If the Nazis had been literal monsters - other-worldly creatures with tentacles on their faces or something - it would be much more comfortable being human.
But people prefer a historical narrative that's closer to the "monsters" idea, because it makes you feel better. A person thinks, there’s no possible way that I could ever be that or do that. Yet we share the same DNA. If you’re a human being, you are capable of monstrous things.
I’ve shared my draft novel with a few people, and because one theme in it concerns exactly this point - Nazi were made, not born; frighteningly human - they’ve told me it’s a “hard sell”.
One told me bluntly: “Readers don’t want that complex reality; when it comes to Nazis. They want one-dimensional characters.”
But such a simplistic narrative, while it may be more comforting, is not what I want to write.

I also think it’s fundamentally dangerous. If we don’t understand the emergence of political movements that end in mass murders, how can we ever stop the next atrocity?
And perhaps the truth is, this tendency toward simplistic historical narrative is part of the reason why genocide and other mass atrocity crimes keep happening - in Cambodia, in Rwanda, in Darfur, in Sri Lanka, and on and on and on...
People keep saying “never again” expecting to see faces with tentacles, and the fact is, they look just like us.
Preventing future mass atrocities would mean listening out for politicians & political movements that dehumanise minorities. But that’s more complicated. The simplistic historical narrative is so much easier.
And for some people, if they really thought about it like that, they might get too uncomfortably close to the realisation that they are much closer to the average Nazi supporter/enabler than they realise.
Better not to think about it, something deep down maybe tells them. Better to fall back on a simplistic historical narrative. Better to pretend it was all about inhuman monsters.
On the other hand, I tweeted this a while back to make the same point with a few images, and actually, quite a few people understood what I was driving at, which suggests it may not actually be a "hard sell", as some suggest...

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More from @astroehlein

8 Mar
My first experiences of #InternationalWomensDay were in small-town Czechoslovakia (and then in both the 2 republics) in the early 1990s. It was not exactly a day that most women I knew there looked forward to...
Husbands would traditionally come home (possibly drunk) with flowers for wives. Then, they would try to cook dinner (thus reinforcing the traditional roles the other 364 days of the year). They'd make something inedible & leave a mess in the kitchen for the wife to clean up.
I seem to recall stories of deadly kitchen fires being reported, too - a bit like you hear of children losing fingers from fireworks on July 4th in the US - but I never knew anyone it happened to.
Read 4 tweets
3 Mar
The Hungarian ruling party, Fidesz, is at the core of authoritarian rot in the EU.

Supported for years by the European People's Party, @epp/@eppgroup.

hrw.org/news/2020/04/2…
The Hungarian ruling party, Fidesz, has led a full-on assault against independent media to undermine critics & those who would expose their corruption.

Supported for years by the European People's Party, @epp/@eppgroup.

hrw.org/news/2020/07/2…

voanews.com/europe/index-r…
The Hungarian ruling party, Fidesz, has been similarly attacking academic freedom for years.

Supported by the European People's Party, @epp/@eppgroup.

hrw.org/news/2020/09/0…

nytimes.com/2020/09/06/wor…
Read 21 tweets
2 Mar
Two decades ago, I asked Russian investigative journalist & human rights defender Anna Politkovskaya how she could keep doing what she did. For her reporting on abuses by Russian forces in the 2nd Chechen War, the military detained & beat her & subjected her to mock execution. 1/
“How can you go on with your investigations? Surely you know the military’s intimidation is not just for show, and that they may actually kill you next time, no?”

“Of course,” she replied. She saw no choice: The crimes had to be exposed, and she was in a position to do it. 2/
Politkovskaya was poisoned on a plane in 2004, much as Navalny was last year. She survived the poisoning but was shot dead outside her apartment in 2006. 3/
Read 7 tweets
10 Feb
Polish independent media suspends news coverage, web pages in blackout today, to protest a new advertising tax that seems aimed at undermining freedom of the press.
politico.eu/article/polish…
The ruling party in Poland has been trying to strangle the independent media for years, step by step...
They pulled lucrative state advertising from critical media outlets, damaging their financial viability.
ipi.media/in-poland-crit…
Read 14 tweets
9 Feb
Trump's 2nd impeachment trial begins today: theguardian.com/us-news/2021/f…

Human Rights Watch's take: The authorities should also vigorously pursue criminal investigations into 6 January events, hold those responsible to account & ensure abuses are not repeated hrw.org/news/2021/02/0…
Important to realize that an impeachment trial in the Senate is not enough.

Federal & state authorities have an obligation to conduct thorough and effective _criminal_ investigations of these events and ensure accountability for them.
The FBI has opened a criminal investigation, and charges have been brought against over 175 people in connection with the attack on the Capitol. The DoD, Capitol Police & the US House of Representatives also have opened investigations into law enforcement responses to the attack.
Read 6 tweets
30 Jan
After going through over 500 CVs over the last few days, I thought I might share some observations for those seeking an entry-level position at an international NGO like @hrw.
Of course, what I’m about to say doesn’t apply for all job openings everywhere. But for entry-level posts at a fairly big NGO, I think these thoughts will hold.
The main takeaway is that some people sell themselves on their CVs much better than others, even when they have the same or similar qualifications as others.
Read 19 tweets

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