch nationalism and the conce p t
o f the "racia l so ul"
were necessary ingredients in the building o f the Nazi r e li g i o n.
In a sens e they we re the glue or mo rter that he l d the who le
structure together.
Without nationalistic and racial pri d e the
" Geoffrey G. Fie l d , Eva ng e list o f Race .
Press, 1981), p. ~ 5 1.
( Ne w Yo rk:
Columbi a Un iv e r sity
�German peop le would never have been able to raise themselves up
to a level of superiority and sovereignty.
If nationalism was
the mart.er of this religion, however, popular sovereignty was the
foundati on .
During the eighteenth century, the ideas of popular
soverei g nty and the genera l will of the people began t o emerge
and develop.
This movement established the people as the essence
of the nation.
The rulers of the nation were not their masters
but their s e rve nts.
The power of the nation was no lon g er
perceived as residing solely in one great prince or royal
dynasty. Instead, the power of the nation was the po ssess i o n of
the people.
This power, however, could only be realized through
unity. This is where nationalism played a key role.
As common
citizens and blood brothers the people were able to draw to ge ther
and express a general will.
It was the power of this will, the
will of the pe o ple, that they believed would lift the world o ut
of degradation into a new and glorious future.
The development of the idea of popular sovereignty had led
to the perception that the people were the source of go o dness,
gre atness, powe r and glory .
control.
Their will was divine; it was they who would determine
the future.
11
The nation's destiny was in their
Here we see a transiti on from the monarch's claim of
divine right" to the people's claim of divinity.
However, this i dea of popular sovereignty alone co uld not
build an activ e reli g ion.
....
With all it's religious qualities,
there wa s s till something missing.
The idea of popular
sovereignty prov ided the religi ou s ideolog y but not the a b ility
to put that ideology into practice.
The "power ", afte r all,
�5
could not be realized by the individual.
It was only wher..
individuals were acting together in unity that their power became
functional.
factor.
Volkisch nationali sm , then, became the uniting
Blood and race united the people so that they were no
long er primarily seen as individuals but as members of some
greater entity, namely their race.
It was not personal identity
but nati o nal identity that became the all important factor.
Nationalism was us ed by the Nazis to modify the people's object
of worship.
"The worship of the people thus became the worship
of the nation."·
The destiny of the German nation and race, then, became the
cheif conc e rn of the Nazi reli g ion.
The perpetuation,
purification, and progression of the German race was the "higher
goal" tha t became the driving force of all Nazi actions.
This
"higher goal" became the supreme law which determined the Nazi
plan of act ion.
The role of this s upreme law for the Nazis i s
perhaps comparable to the role that the law of love played in the
French village of Le Chambon. ' '
All actions and response s were
guided by one great principle.
Alex Inkeles, who uses the term
mystique to describe the idea of this "higher goal" and guiding
principle, describes for us the effect that this Nazi principle
had on the people's interpretation of what we today see as t he
questionable morality of their leader.
'George L. Mosse, The Nationalization of the Ma s ses.
:J;,ertig, Inc., 1975), p. 2.
(New York:
Howard
' 'The story of Le Charnbon i s recorded in Hallie, Philip, Le st Innocent Blood
Be Shed .
(New York:
Harper & Row Publishers, 1979).
�6
The mystique dictates their morality, indeed it
stands above ordinary human morality and places its
adherent outside the demands normally to be made of a
man and leader. Hence the totalitarian may be
cyn ical about and manipulate II law, 11 "truth,"
"honesty , 11 and so on.
For as long as he manipu l2,t.es
these in the service of the mystique, his action is
beyond question--it is law, truth, honesty, loyalty,
unto its elf. '·
When dealing with Nazism, it is important to re alize that
this religion had an altogether different idea of what is good ,
right, and true than our predominately Judea-Christian so c iety.
Nazism had its own set of commandments which superceded all other
"truths" and principles.
Nazism determined the value of all
other principles by evaluating the service they contributed
toward the acheivement of the "hi gher goal ".
For the zeal ous
Nazi, achievement of this "higher goal" was the very purpose of
life.
The r e was no other moral principle great enough to justify
any action that worked contrary to the attainment of this
purpos e .
Again Alex I~celes' words appropr iately describe such
Nazi devoti o n:
'rheir consecration is not t o man, but to the myst.ical
law which they seek to fulfill.
