Zur Genealogie totalitärer Herrschaft: Hannah Arendt und Friedrich Nietzsche

Abstract The suspicion that Nietzsche’s thought could have contributed to the totalitarian ideology of ‘fascism’ hangs like a dark cloud over Nietzsche research of the past. This suspicion is itself ideologically motivated (above all by Georg Lukács) and may have been evoked by misunderstandings of terms like Übermensch =‘superman’ and ‘will to power’. Nietzsche’s sister’s behaviour after his death may have fuelled this suspicion. Even though Nietzsche’s rejection of anti-Semitism has long been known and cannot be denied, the suspicion that his thought was close to Nazi ideology has been stubbornly maintained. Nietzsche’s ‘anti-fascist’ statements have never been presented comprehensively and in context. It is the ambition of this article to counter and refute the fascist suspicion by way of Nietzsche‘s statements on nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism as well as his prophetic description of the resulting consequences (of a ‘Third Reich’ and a Holocaust/ Shoah).