Arnon Grunberg

Abnormal

Unappealing

A portrayal of a neo-Nazi as an average guy who happens to like Seinfeld by Richard Fausset in NYT:

'Online it is uglier. On Facebook, Mr. Hovater posted a picture purporting to show what life would have looked like if Germany had won World War II: a streetscape full of happy white people, a bustling American-style diner and swastikas everywhere.

“What part is supposed to look unappealing?” he wrote.'

Read the article here

As you know the NYT and Mr. Fausset have been criticized for, I will quote Jonathan Greenblatt "treating the abnormal as normal".

I disagree. That only abnormal people can be Nazis or neo-Nazis may be a comforting thought but it is historically untrue, most Nazis transformed themselves quickly into democratic citizens after May 1945. Do we really need to believe that all Nazis and fascists and neo-Nazis are monsters who cannot stand Seinfeld? Only abnormal people can be fascists? I was reminded of George Steiner who famously asked whether an SS-officer could play Beethoven well. The answer was if I'm not mistaken: yes.
Well, Beethoven became Seinfeld and the SS-officer a welder and a foot-soldier for white supremacists. Can a white supremacist and admirer of Hitler enjoy Seinfeld? Answer: yes.

The responses to this article reveal an uncomfortable truth. We, left-leaning, reasonable and well-educated people, need the neo-Nazi as monster to feel good about ourselves. We cherish the illusion that we have nothing in common with those bastards.

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