If they be moved b y
the hopes, the fears, and especially the pains of
their fellow men, or be slowed in the execution of
duty by the hatred of those fellow men , then they
lack the qualities essential in a disciple of the
leader. The sufferings o f ordinary human beings a re
but temptations designed to deflect the elect fr om
the pursuit of the true goal.···'
The Nazi religion demanded the complete submission of its
followers.
Nazi goals were to be g iven top p riority over all
i carl J. Friedrich , To talitarianism.
92 .
:·· rbid., p. 96.
(New York:
Grosset & Dunlap, 196~), p .
�7
other goals and desires.
An all - consuming , passionate l ove f o r
rac e and nati o n we re expected to take first place in th e l ives
of every good Nazi.
'I'his claim to preeminence and unqualified
authority i s not unlike the claims made by other reli gions .
Reve r e nce for and s u bmis s i on to a higher p ower are indeed a
com."Tlon element among al l religions.
In fac t , Leon Poliako v has
identified this submission as one of the three necessary
characteristics of a religion.
Let us simply state that the three necessary
c haracte ristics of a reli g i on--the perceptio n of a
higher power, the submission to that . power, and the
establisb.ment of relations with i t --were indi s putably
a part of Naz ism. '
This s ubmission t o a "higher power
1
''
however' was n o t
expressed through submission to the abstract ideas of blood and
ra ce but through subm ission to the absolute power of the Third
Reich.
How d id Hitler and his totalitarian re g ime obtain t his
almighty power?
The answer to this question is f ound in the
process of the deification of t he Nazi leaders .
Since the Nazi
movement was perceived as be ing the expression of the true will
of the people, the established Nazi state was seen as an
instrument us ed by the people to acheive the ir ends.
power of the state was their own power (i. e .
power).
He n ce , the
the people's
This conception makes opposition to the state a bso lute ly
ridiculous because the state is no l o nger some oppressing power.
Rather, the state is merely the tool used to carry out the will
of the people.
Hitler was also able to obtain unque stionable
• Leon Poliako v, Harv est o f Hate .
(New York:
Ho locaust Library, 1979), p . 5 .
�8
authority.
As Fuhrer, he was seen as their spiritual leader that
brought them into fuller communion with the "Power" that was
within them.
Poliakov ·writes: "he alone was the high priest who
knew how to express the divine will.
11
This adoration for the
'
spiritual l eadership of the Fuhrer gave him virtually unlimite d
power.
"As the Nazi jurist, E.R. Huber, put it:
the Fuhrer is the will of the people.
The wil l of
tt ; ,
The greatest threat to the absolute authority of the state
was the presence of other human associations .
Unlimited power
could only be achieved through the subordination of all other
organizations and institutions that may demand the loyalty of the
individual.
The presence of existing religious institutions, of
Alfred Rosenberg , Hitler' s
course, was a primary concern.
philosopher, expressed his hope of transforming Christian
bodies into "chapels of one racial church."
The role of o ld
religion was to be replaced by totalitarian ideology.
religious groups would lose their independent identity but
maintain an external existence.
Freedom of religious
confessions would remain as long as they did not imperil the
stability of the state or "offend a gainst the eth i cal and moral
senses of the German race.
tt ::,
This subjugation of the Christian
church gave rise to what was known as "positive Christianity."
The churches of "positive Christianity" obeyed the commands that
:L
....
Ibid. , p. 5 .
~' Carl J· . Friedrich, Totalitarianism,
120.
'·'Ibid., p. 111.
(New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 19 64) , p.
�9
were dictated by the state and accepted the state's ide ol ogy .
These churches became instruments of Nazi propaganda.
There was
some resistance to this compromise, but all in all, the churche s
of Germany, whose influence over the people and existing
spiritual condition were already very weak, gave in to the
demands of the Party and the State.
They "were willin g t o f i ll
the void created by their own disbelief with political
enthusiasms.
11
i
This subjugation of the Church alon g with "the
subordination of the traditional human associations, the
organizations and institutions, of which the individual is a
member becan1e the chief tool for its [the totalitarian regime's]
ultimate subordination of the individual to the state." ·
Individual loyalty was to be, first of all, for the nation
(volk), and the value of all other associations were t o b e
measured according to the service they rendered unto the
all-embracing national power of the state.
Once all other
organizations and institutions had been subordinated, the
totalitarian regime had the absolute obedience of the individual
and the power to control and direct everything.
