PEOPLE NEED PEOPLE!

Teaching, as I do so often, Nazi Germany to at least two different year groups here at the Castle; I have been struck by Hitler’s use of community spirit. It is a yearly source of wonder and mystery to the lads; how this deranged and murderous oddball could possibly have inspired such widespread devotion. The assumption I have to pick away at is simply that they were coerced into doing so, whether by fear or violence. There is a presumption that if they didn’t wave flags, joyously salute and fight to the death for the Fuhrer, they’d be at once picked off by an SS sniper on the roof (or perhaps by the Gestapo agent under their bed).


Neither is true. Yes, it was wise to be seen playing ball lest you be reported by a zealous neighbour or your own Hitler Youth-attending spawn. But, as my Head of Department mentioned just this week – Hitler would have retained power with a vast approval rating had he held an election in 1938. It wasn’t everyone – of course not – but there’s every sign of him having been carried along on a wave of genuine public enthusiasm as the country’s fortunes and standards of living demonstrably improved (at least for those among the ‘Volk’) and the world began to fear them once more.

There are plenty of reasons for this – the nation’s history had seen them far more used to dictatorship and militarism than to the alternative, there was shame at the outcome of WW1 and fear at the experiences of the Great Depression, Hitler was even able to tap an already prevalent seam of anti-Semitism… However, perhaps above all (and I’m aware I say this without footnotes or credible backing) Hitler tapped a human need to belong. Throughout a German’s upbringing in the 1930s they would be told they were part of an exclusive club – racially and nationally. Evenings were filled with rallies, films, hikes, meetings… for children but also for adults in the world of work; kept happy with the like of ‘Beer and Sausage Evenings’ within the ‘Strength Through Joy’ programme. It was perhaps part of the appeal that others were not allowed to participate (Jews, gypsies, asocials, Communists, the mentally ‘defective’), thus serving to further affirm those on the inside, as well as giving them a common opponent and scapegoat. All school subjects and all public pronouncements made great use of the message that Germany and its people were special, chosen, destined for greatness – deserving of land and vengeance.

So what of it? Well I think this need exists still. People want to belong and they crave contact. There has been a horrible dismantling of organic bonds within society via the abandonment of church, unions, political parties or working men’s clubs. I’m not sure anything has truly replaced them – even football clubs have been taken, at the top level, beyond the reach of those who love them, leaving only the wealthy able to attend. Rather, social groupings happen online – where people compete for ‘friends’ they have often never met. This is unsatisfactory and demeaning of our humanity. Where for most of our history entertainment meant, by definition, a coming together of people, it is now fed through tubes into televisions and computer screens, devoured by isolated people cut off from each other by walls. I’m positive it’s partly responsible for the general mental health issues written about in the likes of ‘Affluenza’. It’s also dangerous. If someone in our age appears promising a community and acceptance within it on the basis of a crass and lowest-common denominator (Nick Griffin is a sort of rubbish dry run of the theory), it will surely seem hugely appealing to many.

There are positive instances of community still. Whatever you think of Christianity, hang around my church for a bit and you’ll see a bunch of people holding each other to high standards, looking out for one another and seeking to help out the wider community. I personally will never forget that whilst my wife was undergoing brain surgery, people were (without me asking) bringing round meals they’d cooked me, or taking my bike in to get the brakes fixed. I’m sure this mutual support is part of the reason why disconnected youngsters get sucked into the more fundamentalist forms of religion too, but it can be a very good thing – promoting charity, good parenting, moral behaviour. I’m not sure there are currently a great many alternative sources of such guidance; Harriet Harman threatening to arrest anyone who expresses a view suggesting ‘inequality’ doesn’t count! And it doesn’t have to be faith-based. I’ll never forget the glorious birth of AFC Wimbledon – a football club owned and formed by fans to replace the one bought by business sharks and literally taken from their community after 100-odd years in favour of Milton Keynes. It was clear that, with the early football at little more than parks standard in those early days, the thousands present craved above all a place to drink, sing and vent together – enjoying being a part of something that mattered to so many.

However, many seem to drift from communities once they leave school and university. Many in cities are lonely and thus susceptible to the politics of hate. It is to Britain’s credit that it never held much truck with extremes, whether Fascist or Communist. But, in troubled times, people still love a scapegoat and we need to give people a positive reason to belong. Social disconnection is prime fodder for the next budding Adolf!