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"Doubted
Nothing, Learned Nothing" (a review essay on Ulrich Herbert,
BEST: Biographische Studien Ueber Radikalismus, Weltanschauung und
Vernunft, 1903-1989)
In writing
about Werner Best, Ulrich Herbert set out to produce not a
biography, but rather an analysis of a representative of a certain
extremely nationalist intellectual and social group that made up the
upper echelon of the executors of Nazi policy. At the same time, the
book sketches a profile of Best's exceptional personality.
Especially interesting is Best's agility in extricating himself from
most of his entanglements and to return to an influential status
from which he could continue to operate based on his worldview,
which did not change even after the downfall of the regime. Despite
all his contradictions and half-truths, Best always "doubted
nothing and learned nothing." Herbert's portrait of Best can
also serve as a warning against the potential threat of extreme
nationalism. |