The following passage from Alex Inkeles' essay paints a
vivid picture of the devotion, loyalty, and complete submission
that was demanded of the individual, I would like to pre s e nt this
passage from Alex Inkeles' essay:
No one is wholly, fully, one with the party and its
cause until he in fact or in reasonable facsimile has
'· Ibid., p. 111.
,::Ibid., p. 90.
�10
smashed aga inst a wall the h ead of a baby of r acially
in fe rior stock or denounced a close comrade to the
secret police.
Such unho ly acts of consecration are
th e most important rites of p as s a ge into full status
in the totalitarian movement. '
Inke les goes o n to show that once a totalitarian regime , like the
one under Hit ler, i s in p ower, there is n o turning back .
The
regime has unchecked and unlimited power, and it will do anything
to maintain that power and perpetuate the percep tion that it i s
unassailable, almighty, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
The use of terror to guarantee continued loyalty proved to
be very effective for the Nazis.
Immediately followin g the
passage cited above, Inkeles writes these words:
One wonders, futher, whether or not this demand o f
the mystique does not figure prominently as an
element in the logic of the purges, for so ofte n
their victims seem to be sacrificed not so much for
what they have done as for what they have not done.
They are cast out not for bashing in the wrong head s ,
but for not bashing in enough heads.
They are tried
not s o much for acting incorrectly, but for inac ti on
which is taken as a sign of waning d e votion and dou bt
in the mystique. The terror i s most merciless with
those o f its agents who have blanched at the
execution of the mystical imperative. ; ·
The terror o f failing to meet the expectations that are set forth
by this higher law (mystique), which is enf orced by the
all-powerful state, forces men to conform and obey out o f fear
and anxiety.
The regime seeks to create in e very man the naggin g
f e ar that he may have done something wrong , that he
may have left s omething undone , that he may have s a id
some impermissible thing .... The non-victim thus
becomes the prisoner of a va gue uncertainty which
., Ibid., p. 97.
c rbid., p. 97.
�11
nags him.
It is this nagging uncertainty in the
non-victim which the terror se eks to create. For it
is a powerful force in making every man doubly watch
his every step. ,.
In an analysis of the Nazi religion, Hitler's role can not
be ignored.
It was Hitler who became the central focus of this
new religion.
He, like Jesus and Muhammad, was attributed
god-man characteristics and hailed as a divine instrument sent to
rescue and restore his people.
Hitler was the high priest,
mediator, and savior of the Nazi religion.
He, like Jesu s , was
seen as a Messianic figure, especially by the f o llower s of the
Houston Stewart Chamberlain,
nationalistic cults like Wagnerism.
who was perceived a,_s a
and
11
spiritual father" of the Nazi movement
a "prophet of Germanism" writes this concerning Hitler:
This man has worked like a divine blessing cheering
hearts , opening men's eyes to clearly se e n goals,
enlivening their spirits , kindling their capacity fo r
love and f or indignation, harde ning t heir courage and
resoluteness. Yet we still need him badly. May God
who sent him to us pre serve him for many years as a
"blessing for the Ge rman fatherland. 11 ' '
Hitler became the idol of the German people. He was the
object of hero-worship and adoration.
The people were fully
convinced that it was he who would save the world by leading
them to victory and world domination.
Hitler himself believed that he was a divine agent. He
believed that he had been placed on earth to enlighten the
people, make them conscious of their destructive foe, and lead
,...
'· Ibid., pp. 106-107.
•~Geoffrey G. Field, Evangelist of Race.
Press, 1981), p. ~~2.
(New York:
Columbia University
�12
them t o a b e t ter and more glorious future.
His lif e was
consecreted t o the f ulfillme nt of this task.
"Thus Hitler i s ,
from this point of view, seen as re garding himself as destined by
fate to secure the fulfillment of the histor i c destiny of th -2,
German race.
11
·'
La stly , l e t us consider the eschatol ogy of Nazism .
kind of h ope did Nazism offer for the future?
ques ti on is rather s imple.
What
The a nswer t o this
The Nazi promise was the s ame promise
of fered by other religions, name ly, perfection.
Nazi s m p r omised
that the futur.e would be f ree fr om all the troubl es o f toda y .
Beauty and order would replace corruption and chaos .
c iviliz at ion would reach perfection.
Huma n
Thi s perfecti on ,
accord ing to Nazism, would be re a lized through the
establishment of an Aryan dominated society .
Nazi f o ll owe rs
e nthusi ast i ca lly received this message believing that the end
result would be a glorious one-thousand-year reign for the Third
Reich.
