Plunder and the Holocaust
In his book, replete with charts, calculations, and citations, Götz Aly argues that the plunder of occupied territories and the theft of Jewish property served the Nazi regime to finance its war effort and elevate the living standards of Germans. Behind this central explanation lies the argument that Germans were not primarily guilty of anti-Semitism but rather succumbed to base instincts of greed, leading first to the seizure of Jewish property and ultimately to the Holocaust. They yielded to the Nazi version of consumer culture.
The Ethnocratic State
Götz contends that Germans did not hate Jews more than other Europeans. Germany never followed a unique historical path. Germany was a country like any other, and Germans a people like any other. The answer to the question of why the Holocaust occurred specifically in Germany is horrifyingly simple: Nazi Germany was an ethnocratic social-democratic state. It granted social rights only to those belonging to the ruling ethnic group. It operated on the same logic as other states of that type, but it went further than any other.
Nazi Welfare
Nazi Germany provided its citizens with benefits greater than any other country: it was the first to distribute child benefits, the first to offer subsidized healthcare to pensioners, its soldiers received decent salaries and could send home loot from war zones and killing sites, and, in general, ethnic Germans lived better than ever before. Ordinary Germans supported the Nazi regime because it provided them with the highest standard of living they had ever experienced. The living standards of non-ethnic Germans were, of course, significantly worse. This was an inevitable consequence of the logic of the ethnocratic welfare state.
The Dark Side of Solidarity
European welfare states have always been based on ethnic solidarity. This solidarity, the feeling of being part of an "us," is a necessary condition for the existence of a state that genuinely cares for the security of the individual, a state whose citizens are willing to give up their tax money in exchange for the government taking care of all their needs. The other side of ethnic solidarity, unfortunately, is the lack of solidarity with anyone outside the ethnic group. It's not necessarily about hatred but rather indifference, a lack of concern for the fate of those who are not part of the same ethos. When this dynamic is amplified, when the state provides far more benefits in exchange for more enthusiastic solidarity, the separation between those inside the charmed circle and those outside it deepens.
Plunder as Policy
Götz adds another layer to this argument. He claims there was a direct link between the rise in German living standards and the dispossession and murder of Jews because the Nazi regime was largely based on plunder. It robbed Jews of their property and distributed it to Germans. Through charts and calculations, he documents and proves what was a massive redistribution of wealth that had a decisive impact on the history of the Nazi regime.
Profiting from Fascism
Götz argues that this transfer of wealth is the primary explanation for the Germans' acceptance of the Holocaust: they were bribed. Götz asserts that the basis for the Germans' situation under the Nazi regime being significantly better than under any previous rule stemmed from the fact that the plunder of Jews and occupied territories was larger, more systematic, and of greater importance than previously assumed, and that the spoils were distributed extensively. Germans profited from racist murder almost without exception. Stolen goods were systematically distributed at bargain prices. Even if a German wasn't a Nazi ideologically, they wouldn't oppose the regime to avoid jeopardizing the goose that laid the golden eggs. Götz shifts the emphasis from the profits of the wealthy capitalists to the profits of the masses. Nazi interests were not shaped by the capitalists but rather by the consumer masses, each of whom personally profited from fascism. His book is a reconstruction of the school of thought that sees the extermination of Jews in the Holocaust as the realization of a pre-planned agenda, with a materialistic emphasis.