Knowing the promises of Nazi eschatology, one c an easily
understand the appeal that this religion had t o a humilated
people who were experiencing hard times .
Unf ortunatel y, t he
people were willing to overlook the imperf ections and sacrifices
of the present for the sake of the promised future.
They let the
end justify the means. The claims for the future order ser ved as
a justification f or the power abuse and absolute domination of
.,,..
the Nazi regime.
'Carl Friedrich , Totalitarianism.
96.
(New York:
Grosset & Dunlap , 19 6 4), p .
�13
In addition to the Nazi promise of a glor i ous futur e ,
there were also other factors of the Nazi religion that appe a led
to the German people during the early decades of this century.
These factors which enhanced the appeal of Nazism all seem to
revolve around one central theme, namely, self-aggrandi zement .
In short Naz i sm was self-exalti ng .
It satisfied the
e go
o f ma n.
This self-exaltation of Naz ism i s evident in the
secular nature o f this religion.
Naz ism, as a s e c ul a r
religion, replaced God with nation.
blood, became the ob ject of worship.
Mankind, united through
When seeki ng pro sperity,
happ i ness , or vict?rY over unpleasant circumstances, Nazi
followers d i d not need to seek the favor or assi s tanc e of s ome
supreme being.
within them .
They only needed to mobilize the power that wa s
By nature this power was theirs and by right
victory , prosperity , and happiness belonged to them .
The Na~i
rel i g i on did not require its disciples to bow before a god;
inste ad , it required others to bow before them and acknowledge
their supremecy.
The blamelessness and innocence that Nazism off e red the
people was perhaps even more appeal ing.
Nazism be lieved in a
people that were good and pure by nature--not evil and d e prav ed.
This l ed them to conclude that the difficulties, corruption, and
degeneration that plagued their troub l ed world was not their
fault.
The sour ce of this evil was the work of a des tructive
foe (the Jew) that had s ubtly attacked the unsuspecting people
and pulled them down so that they could no longer experience the
g l ory and success of the p as t generations .
Furthe rmor e , in the
�ll.
Nazi religion one did not have to acknowledge their sins and
imperfections to a holy God.
required.
Confession and penance were not
The only things necessary to restore Germany to its
former glory were the enlightenment of the people and the
completion of a sanctifying and purifying process, and "[ t]he
only virtues or sins recognized were those of social
significance.";.
Thus, the people were not accountable to
anyone but themselves.
A third characteristic of the Nazi religion that promoted
self-aggrandizement is their "plan of salavation."
Nazism, like
other religions, did require that the German people acknowledge
their need for deliverance.
The method of their deliverance,
however, differs from all other religions.
The German people
did not need to rely on divine favor because although they had
allowed evil forces to taint and corrupt their society, they
were not hopelessly degraded and helpless.
Therefore, since the
German people did not have to rely on divine favor, they neither
had to humble themselves before the gracious God that offered
them salvation nor earn the right to salvation by performing
good deeds and expressing religious fervor.
The source of
deliverance, according to the Nazi religion, was the will of the
people expressed through the Nazi movement.
The Nazi movement,
which had brought enlightenment to the German peop l e, had opened
their eyes and made them aware of the subtle, destructive
influence of their foe.
By conquering and destroying this foe,
J. L. Talman, The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy.
A. Praeger, Inc., Publishers, 1960), p. 23.
1
(New York: Frederick
�15
the German people would have successfully eliminated all evil and
restored perfection and order.
Thus , the destruction o f the Jew
became their mission in order that they might not only lift their
nation out o f degradation but also save the entire world.
Thu s,
Nazism e stablished the German people as their own s a viors.
Nazism also appealed to the pride of the Germa n peop l e .
It set up the Aryan race as superior to all other rac e s.
Aryanism became the expression of perfection and divinity.
t-Jhat
a boost this must have been for the demoralized German people who
still acutely felt the shame and disgrace of their l o ss in Wor ld
War I.
The world, blaming them for the war, had treated the m
with scorn and derision.
Their power had b een d estroye d, and
their country had been stripped of its glory.
This humiliati o n
and disgrace was still fresh in the minds of the people.
morale was at an all time low.
Public
This was the atmosphere in
Germany when Nazism appeared on the scene.
Nazism replaced the shame and disgrace of the Ge rman
people with renewed national pride.
It promised to remove the
stain of humiliation, avenge Germany, and restore her former
glory and power.
To the humilated people of Germany, the
prospect of glory and superiority was just too good to pass up.
The people were ripe for Nazism.
They were ready to do anything
to attain the self-glorification that was at the heart of the
Nazi religion.
The loss of World War I was not the sole factor that
contributed to the German environment in the 1930's in which the
seeds of Nazism germinated.
The economic, social, and p o litical
�16
conditions of the day were perhaps even more important factors.
During the early 1920 1 s, Germany experienced catastrophic
inflation.
The financial collapse of the Reich wiped out German
savings and produced unprecedented chaos.
Large-scale strike
movements broke out, prices and unemployment rose, and
increasing dissatisfaction with the government resulted in the
rise of anti-republican coups.
be forgotten.
These crisis years were not to
Even though the people experienced a brief period
of economic recovery and relative political stability after
1923, they would never again restore their confidence in their
government.
Their government had failed them.
It had folded in
a time of crisis giving rein to chaos, disorder, and instability.
It is not surprising then that the German people placed their
hopes in Nazism when in the 1930's they were again faced with
economic crisis (the Great Depression) and the political failures
of the Weimar government.
In addition to the economic and political conditions of
the day, the German people also felt the "menace of modernity."
They found themselves in
11
a society where old and new overlapped
in an almost random fashion, a society where no one could quite
be sure who he was, where he was, or where he stood in relation
to those around him.
of insecurity.
11 1
:
This contributed to a general atmo s phere
In this rapidly changing society, the people
of Germany often felt as if they were helpless victims without
any control over the future and their fate.
' Dennis Showalter, Little Man, What Now?
p.
16.
They were anxious,
(Conneticut:
Archon Books, 1982),
�17
uncertain, and overwhelmed by feelings of powerlessness and
insecurity.
This feeling of powerlessness, more than any o the r,
explains the enormous appeal of Nazism.
Existential angst is produce d when the individual
f e el s that he or she can no long er master vital
facets of life.
In this state of powerlessnes s the
person feels trapped and the survival is
threatened .... Existential angst motivates the se a rch
for an orientation that will promise a more secure,
predictable, and satisfying future. 1
Nazi promises of a healthy and happy world provided this sense o f
a secure future as well as a feeling of permanence in the midst
of a rapidly changing world.
back in control.
In addition, Nazism put the p e ople
It replaced their feelings of frustration and
anxiety with power.
11
Hitler offered power and rec og nition t o
the disappointed who felt powerless, and ari s tocratic s tatus t o
underdogs, who now became Nordic Aryans.
11
' ·'
The power that Nazism offered is probably the chief
appeal of this religio n.
Roles in the SS and the Nazi
bureaucracy g ave individuals the opportunity to obtain power and
prestige .
These power roles offered to individuals were o ne of
the important factors that motivated the perpetrators o f the
Holocaust.
Eicrunann is a prime example of this.
greed and fear were also powerful motivators.
In addition,
The subject of
individual motivation is an important consideration in the study
of Nazism.
However, a detailed discussion of that subject is
beyond the scope of this paper .
Instead, we shall look at the
.,,..
' Joel E. Dimsdale, Survivors. Victims and Perpetrato rs.
Hemisphere Publishing Company, 1980), p. ~18.
(Washing t o n:
�18
p ower el e ment as one o f the attract ions of the Nazi reli g i on .
The appeal of Nazi s m was its ability to eliminate the f ee l i n gs
of powerl ess ness, isolation, and inadequacy o f the p e o ple by
restori ng t h e ir co nf i d ence in their contro l over the f utur e .
Nazi doctrines restored the peopl e 's confidenc e in the i r own
p ower and c o ntrol by setting forth o n e simp le s olution f or a l l
the troubles and anxieties of Germany.
Nazisrn's one so lution to
all the concerns, conflicts, and unpleasant circumstance s that
faced the German people was Aryan domination and sub jugat i o n of
that one inherently evil element o f society, namely th e J e ws.
The J e ws were identified as the source of all t he evil
that had b ef a ll e n Germany.
By making the J e ws the sca pego a t ,
the people were able to avenge themselves of the wron g s t hey had
suffered.
They were able to v e nt their frustration s , anger, a nd
bitterness at some definate object.
They had turned their
battle a g ainst evil into something t a n g ibl e .
Opposing some
abstract e vil forc e was impossible, but battling the J e w wa s
something within their control.
Whe n the Jews became the
scapegoat, the evil foe became conquerable.
Once the J e ws were
conquered, beauty and order would be reestablished.
The p e opl e
who had been overwhelmed by their defeat in World War I, the
followin g economic upheaval, political failures, and s oc ial c h aos
would again be in control.
By gaining absolute authority and
control over the Jew, the German people could regain contro l
over their fate.
In summary then, the three factors that made Nazism
attractive to the German people were self-glorification, pride,
�and power.
19
At a time when the people felt that they had reached
rock bottom, Nazism not only gave them hope for the futur e --an
element which is also present in other religions--but it also
made them feel better about themselves.
The only probl e m is
that when man allows his life to be motivated by selfish
egotism, justice and compassion are neglected.
All efforts
become motivated by self-aggrandizement without any
consideration for the sufferings and sacrifices of others.
As this paper concludes, the following questions remain:
Why is it important to realize that Nazism is a religion?
What
significance does it have on our understanding of the Holocaust?
What role did religion play in the destruction of millions of
lives?
The appeal of Nazism is understandable.
Considering the
economic, social, political, and religious conditions of the day,
it seemed reasonable that Nazism would attract quite a following.
One is disturbed, however, by the fact that Nazism was able to
lead the German people further and further down a road that would
ultimately lead to mass killings while the people blindly
followed them.
leadership.
There was little or no resistance to Nazi
Why didn't the people raise their voices in protest?
Didn't they see that things had just gone too far and that Nazism
was requiring them to participate in actions that were obviously
wrong?
When answering these troubling questions, the
significance of the fact that Nazism is a religion becomes
clear.
Since the Nazi movement and its leaders were deified, a
�20
true follower would never question the "goodness" of the leader's
Even when the actions and commands of their leaders
actions .
seemed questionable, the people never doubted the goodness of
their guidance.
They believed that their enlightened leader s
were ab l e to see the needs of the nation more clearly than they
could. Whatever conduct was required must be n e cessary, and in
the long run, it would all work out for the good of the people.
Were all the people such ardent followers of the Nazi
religion?
followers?
What about those who weren't such dedicated
Why didn't they speak up?
Well, some did, but it
didn't d o any good because criticism was viewed as heresy; who
was going to liste~ to a heretic?
Since Nazism was a religio n,
i t allowed one party, one loyalty, and believed that here was
only one "truth".
To tolerate any expressions of criticism,
would be to sanction blasphemy.
Just as a Muslim or Hindu community will not tolerate the
presence of a Christian, Nazism would not tolerate any oppossing
views.
If someone were to question or criticize the Nazi state,
i t is certain that the entire community would have turned on him.
His freedom and perhaps even his life would have been in danger.
Religions become so fervent in the perpetuation and defense of
their beliefs that one dares not propose a contrary view.
was such a religion.
Nazism
Thus, the religious qualties of Nazism,
which were instrumental in exciting and motivating the German
people, also help account for the continued control that Nazi s m
was able to maintain over these people.
As a religion, Nazism was able to 1) raise up fervently
�21
dedicate d followers consecrated to Nazi goals, 2) take o n
infallible and omnipotent characte ristics in the eyes o f the
p e ople, and 3) establi s h virtually unlimited and unque s t io n ed
power.
Furthe rmore, since Nazism invoked a reli g i ous r e s p o nse ,
it was able to establish its own moral code.
Nazism so alte r ed
the Germa n p e rcepti o n of the Jews that the y were able t o c o nvin c e
thems elves that they were battling the devil, not destroying
human lives.
They were not doing evil.
were destoying evil.
On the con trary, t hey
In the Nazi religion the people were not
only not guilty of wrongdoing, they were commended f or t h e ir acts
'
of "righteousness" which fulfilled the commandments of their go d.
If Nazi s m had not h a d these reli g ious qualitie s, the r ever sa l o f
German value s , a necessary ingredie nt of the Holoca ust, could no t
have taken place.
Re ligion seems to be the o nly s o cia l f or ce
that has the influence to change lives by completely alte ring
one's perception of the world, one's moral judgement, and o ne's
response to his fellowmen and the various circumstances he fac e s .
...
,·, · ,
�"
BIBu:x;RAPHY
Dimsdale, Joel. SUrvivors, Victims aruf Perpetrators - Essays on the Holocaust.
Washington: Hemisphere Publishing Compnay, 1980.
Field, Geoffrey. Evangelist of Race - The Gennanic Vision of Houston Stewart
Chamberlain. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.
Friedrich, Carl.
Totalitarianism.
New York:
Grosset
rvbsse, George. The Nationalization of the Masses.
Inc., 1975.--- - Poliakov, I.eon.
Harvest of Hate.
New York:
&
Dunlap, 1964.
New York:
Howard Fertig,
Holocaust Library, 1979.
Showalter, Dennis. Little Man, What Now? - Der Sturmer in the Weimar Republic.
Conneticut: Archon Books, 1982.-- - Talmon, J .L. The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy.
Praeger, Inc., Publishers, 1960.
c·
,,..,,_-,., -- - -
'" "",
-,.-- ----_---- . - .
New York:
Frederick A.
�
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Title
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Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection
Creator
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Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman)
Termaat, Peter N.
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar.
Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II.
Date
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1869 - 2012
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a>
Subject
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Netherlands
Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands
Dutch
Dutch Americans
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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RHC-144
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eng
nl
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Termaat, Pieter
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The Religion of Nazism
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Essay by Pieter Termaat about Nazi beliefs and religion.
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Fascism
Germany -- Social conditions
Social conditions
Germany
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-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ec630aa7a3f34864fe76d218a3e1e735.pdf
90cdddd29d054028bd9557d475f26d47
PDF Text
Text
GVSU
From the middle of the 1930ties, the seemingly parallel lines
of development of Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan were being
forged into diplomatic contacts to bend these lines to a point
certain where they would converge and then intersect.
Together they pursued ~eo-political goals from the A~lantic to
the Urals and in the Pacific a mare nostrum for ZJapan.
In Europe a defense system was pursued from the North Cape to
tne Spanish border; Norway, Denmark. Holland, Belgium and
France would have to be taken after wnich tne ultimate goal
- - - - - - ~of congering England would De reached.
The German High Command , at·ter the det·eat in WWI I where a
cease fire in 1918 made the allied armies come to a halt short
of enterl.ng Germany, set the goal for the next war.
Japan after winning a war against Russia in 1904 - 1905 Decame
the first Asian state to defeat a European power and conceived
a stat,egy to conquer Korea, Mansjuria · - •• and in particular
the Netherlands East Indies.
ere raw materials were availabie
l.n abundance , as ..._ -.- WPr.>
labor •
The conquest of the west of Europe would lay a protective shield
in front of Germany's heavy war ind.~try in the Ruhr , and wnen
WWII started. Heil.and and Belgium bor.e"~unt of tne newly developed
air forces, besides for Germany being the jumP-off point for the
attack on England, and for the Allies a point of entry into
Europe
for Germany's defeat.
- - - -- - On September
10, 1943 Hitler's right hand man Joseph Goebbels
wrote 1n nis diary :
11 The FUhrer expects the Anglo-American invasion attempt to come
in The Netherlands. We are the weakest there, and the
population would be most inclined to give the necessary local
support for such an undertaking, As everybody knows, tne Dutch
are the most insolent and obstreperous people in the entire west."
- - -- - - ~Quote, unquote.
- - - - --
For Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain it was clear that they would
have only one chance to achieve their goals: a oordinated and
fast attack.
In a mi~ ary conflict a strong economic base is more vital in the
long term than military superiority. Stretching militarily beyond
what taeir economies will sustain, nations are looking for a fall.
History gives us concrete examples:
the Hapsburg monarchy went unier througn deficit financing and
inflation;
Spain's Philip II with a large deficit• attacking Holland , Belgium
and England, with the Duke of Parma's landing Army contained by
the Dutch shallow draft war snips, while the larger Dutch and
English war ships defeated the foolish toP-heavy ships of the
Armada ,. with all the refined tools of torture froma Torquemada aboard.
And we ourselves are hard put to fulfill the mili~ary obligations
which came to us at the brilliant victories over the Axis powers,
in 1945 •
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman)
Termaat, Peter N.
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar.
Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1869 - 2012
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Netherlands
Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands
Dutch
Dutch Americans
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-144
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Text
Image
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
application/pdf
image/jpeg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
nl
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-144_Termaat_WRI_Lecture-Notes-322
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Termaat, Pieter
Title
A name given to the resource
Lecture Notes
Description
An account of the resource
Lecture notes by Pieter Termaat about the rise of fascism in Europe and the lead up to World War II.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Fascism
Germany -- Social conditions
Social conditions
Germany
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng